Sermon Recap
Who Is This? The Champion from the Wilderness
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Brian Hunter · November 23, 2025
“Who is this who comes from Edom… marching in the greatness of his strength?” “It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation!”
Scripture Referenced
Recap
Heading into Thanksgiving week, Brian opened Isaiah 63:1-9, a vivid vision of a mysterious, powerful figure marching in from the wilderness region of Edom, garments stained, strength unmistakable. The passage repeats a haunting question (“who is this?”) before answering it directly in the figure’s own words: “It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation.” Brian slowed the room down on that identification, noting the imagery of earthquakes, storm clouds, and wildflowers springing up in the wake of his steps, all pointing to overwhelming divine power arriving to rescue his people.
Brian drew out a striking cross-reference to Song of Solomon 8:5, which asks the nearly identical question (“who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?”) about a young woman who once feared the difficult, mountainous journey of discipleship but now moves through it leaning entirely on the one she loves. Brian used the parallel to argue that the same wilderness that looks threatening and impossible to survive is exactly where God’s strength shows up most clearly, both for the conquering figure in Isaiah and for the ordinary believer leaning on Christ through hardship.
He closed by naming the deeper problem this rescue answers: God’s holiness creates real distance from human sin, and the passage’s only answer to “who else can save?” is the Lord himself, arriving as redeemer, champion, and conquering king. Brian prayed the church into the holiday week with that image in mind: whatever wilderness they were walking into, God is bigger than it.
Touch Points
- Isaiah 63 answers “who is this?” with “it is I, the Lord.” Where in your life do you need that same clear, personal answer right now?
- The Song of Solomon passage pictures someone once afraid of the mountains now leaning on her beloved to get through them. What “mountain” are you currently leaning on God to get through?
- Brian described wildflowers springing up in the wake of this figure’s steps through the desert. Where have you seen God bring life out of a genuinely hard season?
- As you head into Thanksgiving, what would it look like to actively lean on Christ rather than white-knuckle your way through whatever is difficult right now?