THE KINGDOM OF GOD 125 These exalted hymns of praise and adoration are as far removed from the grim prophecies and imprecatory psalms that proclaim the universal destruction of the heathen as the east is from the west. Israel's Realisation of Its Missionary Ideal. The unknown prophet who sometime in the Greek period wrote down the graphic story of Jonah was keenly alive to the glaring inconsistencies in later Judaism. Being a skilled literary artist, he chose to caricature them and to make them so ridiculous that even the Jews themselves would laugh at them. To accomplish his purpose he, like Jesus, employed the short story. The hero of this ancient Oriental tale was not lacking in courage and zeal, but he was hopelessly narrow-minded and intolerant. A few noble Jews of the dispersion were guided by the missionary ideals of the earlier prophets and did valiant work; but Jonah represents the many who, during the fourth and third centuries before, Christ, like the author of the book of Esther, contemplated with exultation the wholesale slaughter of the heathen. He was even ready to defy Jehovah and risk his own life that his nation's foes, the guilty Ninevites, might be utterly destroyed. In contrast to the heathen sailors, who did all in their power to save this ill-starred Jew, he was a sorry figure. Later he bitterly complained to Jehovah, not only because the sun was allowed to beat down upon his unworthy head, but chiefly because the common Father of mankind had listened to the prayers of the repentant Ninevites (Jonah 41-5): But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to Jehovah, and said, 'Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live!' And Jehovah said, 'Doest thou well to be angry?' Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city. The figure which Jonah presents is as ludicrous as it is pathetic. The normally minded men in every age laugh at it, as the author intended they should. He is both ludicrous and pathetic because he completely lacks the true missionary spirit. A narrow, selfish, racial patriotism has so blinded his eyes that he petulantly finds fault with a God who cares for the great city, heathen though it be, in which there are a hundred and twenty thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; besides much cattle! In the ancient story Jonah, the incarnation of misguided, intolerant Judaism, brings out by contrast the true missionary attitude, which is represented by Jehovah himself. It is the same missionary spirit which inspired the later Jewish proselyting movement and fired the early Christians with love for all men and zeal to save even the most despised. It is the same broad missionary ideal that is again taking possession of the minds of the leaders of Christendom. Under its influence they are beginning to recognise that all the world is but one great missionary field. It is gradually kindling a divine love which glows not merely when they seek to satisfy the needs of the distant heathen, but also when they face the crying needs of the great city at their door. It is the natural corrective of the false attitude of the narrow-minded patriots whose misguided zeal threatens to bring dire calamity upon both themselves and society. This missionary spirit, inherited from the great prophets and Jesus, promises to-day to prove the supreme solvent of society's gravest political and social problems. THE SECOND ISAIAH'S IDEAL OF SOCIAL SERVICE The Historical Background of the Second Isaiah. The painful and discouraging centuries that followed the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. witnessed the rise of the two greatest poets and interpreters of life that ancient Israel has given to the world. The one is the author of the poem of Job. The other is an unknown prophet, designated to-day as Second Isaiah because his immortal prophecies have been appended to those of the earlier statesman-prophet Isaiah. From this anonymous prophet comes the successive series of poems found in Isaiah 40 to 55. In all probability from the same great soul, but from a later period in his life, come those found in Isaiah 56 to 66. Into these poems he has woven the rich results of his own and his nation's experience. During the years of distress and ignominy, when the Jews were helpless in the hands of their heathen conquerors, the experiences through which they then passed were sufficient to break the spirit and daunt the most courageous. Their faith in Jehovah's justice and love was strained to the point of breaking. Their capital city and temple lay in ruins. Even though in 520 B.C., through the inspiring sermons of Haggai and Zechariah, the ancient sanctuary was restored, disaster and disappointment continued to fall heavily upon the few faithful members of the poor, struggling Jewish community. The great majority of the Jews whose fathers had been carried to Babylon or had sought refuge in Egypt remained in the lands of the exile and contributed little to the revival of their nation's life. It is on this discouraging background that the immortal songs of the Second Isaiah find their natural setting. The Prophet's Aims. The opening words of his prophecy (Is. 401a), Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith Jehovah, reveal one of his primary aims. It was to dispel the haunting doubts which beset all thoughtful Jews, to bind up their wounds, and to give to them encouragement and hope (Is. 4222): A people spoiled and plundered! And hidden in prison houses, They have become a spoil, with none to rescue, An object of plunder, with none to say, 'Restore.' His second aim was to interpret their past and present history as a people, so that they would appreciate its significance and realise that all that had come to them was but the necessary training for a great, divine service. His third aim was to hold up before them an ideal of service so lofty and yet so practical that they would both lose and find themselves in performing it. He further aimed to show them that the bitter shame and the cruel suffering of the present, instead of being an evidence, as was popularly believed, of divine displeasure, if nobly borne possessed an eternal redemptive power. Finally, he was endeavouring to arouse the latent loyalty of the scattered exiles, and to fill them with such a burning zeal for service that many of them would give up their homes and opportunities for ease and luxury in Babylonia and Egypt and come back to help restore the struggling, poverty-stricken Jewish community, and thus again give Israel a place and a voice among the nations. The Prophet's Interpretation of Israel's Destiny. Earlier patriots and prophets had held up before their race the promises of material prosperity and glory. They had firmly believed that by virtue of their moral superiority they were destined to conquer and to rule over the less enlightened nations. Through all the years the majority of the people had waited expectantly for the time when Jehovah would re ISRAEL'S DESTINY 129 deem the promises that had been associated with the name of Abraham and the forefathers of their race. In the terms of the old Balaam oracle they believed that (Num. 248) God, who brought Israel forth out of Egypt, Is for him like the strength of the wild ox. A larger vision of Jehovah's character, a more intimate acquaintance with the character and aspirations of the heathen nations, and a developed social consciousness had led the unknown author of Isaiah 40 to 55 to see clearly the utter vanity of these material hopes. In the light of his own and Israel's enlarged experience, he declared that his race was called to suffer and to serve, and through suffering and service to conquer gloriously. Its weapons were not the iron sword, but truth and love and service, which are alone invincible. Hence all the painful, soul-testing experiences through which it was passing were but a part of its training to fit it to perform an immortal service for Jehovah and for mankind. Israel's destiny, therefore, was to be Jehovah's prophet and apostle to the nations; in the performance of this supreme service it was to realise its highest national aspirations. The Character of the Servant Whom Jehovah Needed to Realise His Purpose. The Second Isaiah appealed to his race as a whole; but he was fully aware that the majority were both deaf and blind to the truths which experience had taught and which he was seeking to interpret (Is. 4219, 20): Who is blind but my servants, And as deaf as their rulers? Much have they seen, without observing it. Though your ears were open, ye did not hear. The prophet hoped that his appeal would at least find a response in the minds of the more receptive. Repeatedly he cries out (Is. 517): |