"Rest From Your Pain"

Babylon's fall will be a relief for Israel.  It will mean release from captivity and the opportunity to return to the Promised Land.  Hence, Isaiah now says: "Jehovah will show mercy to Jacob, and he is yet certain to choose Israel; and he will actually give them rest upon their soil and the alien resident must be joined to them, and they must attach themselves  to the house of Jacob.  And peoples will actually take them  and bring them to their own place, and the house of Israel must take them to themselves as a possession upon the soil of Jehovah as menservants and as maidservants; and they must become the captors of those holding them  captive, and they must have in subjection those who were driving them to work."  (Isaiah 14:1, 2)   "Jacob" here refers to Israel as a whole-all 12 tribes .  Jehovah will show mercy to "Jacob" by allowing the nation to return home.  They will be accompanied by thousands of foreigners, many of whom will serve the Israelites as temple servants. Some Israelites will even come to have authority over their former captors.

Gone will be the anguish of living in exile.  Instead, Jehovah will give his people "rest from [their] pan and from [their] agitation and from the hard slavery in which [they] were made a slave."  (Isaiah 14:3)  Having been freed from the physical burdens of slavery, Israel will no longer suffer the pain and agitation of living among worshipers of false gods.  (Ezra 3:1; Isaiah 32:18) commenting on this, the book Lands and Peoples of the Bible says: "To the Babylonian his gods altogether such as himself, in all the worst aspects of his character.  They were cowards, drunkards and imbeciles."  What a relief to escape such a degraded religious environment! 

Nevertheless, Jehovah's mercy is not unconditional.  His people must express remorse for their wickedness, which moved God to punish them so severely.  (Jeremiah 3:25)  Open, heartfelt  confessions will bring Jehovah's forgiveness.  (See Nehemiah 9:6-37; Daniel 9:5) This same principle holds true today. Since "there is no man that does not sin," all of need Jehovah's mercy.  (2 Chronicles 6:36) Jehovah the merciful God. lovingly invites us to confess our sins to him, to repent, and to cease any wrong course, in order that we may get healed.  (Deuteronomy 4:31; Isaiah 1:18; James 5:16) This not only helps to restore us to his favor but also brings us comfort. -Psalm 51:1; Proverbs 28:13; 2 Corinthians 2:7.

Next time: A "Proverbial Saying" Against Babylon

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000