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SPEAK TENDERLY TO JERUSALEM

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:2).

The context of this text is found in the second section of Isaiah. Isaiah is writing around 700 B.C. about the situation of Israel and Jerusalem. The kings include Ahab, an unfaithful king, and Hezekiah, the reformer, one who trusted God. The northern part of Israel had been carried off by the Assyrians but Jerusalem was delivered by God and His angel. Chapters 40-66 look forward, intertwining several ideas about the future. The section from chapters 40-55 is known as “The Servant” section, as it speaks in different ways about a coming Servant. Sometimes it refers to the nation, at other times to an individual. The most famous text found here is “The Suffering Servant” of Isaiah 53, often quoted in the New Testament and applied to Jesus.

Chapter 40 is looking into the future to bring comfort to Jerusalem. As we can see from the text, they paid for their sins. What it was looking forward to was Babylon conquering Jerusalem around 605 B.C. A remnant returns from Babylon in 536 B.C. because of the freedom given by King Cyrus of Persia (see chapter 45). Isaiah foresaw this, of course through the hand of God. Isaiah 40:3 gives an indication of the return as a voice calling in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord. Israel would return home and would find comfort (1). As is often the case, New Testament writers use this text to refer to Jesus as well.

The rest of chapter 40 speaks about the power of God, who can bring about this return, concluding with verse 31: “But those who hope (or trust in some translations) in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah is comforting the nation because of the difficulty that they will face over the next one hundred and fifty years.

We draw comfort from various text like these because we know that God rules. That doesn’t make life any easier. Sometimes we wonder like Gideon did, asking the angel where God was (see Judges 6:13). For Israel, nothing would be the same after the Babylonian captivity. There would be a Temple but no king. Israel would be ruled by a series of foreign powers and sometimes would be a battleground between those powers (2). In a time of great expectations, Jesus was born, with angels and wise men and shepherds and the death of children. Israel expected a mighty king like David to come and defeat the Romans; Jesus came to defeat sin. We might look at Isaiah 40:2 as part of a future glimpse into the work of the Messiah. Sin would be “paid for” through Jesus.

The comfort of Jerusalem and the Jewish people has been difficult. In 66 A.D. they revolted against Rome and were defeated, with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and Masada in 73 A.D. ending the revolt. Many were scattered into what then was known as the Diaspora. In 135 A.D. they revolted again and Jerusalem was leveled by the Romans and the Jews scattered again. Relations between Christians and Jews remained cordial for about 400, according to Rodney Stark but as Christians became more powerful, the Jews were blamed for the death of Christ (3) and persecuted by the powers that be. Many were forced to convert or moved, some died. The rise of the Muslims in the 600s brought more difficulties for the Jews. Someone said that Muhammad had met perverted views of both Judaism and Christianity. The on and off relationship in Islamic countries between Jews and Muslims is interesting history. Sometimes Jews prospered and sometimes they were persecuted. When the Spanish threw out the Muslims in 1492 from Spain, they also threw out the Jews. In the late 1800s there arose a philosophy of Zionism, a return of the Jews to Israel. After World War I, the British mandated a portion of Palestine to the Jews, to the consternation of the Muslims. Then there was the holocaust and the death of six million Jews in the German land that was supposedly Christian (4). In 1948, the Jews returned to Israel and established a nation, and since have fought five wars to hold on to it.

I first heard the idea of “speaking tenderly to Jerusalem” from a brother who worked at the World’s Trade Center in New York City in the 1980s. He was reaching out to various ethnic groups, speaking the gospel to them. What he was doing was converting Jews to Christ as the Messiah but then encouraging them to maintain their cultural influences. He stated that they did not have to give up the Passover, the Sabbath, and other Jewish customs to be Christians. He drew on several events in the New Testament to show this. One was Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem in Acts 21-22. Here we see Paul fulfilling a vow that the Jerusalem elders encouraged him to take. Paul’s theological philosophy is seen in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 where he became all things to all people to save some.

We know that there were conflicts between Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament. We see in Acts 6 in the case of the widows, in Acts 13-14 in conflicts in Asia Minor, and the Jerusalem conference attempting to settle the matter in Acts 15. The letters to the Galatians and the Romans also dealt with these issues. In the end, in my mind, the Jews could live as Jews as Jewish Christians or what is known today as Messianic Jews. They could keep there cultural traditions and still be Christians. Part of our difficulty is that we have tended to ignore culture in the presentation of the gospel. We have often presented American traditions as gospel. Missionaries at one time built buildings in Africa along the lines of those seen in Europe and America thinking this was Biblical. Ian Fair was converted in Africa and went to Abilene Christian University in the late 60s. The first day on campus he wore the typical outfit of shorts and shirt seen among the white people of South Africa. He said that people stared and laughed at him and he never again wore that outfit (5).

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem means that we do not have to ask Jews to change their cultural ideas to become Christians. They can celebrate their festivals and maintain their food laws, something we should be alert to, and still be followers of Jesus. There should be no binding of our laws on them nor their laws on us. The problem with any cultural situation is in its conflicts with salvation issues, few of which there are, or moral standards. The Christians of the Roman Empire saw the killing of baby girls as immoral and rescued them, raising them as their own. The British stopped the burning alive of the widow on the bones of her husband, a custom in India. Others have worked within the cast system of India, changing long held attitudes. Some cultural customs are good, but some are not.

There is another thought in speaking tenderly to Jerusalem today. Israel today is really not a religious nation though they do observe their holidays. Israel is a free democratic nation today, not perfect. For over sixty years, this small country has fought for its survival against overwhelming odds. Many misrepresentations have been presented in the media and propaganda from its enemies. Anti-Semitism is rising especially in Europe. Even in America, the left, which surprising includes many Jews, appear to want Israel reduced if not eliminated. In some circles, both Jews and Christians are hated.

Conservative Christians have tended to be strong supporters of Israel. Conservative Jews such as Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Daniel Lapin have stated that America has been good for Jews, and that those who see Christians as a threat here have looked at European history rather than American history. They have also stated that those nations that have treated Jews well have been blessed whereas those nations that have not have suffered. Spain was a world power until the 1500s and declined after casting out the Jews. What more can be said about Germany. Antidotal yes but something to think about.

So where do we stand? That is a good question. Some have suggested that Christians have “replaced” the Jews as God’s chosen people. In a sense this is true. We are to be a holy people set apart. Yet when we read Romans 9-11, I get a different picture. Whatever some of those difficult texts mean, God appears to still have a special place for the Jews. I do not know if it means we are to support the nation of Israel or if this is a focus on speaking about the Messiah, or some combination (6).

Given all that the Jews have gone through in their history, maybe Isaiah’s words of comfort and speaking tenderly should be looked at again. Let’s pray for the peace of Israel. Let’s also pray for the Palestinians who appear, at least to some extent, are pawns in a culture of anger against Israel.

George B. Mearns

(1) See Psalm 137, a song of captivity, for the lament of the situation.

(2) The Maccabean revolt of 168-165 B.C. is one case that led to the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.

(3) What was said in this both then and now is that the Jews were exclusively blamed for Christ’s death. It is very clear that Peter understood more was involved, using the term “lawless men” in his sermon in Acts 2:22-24), all of which was God’s plan. We do need to be careful how we speak.

(4) Adolf Hitler was a nominal Catholic who rejected it and turned to German paganism, persecuted Christians who opposed him, and demand that the state church stand behind him, sending spies into churches to make sure that happened. Bruce Walker has written on this.

(5) Today we are much more diverse and would probably not notice such dress.

(6) Some people of the premilliennial persuasion have Israel being the vocal point of the end times, but this is a pick and choose use of scripture ignoring contexts. To let things slide so that Jesus can return, or to politically try to influence such is a dangerous position that could lead to another kind of destruction and leave people disillusioned with Christianity.