Carols: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O COME O COME EMMANUEL O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan’s tyranny From depths of Hell Thy people save And give them victory o’er the grave Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Desire of nations, bind?in one the hearts of all mankind? Bid Thou our sad divisions cease, and be Thyself our king of peace?? Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel ?shall come to thee, O Israel!?? So Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel? Has come to thee, O Israel!? Has come to thee, O Israel!? Israel!

EMMANUEL MEANS—GOD WITH US. God is, God was, God will be. O Come Emmanuel—dates back between 8th & 12th century Europe. Short lines sung before & after reading of Psalms. All begin with “O”. The O Antiphons are part of the evening prayer of the Divine Office. The tradition says that people sang these O Antiphons like this song, starting one week before Christmas to call on God. The “O” Antiphons are the verses for the ancient hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The antiphons beg God with mounting impatience to come and save His people. The order of the antiphons climb through our history of Redemption. Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. The first letter of the Messianic titles: Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia—spell out Latin words ERO CRAS, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Matthew—to Jewish audience—awaiting savior: 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Matt 1:21-23   Isaiah 7:14—740 years to fulfill this prophecy! That’s a long time! What sent the shepherd back into the field rejoicing? What caused the wisemen to fall to their knees and worship? Not God far away—Distant, uninvolved Creator. Not “just” watching over you—but with you! Word became flesh! Hard to believe, Don’t feel him, Trial, Ashamed of what you’ve done. Before you leave today, I want you to know God is with you! God is, God was, God will be! Nothing can separate you—nothing! Doubts, Mistakes, Disappointments, Failure, Sin. Never leave you—never forsake you. Never be alone! Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Fear no evil—He is with me! God Is, Was, and Will be. This is why we sing O Come Emmanuel. No question that God is with you. Real question: Are you with God?