IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT KIND OF MESSENGER

The Messenger's Good News for Zion!

But there is more. Isaiah 52:7 tells of good news for Jerusalem: "How comely upon the mountains are the feet of the one bringing good news, the one publishing peace, the one bringing good news of something better, the one publishing salvation, the one saying to Zion: 'Your God has become king!' " Imagine how thrilling it was to see a messenger approaching Jerusalem from the mountains! He must have news of God's goodwill. Jerusalem and her temple are to be rebuilt! And the messenger proclaims with triumphant enthusiasm: "Your God has become king!"

When Jehovah allowed the Babylonians to overturn his typical throne on which the kings of David's line sat, it might have seemed that He was no longer King. Marduk, Babylon's chief god, appeared to be king instead. However, when Zion's God overthrew Babylon, he demonstrated his universal sovereignty-that he was the greatest King. And to underscore this fact, Jerusalem, "the city of the great King," was to be reestablished, along with its temple. (Matthew 5:35) As for the messenger who brought such good news, although his feet were dusty, soiled and bruised, in the eyes of the lovers of Zion and her God, they looked, oh, so comely!

In a prophetic sense, Babylon's fall meant that God's kingdom was established and the hearer of good news was proclaimer of that fact. Further, this ancient courier, foretold through Isaiah, prefigured a messenger of grander good news-grander because of its sublime content and its Kingdom theme, with marvelous implications for all people of faith.

Ezekiel too was given glowing prophecies of restoration. He prophesied: "This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, . . .'I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the devastated places must be rebuilt, and people will certainly say: "That land yonder which was laid desolate has become like the garden of Eden." ' " -Ezekiel 36:33, 35.

In Babylonian captivity, God's people had been mourning over Zion. (Psalm 137:1) Now, they could rejoice. Isaiah exhorted: "Become cheerful, cry out joyfully in unison, you devastated places of Jerusalem, for Jehovah has comforted his people; he has repurchased Jerusalem. Jehovah has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth must see the salvation of our God." -Isaiah 52:9, 10.

Next time: Conclusion of The Messenger's Good News for Zion!

Watchtower, 1997