Strength for Difficult Days

MEMORY SELECTION: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” —Isaiah 41:10

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 40:1-11

THE children of Israel have had a long history of rebellion against the providence and leading of God. Yet he blessed them repeatedly and delivered them from the depths of despair on numerous occasions. Though they suffered much and often for their sins, God heard the cry of the Jews and at times dealt bountifully with them, depending upon their obedience and faithfulness.

The selected scriptural reading points out that the Israelites would again be blessed at the conclusion of that long period of exile which began after our Lord proclaimed that their house would be left unto them desolate. Isaiah says, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare [appointed time, margin] is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”—40:1,2

Jesus’ pronouncement at his first advent that the house of Israel would be left desolate (Matt. 23:38) marks the turning point in their experience. Previously, they had been especially blessed and cared for by the hand of God since their history began as a nation at the death of Jacob. From the time of their rejection of the Messiah they would receive a like period of punishment.

In connection with this, Zechariah says (9:9-12): “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have set forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare I will render double unto thee.”

Jeremiah also speaks of the turning point for ill in Jewish history. He says (16:13,18): “Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor. … And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.”

In consideration of the prophets’ references to Israel’s receiving “double” at the Lord’s hand for her sins, it is necessary to examine the word “double” as it appears in the Hebrew scriptures. It means literally “the other half” or “the second half.” In the case of Israel they were to receive “a second portion” in connection with God’s overruling providences with them as a nation. They had enjoyed a long period of blessing (although occasionally interspersed with periods of chastisement from the hand of the Lord) from the time their nation originated at the death of Jacob. Their rejection of the Master indicated a turning point. From that time until the second advent they would be scattered into a land that they knew not and where they would experience persecution. For the Lord said he would not show them favor.

History shows this has been the experience of the Jews since the time they rejected Messiah. Isaiah, however, says that deliverance will be granted to the children of Israel when the kingdom of righteousness is established. “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”—40:9-11

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