One of my favorite pieces of the account of the birth of Jesus is found in Luke 2:25-35, the account of Simeon. We are told in verse 25 that Simeon “was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel…” Verses 26 and 27 record that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would live to see the Lord’s Christ, and that the Spirit led him to the temple on the day that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple “to carry out for Him the custom of the Law.” One important point that we need to understand from this account is that Simeon was a man who honored the Lord and that he knew and was looking for the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise.
Isaiah 2:5-6 calls to God’s people to walk in the light of the Lord, instead of practicing the ways of those who do not know Him. The prophecy in verse 6 sounds very much like our own culture’s modern spirituality, where they have adopted and intermingled false beliefs with what is true. They have not discerned between the unclean and the clean, and they have done this because much of the church has failed to teach the difference between the holy and the unholy (Ezekiel 44:23). Don’t let the stark contrast between a man like Simeon and the Israelites in Isaiah 2:6 be lost on you.
Because Simeon walked in the Light of the Lord, learning, believing, and looking for the promises of God, he was the one man chosen out of all the souls who ever have and ever will exist to be the one who held the only begotten Son of God in his arms - and bless Him.
