Introduction

Just as soon as the title of this book, “A Wondrous Christmas Vision,” passes before our eyes, I suppose we can't help but think of the famous Christmas poem, “The Night Before Christmas,” by Clement Clarke Moore. Within those famous stanzas, we find the line about visions of sugar plums dancing in the heads of the little children. Oh, but the concept of visions, and most certainly the Christmas Vision, goes so much deeper than that.

The Holy Scriptures emphatically state that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) In the Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, the word, “vision,” refers to a mental sight, often in the form of a dream, revelation, or even a prophetic word. Its root word describes a gazing at something in order to perceive and contemplate it with pleasure. While sugar plums may be pleasurable, I'm sure you can see that the Biblical use of the word “vision” is much more meaningful. From the aforementioned Scripture, I am also sure that you can see the seriousness of not having a vision—it is equated with being in disobedience to God, and disobedience is rebellion. So how are we to understand the various uses of this word in the Bible? Well, first of all, a vision was presented to give supernatural direction, as in the case of Abram—“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Gen. 15:1) Secondly, a vision was given to develop the Kingdom of God by revealing the moral and spiritual deficiencies of God's people in light of His requirements for maintaining a proper relationship with Him. The visions of prophets, such as Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John, are good examples of this aspect of revelation. In fact, the word “vision” is mentioned 10 times in Ezekiel and 19 times in Daniel alone. In some places in the Bible, the word is simply describing the literal sense of sight—just the ability to see something with our eyes. In still other references, the word “vision” speaks of a way in which the future is actually revealed.

Obviously, a vision can be taken very broadly, and this is the way we will be seeing it—literal visions, dreams, and even events the Lord uses to speak forth His expectations for His people, as well as His enemies. In the first two weeks of these daily devotionals, our focus will be on the ministry of Moses, specifically looking at the exodus of God's people from bondage in Egypt, and many of the events that took place to make that happen. In the third week of the Advent Season, we will fast forward ahead and briefly focus on the ministries of both Jesus and Paul. Then, in the last week, we will backtrack and dive right into the Christmas story itself, and see very emphatically how everything points to the wondrous vision of Christmas. It is our desire that we all come to learn to have the vision of God—to see things as God does. Yes, it all reverberates with the original call, “Let my people go!” What lies before you is far sweeter than sugar plums—God's plan of salvation, as revealed this Christmas, is the sweetest thing you will ever know. Have a very Blessed Christmas Season!!!