We have arrived at Advent week 2. As a new alternative to advent writings, I long to talk about the prophecies that foretold the long expected Messiah. When I think about my own anticipation of something — anything that had a long wait, there is nothing in my life that required centuries of predictions and waiting. I cannot relate to long running expectations, other than through music.
An old prophecy
Jewish people did have a concept of long-running expectations, since they were waiting for a Messiah. There is a well known passage in Isaiah in which God elected to send out Isaiah as a prophet. In context, Isaiah asked how long it would take for the Hebrew people to come to know God’s truth. God’s answer was sobering:
He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” Isaiah 6:9-13
An Unappreciated idea
When Paul was preaching to Jews in Rome, he referred to this Isaiah passage, and in the final moments of his sermon, he said: “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” (Acts 28:28).
The Jews would be hard-hearted, about anticipating God’s truth! They had heard this story so many times:
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- never understanding what they hear
- with no insight into what they heard
- which resulted in ‘calloused’ attitudes
- always unwilling to catch the important details
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Imagine it: what if someone walked up to you and said “you are going to do xyz!” Perhaps your first thought would be – “How dare you pretend to know what I would do!” As an outside observer, we might be able to see the issues. Maybe not. “I am not anything like that! Of course I will do xyz (but internally they are thinking ‘abc’ rather than ‘xyz’). There are a lot of possibilities as to why the Jewish people would react unfavorably to this prediction. It could be a matter of having a totally different outcome expectation, or perhaps the truth has been heard so many times they just cannot believe it.
A new Gift
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- see with their eyes
- hear with their ears
- understand with their hearts
- and turn to be healed
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