Handel's Messiah: The Person and Work of Christ

15. 'Good Tidings to Zion'

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
Against the dark backdrop of thousands of years of sin, spiritual adultery, and pagan conquest came the glorious good tidings, "Behold your God!"

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 15 of a series. Read part 14.

Against the dark backdrop of thousands of years of man's sin, Israel's spiritual adultery, and pagan conquest of the Promised Land came the glorious good tidings, "Behold your God!"

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain. O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God!

The words of the next section on Handel's Messiah are a paraphrase of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:9. In the more literal translation given in the Authorized and New King James versions, Zion or Jerusalem is the bringer, not the recipient, of the good tidings of Messiah's coming:

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!

We find multiple antitypes of these prophetic words in the New Testament. The first is found in John the Baptist's great proclamation, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

These were indeed good tidings against the dark backdrop of history.

The Hopeless Condition of Mankind

Mankind had utterly failed to keep God's moral law since the Fall.

For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one."

"Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "the poison of asps is under their lips"; "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."

"Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known."

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 6:9-20)

The Wretched Condition of Israel

National Israel had utterly failed to keep God's ceremonial law since Sinai, and had engaged in continual spiritual adultery ever since her days in Egypt.

She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, for in her youth they had lain with her, pressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their immorality upon her. Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. (Ezekiel 23:8-9)

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:7-9)

400 Years of "Silent" Preparation

After the return of a remnant from captivity in Assyria and Babylon, there were 400 years of prophetic silence during which Israel suffered greatly. But during this time of silence, God was in fact openly preparing the scene for the appearance of the Messiah, often in the most unexpected ways.

Beginning in 532 B.C., Israel came under the control of the Persian Empire for two hundred years. In 331 B.C., Alexander the Great defeated Darius of Persia, and his Greek empire ruled Israel. After Alexander's death nine years later, a further series of pagan kings ruled the land.

The most notorious of these was Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled from 175 to 164 B.C. Antiochus overthrew the Levitical priesthood and desecrated the reconstructed temple by sacrificing unclean animals on its altar. Judas Maccabeus led a revolt against Antiochus. Although the Levitical priesthood was restored, warfare continued for nearly a decade, and religious and political infighting continued for another hundred years.

In 63 B.C., the Roman general Pompey the Great conquered Israel, putting the region under control of the Caesars. Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures and religious practices became thoroughly intermingled. Herod the Great, a Moabite, was appointed king of Judea as a vassal of Rome. It was this Herod who was king when Jesus was born. The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus issued the decree of census and taxation which, in God's providence, led to the Messiah's birth in Bethlehem of Judea in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Thirty-three years later, Jesus the Messiah was executed on a Roman cross, again in fulfillment of prophecy.

During the Greek and Roman occupations of Israel, the Pharisees came to exercise great power and influence by establishing a massive network of their own regulations in place of the Law of Moses. Another party, the Sadducees, also came to prominence, exercising political and religious power through the Sanhedrin, rejecting the prophetic books of the Old Testament, and denying the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

But in this spiritually dark period, a remnant still believed that their salvation would come to fruition with the appearance of the Messiah. And in God's providence, the Greeks and Romans had literally paved the way for the subsequent spreading of the Gospel through their construction of an extensive network of roads throughout their empires, and the establishment of a common commercial language, Koine Greek, which God the Holy Spirit used as the language of the New Testament.

Into this environment, contrary to the expectations of all but a few, Jesus the Redeemer came to Zion (Isaiah 59:20).

 

Next: The Significance of Zion

hm_15


Copyright 1998-2024

TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org

All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only,
for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included.

We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article
for the convenience of your readers.

Copyright 1998-2024 TeachingTheWord Ministries