O Come, Emmanuel 9: Sinai's Might

My ninth Christmastide reflection on that beautiful carol, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, focusses upon its fifth verse’s first lines:

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height

Identifying Jesus Christ with the majestic, awesome God of Sinai is perfectly correct and appropriate. He is the Creator, and was not Himself created either at His conception or during some mysterious period before the world began. Jesus Christ is the God of Israel, the One who redeemed the slaves of Egypt and led them through the wilderness. On Sinai, He thundered and shook the mountain; lightning peels and great fires, trumpet blasts and billowing smoke announced His glorious presence. No-one doubted His existence that day, nor questioned the magnitude of His power. To think that this dreadful, almighty One became a mere embryo in the womb of Mary!

This is the real meaning of Christmas.

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, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer,
Our Spirits by Thine Advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

From the text of the 1851 translation by John Mason Neale of from the twelfth-century hymn Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, published in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861)