A Complete Reversal

This reflection is part of the ongoing Forest Hills Haftorah Series. The rest of the content can be found here: https://www.sefaria.org/groups/FHJC-Haftorah-Series .

This is one of those weeks when I almost want to just leave you with the words of the prophet himself, with nothing whatsoever from me; His writing is just so poetic, so inspiring and lofty - how could I say anything that would add to it???

So with that, my first recommendation is to just open up a Bible to (Deutero-)Isaiah 60, in whatever language you are most comfortable with (though ideally in Hebrew if you can) and soak in his words.

Were you to do so, here is what would greet you first:

The Herald will then go on to develop and play with this recurring motif of light all the way through verse 9. The imagery is astounding, and the force of his words makes the light really burst forth from the page!

Remember all those tears we read about? All those passages about a miserable, wretched Zion, weeping throughout the night? Well, all of that is now beyond light-years away. What we're getting here is a divine spotlight, shining on a beautified and majestic Zion, emanating such grace and dignity such that even all of the royalty of the world around her cannot help but be drawn towards her.

I love what happens in verse 5. Until then, we've been given the bigger perspective from the outside looking in, as we join the nations as they gaze in wonder at Zion's new-found majesty.

But then in verse 5, there is a shift, as we now watch from the perspective of Zion herself, seeing her beloved children being brought back, her heart "throbbing and swelling" with love and joy.

For the next several verses we continue to look on as people of the nations flock from near and far, bringing gifts and in order to get a glimpse of the one whom "YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, has made beautiful," (verse 9).

We then get to verse 10, at which point the visitors take it upon themselves to rebuild Zion's walls for her, with even kings participating. But while historically, walls were meant to keep out potential invaders, here Zion's walls must be entirely for beauty, for there could be no one who could wish anything ill upon her:

You might recognize verses 14-16, for we have addressed them before in our discussion of the Messiah Reimagined (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/256449?lang=bi ) . Royal imagery that used to apply only to the royal Davidic line now applies to Zion herself, and all of her children.

Here they are again:

And finally, the last four verses are well worth quoting altogether:

Wow, there are several beautiful images here and I don't know which one speaks to me more; There's YHWH's illuminating presence being so imminent and palpable such that the role of the sun and the moon is rendered moot; And there's the image of Zion as a precious plant that YHWH tenders and cares for with utmost delicacy and attentiveness.

Notice how we ended coming full-circle, returning to the motif of light. This is surely an important one, for YHWH's favorable presence is generally thought of as what we're seeing here; a divine radiance.

Consider, for example, the priestly blessing:

And here's another example not as well-known, but that which begins a prayer-peom filled with incredible imagery.

One thing about our beloved Herald is that he is a prophet very late in the game; Well after Isaiah, Micah, Amos, Hosea, and Jeremiah, as well as much of the non-prophetic literature such as psalms, to give some prophet-examples. And so he is very aware, and even well-read in much of what would eventually become part of the TaNaKhic-collection. For example, you might remember how we saw last week in From Death to Life (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/258570?lang=bi ) that the Herald was playing with tent-imagery themes in Jeremiah.

The same is true in this week's reading, and it's all over the place; but I'll just leave you with two examples.

The first one comes from a genre of prayer-poetry found in the psalms-collection called Royal Psalms. It's a long poem so I'll jump around and only show you the relevant parts:

The first thing worth noticing here is that this is a poem to YHWH on behalf of the poet's beloved monarch. Our poet asks that YHWH should ensure that the king endures for as long as the sun and moon lasts. Then he asks for others to recognize the king's authority; some bowing down to him, and others bringing gifts; but that all royalty of the nations should serve him. Then we get more sun imagery.

In our Haftorah we see the Herald pick up on every one of these motifs, but rather than apply them to the Davidic king, he applies them to Zion as a whole. If you read our Haftorah inits entirely, you'll see that even some of the same specific place-names, from where the gifts are being brought, are the same!

But there are some noticeable differences, and the differences are as important as the parallels. In the poem, the longevity of the sun and the moon are symbols of the king's stability on his throne. But then in the Herald, he states that the sun and moon are forever moot, because the radiance of a divine king will now forever serve whatever purposes the luminaries had.

And now onto our other example; The second lament-poem in the lamentations-collection is another place to look for some linguistic and thematic parallels that the Herald uses in order to further demonstrate a complete reversal of misfortune.

Here are some of them - though you will very likely find much more if you go through the chapter on your own - (especially if you do it in Hebrew).

Have you been able to connect any of the dots already? Here are some that I've found:

While in the lament-poem the walls are town down; The Herald describes Zion watching as the very kings of the world help to build them back up.

While in the lament YHWH's wrath is depicted as a burning fire, bringing devastation on Zion; In the Herald YHWH's glowing, radiating presence is a source of comfort and an indication of divine favor.

While in the lament, passers-by wag their head hiss in derision, thinking that this could not possibly be the once-majestic, joy of all the earth!; The Herald quotes YHWH promising that, While people once avoided your city, forsaking and hating you, now I will make you eternally majestic and a joy to the world!

And finally, my favorite one out of the above; While in the lament, Zion is called to arise! in the middle of the night to cry, along with her infants faint with hunger; The Herald calls on her to arise!, for YHWH, and her children, have returned!

On a side note, it is such comparisons like these that remind me how important it is to try my hardest to have as much of a familiarity with the works throughout the TaNaKh as a whole as I can; for the TaNaKh is not a book, but an ongoing conversation, in which many seemingly stand-alone texts are constantly responding to something found elsewhere. While Isaiah 60 is an immensely wonderful chapter in-and-of-itself, it can't land anywhere near as powerful as its intended impact on its readers without us knowing what other texts or ideas it is responding to.

So with that, I'll leave you with a discussion question:

Which of the above juxtapositions - be it something specific from the lament-poem, or something from the prayer-poem of Psalm 72, do you think has the biggest, most dramatic affect on your reading of (Deutero-)Isaiah?

May our Lord-Almighty, YHWH-of-Legions, the Mighty One of Israel, look upon us all with as much favor as he did in the days of the Herald! And may the time come speedily in our days when we merit basking in the warmth of his divine presence once again.