Dara Maclean (Feat. Dave Barnes) – Bethlehem Skies

Heavily influenced by Motown and Contemporary Christian music, artist and lyricist Dara Maclean is a woman who marches to the beat of her own drum. This Fort Worth, Texas resident started singing at age eight, eventually leading worship at her home church and a career in music.

She released her first album Dara Joy in 2006, following up with You Got My Attention in 2011, EP Bethlehem Skies in 2012, and Wanted in 2013.  She gave up her career when she married Donnie Petty in 2013.  This married couple serve as co-youth pastors for the Young Adult community at Eagle Mountain in Newark, Texas.

This requested Christmas song is the headliner for her EP Bethlehem Skies.

Lyrics can be found at https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Dara-Maclean-feat-Dave-Barnes/Bethlehem-Skies.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

The long-awaited King, the Messiah, has come!  He is a strong soldier, yet a weak, sleeping baby.  He came to give His life to set us free, understood to be from our sins.  His birth is announced by an angel, with the heavenly host singing “Glory to God in the highest” and “And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased”. The Israelite people waited for their King.

As discussed in section 2, the world is not waiting for Him.  It was Israel who waited.  Also, It’s possible that the angels were singing, though the case for it is not strong (see section 2).  This affects the song’s Biblical accuracy, but not its overall message.

I’ll discuss in more detail in section 2 the misunderstanding of the Israelite people regarding the “conquering king” they expected.

Score: 8/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Most of it does; However, there are a few minor issues surrounding the singing angels (the case for it is weak at best) and the world’s anticipation of Christ’s birth (it was only Israel).

Since this song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

Line 1: Israel weeps, captives of the Roman Empire and looking for their Messiah to rescue them.  What they needed is a savior not from their circumstances, but their sins (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).  The God-man Jesus has come (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:26-38, and Matthew 1:18-25).

Line 2: Maclean declares Christ as victorious over death (Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, Luke 20:35-36, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, 2 Timothy 1:10, and Hebrews 2:14) before Jesus did anything, prophecying of events to come.

Line 3: That is, to change us, particularly our desires (Romans 2:29, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 2 Corinthians 7:10).

Line 4: Juxtaposes the strength and tenacity of Christ, depicted as a soldier, with the weakened state of an infant. A good equivalent passage would be Philippians 2:5-8.

[Stanza 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Comes off the heels of Stanza 1, line 4, that Jesus is, in fact, a baby.  Luke 2:7 explicitly states that baby Jesus was placed in a manger.

Line 3: The world was not waiting but Israel was. At least, the Magi were (Matthew 2:1-12).  The groaning Israelites were looking for a Messiah, a conquering king that would remove their Roman oppressors, perhaps with verses such as Isaiah 2:3-4, Isaiah 11:1-9, and Micah 4:2-3 to support their view.  We see some hints of this in Acts 1:6-7, with the inquiry of Jesus’ followers post-resurrection to His coming Kingdom.  Yes, they waited for Jesus as a ruler, who would rescue them from the Romans; However, it wasn’t what they expected.  As discussed in my commentary in Stanza 1, line 1, Jesus came to save us from the consequences of breaking God’s Laws. Yes, they were waiting for Jesus, but for the wrong reasons. Romans 11:1-11 tells us that Israel as a whole rejected Jesus, with only a remnant that followed Him.

[Stanza 3]

Lines 1 and 2: References Joseph Mohr’s Silent Night. A close equivalent passage is the angelic saying in Luke 2:14, describing the birth of Jesus as glorious and that His peace rests upon those to whom He is well pleased. It doesn’t describe the night as “Holy” per se, but it is certainly set apart. It’s not every day that a child’s birth is announced by an angel (Luke 2:10-11)! We’ll see this later in the song.

Lines 3 and 4: The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is the beginning of His journey to save me, as explicitly stated in Stanza 4.

[Stanza 4]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary in Stanza 1.

Lines 3 and 4: Though Jesus will save us from our sins (Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18), this moment is about His birth.

[Stanza 5]

Lines 1 and 2: Yes, the angels welcome the birth of Jesus with their “Glory to God in the highest”.  According to Luke 2:13-14, there was a multitude of angels exalting Jesus. Though there were heavenly hosts and they announced the birth of Jesus, Scripture does not support that they were singing.  Take a good look at Luke 2:13.  It says “saying”.  It comes from the Koine Greek word “legó”, which means “to say”.  That doesn’t mean that angels can’t sing (Job 38:7’s “morning stars” could be seen as angels), but the text doesn’t say that they sang.

As for the Koine Greek term Aineo (to praise), according to Bible Study Tools, praiseworthy singing is a possible translation for this word.  However, no major translation translates it with singing in mind.

[Stanza 6]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Stanza 3.

[Stanza 7]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary on Stanza 3, line 1 and Stanza 5, lines 1 and 2.

Line 3: Repeats line 1.

Line 4: Essentially repeats Stanza 1, line 1 put in the future tense.

[Stanza 8]

Lines 1-5: Repeats Stanza 3.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

This song contains all the elements of a typical Christmas song, with the exception of its connection with Easter.  I do not suspect that unbelievers will interpret this song differently than I do.  At least, I have no reason to think so, given the Christmas overtone and elements.  However, they probably aren’t aware of the issues I raised earlier.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God through its celebration of Christ’s birth and eventual salvation through His payment for our lawbreaking; However, its minor errors in the angelic songs and worldly anticipation hinders it somewhat.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Dara Maclean’s Bethlehem Skies is a typical modern take on celebrating Christ’s birth, including the baby Jesus, the angelic utterances, and peace on earth.  It unusually adds the Gospel as the purpose of His birth; to die for our sins that glorify God. However, it also includes a minor error regarding the entire world waiting for Him to come, as well as the singing angels that are Biblically weak at best.  Unbelievers should find interpretation easy.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: Bethlehem Skies (listen to the song) (buy the song)

Artist: Dara Maclean

EP: Bethlehem Skies (buy the EP)

Genre: Christmas, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2012

Duration: 3:43

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

10/25/2022 – Upon recent information from Heather’s comment on Joseph Mohr’s Silent Night, I updated my commentary on the singing angels.  However, I also adjusted the rating based on similar reviews, lowering the song’s overall rating from 8.5/10 to 8/10.  I also removed the potential recommendation for corporate worship.