Tuesday, 11 August 2020

Who announces Yeshua?

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Question of the day: The question for today comes as a phrase out of the middle of Isaiah 52:7 ... "Who announces Yeshua?"

Answer: Before we answer that, let's understand the context a little. The full text of Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces shalom, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"

Who is heralding "good news?" You might be tempted to say, "We all are." And you would be right. But the one who perfectly exemplified this prophesy is John the Immerser. The "good news" is to "tell Zion that 'your God reigns.'" (Aren't you glad God is on the throne, reigning from Zion?) We all have His mandate to proclaim the good news (Gospel).

The Hebrew word for "announces" is Shema, which we all know very well means "hear" or "listen". How is it that Hebrew uses the same Hebrew word (Shema) for both listening and proclaiming? My amplified translation would be, "Proclaim in a way that causes others to listen."

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad.) This is the more famous "Shema." Notice that God is mentioned 3 times in the six Hebrew words, twice by His four letter name, and once by His name El. (The full meaning of Eloheynu is "He is our God.")

In the next verse (we can only study one verse at a time) the excitement is that every eye will see Yehovah RETURN to Zion. Isaiah 52:8 "The voice of your watchmen-- they will lift up their voices. Together they are shouting for joy! For they will see eye to eye when Adonai returns to Zion." Good news? Not just that He came, but that He is coming again! And there it is, prophesied by Isaiah, 700 years before Yeshua came even the first time, and 2700 years before today. To "return" Yeshua has to come once and then come again. For those of you who remember our beloved friend, the late Paco Plaillero, "Now that's finger lickin' good." And good news we should all proclaim in Zion.