Silence Is Not an Option
For the week of September 28, 2024 / 25 Elul 5784
Nitzavim & Vayeilech
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 29:9 – 31:1-30
Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. (Isaiah 62:1)
Have you ever found yourself unable to stop talking? There are many reasons for that. Some people like the sound of their voice. Some have no respect for others. But then there are times when something is so vital that silence is not an option. That’s what was happening with the prophet Isaiah here. Though taking a closer look at the passage, it might not be Isaiah who was the one who couldn’t keep quiet, but rather God himself.
God’s concern for Jerusalem is such that he can’t stop talking about it. It might seem strange to think about God this way. But let’s not miss the point. God is so concerned for Jerusalem that he will speak about it until his heart’s desire for this city is completely fulfilled.
Tragically, God’s insistence in addressing this issue hasn’t prevented people from trying to shut him up. And that includes those who claim allegiance to him. Of course, they would never admit to this, all the while subtly and not-so-subtly denying or deflecting his words.
They may redefine Zion from being an actual place, the hill from which Jerusalem was derived. They claim it should be taken metaphorically as a generic, immaterial “people of God” sort of thing. They don’t realize the damage they do when they twist the very real David’s City into a spiritual transnational collective. Spiritualization of real things can feel so bright when it, in fact, undermines God’s grand plan for all creation. Similarly, focusing solely on how the messianic good news transforms individuals not only neglects God’s grand global narrative, it robs those same individuals of the fullness of God’s design for their lives.
Others, refusing to spiritualize literal promises to a literal people, limit God’s concern to the ancient past. Either Jerusalem had a sufficient taste of its destiny at some point, perhaps in Solomon’s day, or it lost its claim to God’s promises due to disobedience. Both of these perspectives misrepresent the passage. No matter how glorious Jerusalem was in Solomon’s day, it in no way measured up to what is described here. And as for the effects of disobedience, to think that Israel’s failures annul God’s promises is to betray great ignorance of Scripture. God is absolutely determined to bring Jerusalem to a glorious future.
God will not be silenced! He will fulfill every word of this prophecy. The world will behold a Jerusalem fully right with God as it does his will in every way in the earth. It will be fully delivered by God from all its troubles. However its reputation has been affected by its own poor judgments through the centuries, God’s delight in this city will be evident to all.
Because this matters to God so much, he calls others to join him in his cry:
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:6-7).
The redemption of Jerusalem through the Messiah is central to all that God is doing in and through his creation. To claim to follow the Messiah but neglect God’s heart for the Holy City is to be callous toward him.
If you are a follower of the Messiah, have you stopped to think that perhaps what’s important to God should be important to you? There is so much confusion over the place of Israel in God’s plan, and yet God’s passion regarding Jerusalem’s future is clear. If he won’t stay silent on this, why would you?
Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version
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