The music of Advent: Echoes of promise

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Up next, the Music of Advent.

NICK EICHER, HOST: This Sunday marks the third week of Advent. For the last two weeks, Christians around the world have been preparing for—and reflecting on—the coming of Christ.

At the close of each Friday program this month correspondent Bonnie Pritchett is guiding us through a selection of Advent songs and hymns.

BROWN: We’re collecting them into a Spotify Playlist and are keeping it updated throughout the season so you can find the music for your own enjoyment. We’ve included the link to that in today’s transcript at wng.org/podcasts. 

BONNIE PRITCHETT: Throughout the Old Testament—from Genesis to Malachi—God promises to send the Messiah. As the Hebrew scriptures draw to a close the prophet Malachi addressed God’s wayward people: Destruction awaits those who abandon God.

To those who fear his name, God had another message.

SONG: BUT FOR YOU WHO FEAR MY NAME

LYRIC: [BANJO] You shall be my very own on the day that I caused you to be my special home. I shall spare you as a man has compassion on his son who does the best he can…

The husband-and-wife duo, Vito and Monique Aiuto, perform under the name The Welcome Wagon. Their 2008 release, “But for you who fear my name,” highlights the Messianic prophecies in Malachi chapters 3 and 4.

LYRIC: But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you shall go forth again, skip about like calves coming from their stalls at last...

God’s promises resonate in Malachi’s short book: “The sun of righteousness will rise.” “You will go out leaping like calves.”

SONG: O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL

And those promises echoed through 400 silent years of waiting.

LYRIC: O come, o come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears…

While the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” calls out on Israel’s behalf, this choral ensemble of English, Arabic, and Hebrew singers reminds us that through Israel’s Messiah the whole world will be blessed.

SINGING IN ARABIC

Jewish and Arab Christians, compose the Israel-based ministry One for Israel. The organization produced this album in 2023 called Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men.

LYRIC: [SINGING IN HEBREW] Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, o Israel…

Malachi and Isaiah prophesied that God would send a messenger to prepare the way for Emmanuel’s arrival. The band, the Calendar Years, tells the story of John the Baptist in this 2014 release called “Herald, in the Wilderness.”

SONG: HERALD, IN THE WILDERNESS

LYRIC: Herald, in the wilderness breaking up the road. Sinking mountains, raising plains for the path of God. Prophet to the multitudes calling to repent in the way of righteousness unto Israel sent. A voice in the wilderness…

In his 1867 hymn pastor Henry Alford recounts John’s calls for repentance and his declaration that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Alford also tells the price John paid for his faithfulness and suggests the wilderness of our world still needs heralds.

LYRIC: Holy Jesus, when he heard went apart to pray. Thus, may we our lesson take from his saint today. A voice in the wilderness. A voice calling out. A song of a child, a king. Prepare ye the way of the Lord…

For WORLD, I’m Bonnie Pritchett

LYRIC: A voice in the wilderness. A voice calling out. A song of a child, a king prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

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