Title: The Coming God of Salvation, December 25
Isaiah 62:6-12
the coming God of salvation
after return from captivity
Among the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, which deals with the patriarchs of Israel and the Exodus from Egypt, and the Biography of the Prophets, which dealt with the specific history of Israel, contain narratives within them, so you can follow them to some extent with a little effort. But the Old Testament, what we call the latter prophets, is difficult to understand. Among them, the most representative Bible is the book of Isaiah we read together today. There are two reasons why the book of Isaiah is difficult to read. First, it is in the form of a rhyme poem. It is similar to that it is difficult to understand poetry rather than novels these days. Another reason is that the historical background of the book of Isaiah is too far from us. The time difference of 2,500 years ago, as well as the situation of Isaiah and their people, is very different from ours. So, even if you read the book of Isaiah, you often do not feel it realistically.
Last week's sermon on the third Sunday of Advent was Isaiah 61, and in that sermon, I mentioned that this so-called Third Isaiah was written after the Exile. In 587 B.C.E., Jerusalem was captured by Babylon, and many of the Jews were taken captive to Babylon, including many of the social leaders, including Daniel. After Babylon was defeated by the Persians, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland around 539 BC by the decree of Cyrus. It was about 50 years of captivity. Just because they returned to their homeland doesn't mean they're all back. After that, the 2nd and 3rd rounds of returning home continued.
Perhaps you know what ancient war means. Wars are horrendous in both East and West, but the ancient wars were more serious. Important cities were utterly destroyed, all the country's treasures were taken, and people were taken into slavery. If you lose in a war, you lose everything; if you win backwards, you gain everything. That is why Joshua killed all who lived in Jericho and Ai when he attacked them.
Judging from this historical progression alone, the bond that had lost its country to Babylon had to be completely erased from history. But fortunately, the Babylonian Empire did not last that long. Just as Korea was liberated because of Japan's defeat in World War II, Jews were also able to return to their homeland because Babylon was destroyed by Persia.
But just imagine. What would happen to Jerusalem, which had been abandoned for more than 50 years after being devastated by Babylon? Of course, there were some Jews left there, but the defeated people could not squeak. A governor sent from Babylon made Judea only a target for exploitation. The temple in Jerusalem was webbed, and the priests and scribes ceased to function. The glory of the days of David and Solomon has become a degraded land that cannot be found anywhere else. This was the reality facing them who returned to their homeland and Jerusalem with the thrill of liberation. Rebuilding a nation once it has been destroyed is not that simple. Where can I get the money I need to restore the Jerusalem Temple? Can the theological and academic traditions be easily restored? Can the national consciousness weakened by Babylon's colonial rule be restored in an instant? After the return from captivity, many prophets came out and proclaimed God's word, but the problems before them could not be resolved in a single day. One such prophet is Isaiah.
rebuilding of jerusalem
A nation's legitimacy is directly linked to the reconstruction of the capital. So, for the Jews who returned from Babylon, rebuilding Jerusalem was the biggest task. Isaiah exclaims in verses 6 and 7. “Jerusalem, I set guards over your city. Day and night, they must never be silent. ‘Should you, who will awaken the LORD, keep your mouths shut? Let God crawl and rebuild Jerusalem so that he cannot stand still, and make it the pride of the world.’”
Usually, the reason for setting up guards is to monitor the movements of the enemy, but Isaiah today is not talking about that. The task of this sentry is to awaken Yahweh. Does awakening Yahweh mean that Yahweh might be forgetting something important? It is not. This sentence is a kind of metaphor and symbol. This has two meanings. The first is that the rebuilding of Jerusalem is urgently needed. The rebuilding of Jerusalem is so urgent that a sentinel must be erected and Yahweh must be awakened. Second, the rebuilding of Jerusalem is ultimately the work of Yahweh. If the rebuilding of Jerusalem had been easily possible on their own, these sermons would not have been necessary. The prophets thought that Yahweh God had intervened in Jewish history. The rebuilding of Jerusalem is possible only by Yahweh God. So the watchmen of the city of Jerusalem had to remind God not to forget the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Awakening Yahweh doesn't mean they're going to use a swarm. Yahweh God has already promised it. Based on that promise, they cling to Yahweh God. That promise is stated in verses 7 and 8. “I will never give up your grain again. I will not give your enemies to eat. I will never again give your wine to foreigners. I will never give you the wine of your sweat. The one who reaps will eat the grain he has gathered, and he will praise the LORD. The one who gathers the grapes will drink his wine, and he will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.” Food and drink are listed in the text. Grain and wine. This is an essential element of survival. In Korean terms, it is rice and makgeolli. How amusing is the expression of drinking wine in the Bible courtyard. Doesn't this actually mean that the land of Israel, or Jerusalem, is seen as God's sanctuary rather than the temple in Jerusalem? In any case, Isaiah is putting the future of Jerusalem in the hands of Yahweh, who has promised to survive in this way.
Survival is a reality that lies at the bottom of salvation. This means that there is no more absolute salvation than survival. All the immoral events in Israel's history can also be understood only from this horizon of existence. Such is the case, for example, of Joshua's summary execution of Achan's family. For the survival of the nation of Israel, the Achan family was killed by the people's trial. The fact that the Israelites did not eat pork was also related to their survival. Israel lived with the belief that Yahweh God ensured their survival. Now, to those who have experienced the terrible Babylonian captivity, Isaiah prophesies that Yahweh God guarantees grain and wine.
history of liberation
Israel's survival does not end with grain and wine, but with political liberation. No matter how much food is guaranteed, what's the point if you lose your national identity as Israel? The survival of a nation is political liberation. During the Babylonian captivity, they faced such a great crisis of national survival. However, Yahweh God sent the Israelites back to their homeland through Cyrus of Persia. The advance team that has already arrived in Jerusalem is working hard to rebuild Jerusalem. Now the 2nd and 3rd prisoners return to their homeland. Those who came first must prepare for the latter to return and settle. Isaiah proclaims these words: “Go ahead, go through this gate of the city and that gate. Clear the way for God's people to come. Wipe the great road and polish it again. Remove the stumbling blocks. Raise the banner high before the people” (verse 19).
We can predict how eagerly they waited for the return of the remaining captives from Babylon. It was because they were waiting for the day they would return to Jerusalem for 50 or 70 years. Of those who still remain in Babylon, there are probably not many exiles left. Rather, the 2nd and 3rd generations would have been much more. These are the young people needed for the survival of the nation of Israel. Their return is God's event of salvation.
The prophets thus thoroughly accepted the salvation of Yahweh God not only as a matter of individual spiritual level or individual survival, but thoroughly as a matter for the survival of the whole nation. The Exodus is the most representative event. The most basic belief in Yahweh in the Old Testament is that Yahweh God was the one who brought them out of slavery in Egypt.
God's Coming
Isaiah was an imaginative prophet. Isaiah, who proclaims to pave the way for the Babylonian captives to return, now proclaims these words with a completely new spiritual imagination. “He who will save you is coming. He brings the people he found with the reward of victory. He comes with the people he earned for his hard work” (verse 11). Can you picture this picture in your mind? The Babylonian captives walk ahead, followed by God. Those people are the people God has saved. Just like a diplomat who rescued prisoners of war, God brings the prisoners of Israel. That God will now come to Jerusalem and rebuild Jerusalem. This Jerusalem will be the pride of the world in the future. People will call Jerusalem the “city that cannot be abandoned” (12b). All of these statements of Isaiah mean that he staked Israel's fate in God's salvation. God will make Israel eat and drink grain and wine, and bring back the captives who are still in Babylon, and Jerusalem will become a great city of holy people.
Look closely at Isaiah's statement. “He who will save you is coming” (11b). Now Isaiah could not confirm salvation. Many captives still remain in Babylon, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem is uncertain. The Lord God, who will save us, has not yet arrived here. But he is definitely coming. Not yet, but definitely coming.
This tension is still with us today. God has given us life and has promised to complete it. But now we live in a world where life is destroyed, in a world that is not yet complete. Just like Isaiah's prophecy that Jerusalem can be rebuilt only by God, we also believe that true salvation is God's exclusive action, and we only pave the way according to Isaiah's prophecy to pave the way for the return of the captives. We live in this tension, but one thing is very clear to us. The fact is that God is coming. The 2,000-year-old Jesus is the one who came as that very God. Jesus, who ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of God, is the One who will come back to us. With his second coming, the world will be completely saved. That God is coming to us now.