Isaiah in Handel’s Messiah: A Desert Highway, a Contested Virgin, and a Zion-Sun Rising

Many of us have special memories and traditions associated with Christmas. A major special tradition in downtown Toronto, Canada was the celebration of Handel’s Messiah at the famous Massey Hall every year just before Christmas.

Although the musical genius of Handel is astonishing, no less remarkable is the selec­tion of passages from the Bible put together by Charles Jennens, the wealthy gentleman who supplied the biblical texts that Handel used. Here we focus on the role of the prophecy of Isaiah, especially in the opening airs and choruses, in passages drawn from Isaiah 40:1–5, 9; 7:14; 60:1–3; and 9:2, 6. Christians such as Jennens understood well the fundamental role played by the prophecy of Isaiah for the coming of King Jesus, both in his first advent and second.

Isaiah 40

Characteristic of Hebrew literature is to treat topics recursively. An opening section may cover a topic followed by a second section on the same topic from a different angle or perspective or point of view. Although the sections are presented sequentially, they function like the left and right speakers of a stereo system, giving full Dolby Surround Sound. Thus, “the whole truth” is presented in a full-orbed and three-dimensional way.

Messiah begins with Isaiah 40:1–5 (this is the sixth section in the book and actually begins at Isaiah 38:1, and not 40:1 as many scholars suppose).^[1] Israel’s broken covenant will result in exile, but Isaiah looks to a restoration beyond exile. This is clear from Isaiah 40:1–3:

1. See Peter J. Gentry, “The Literary Macrostructures of the Book of Isaiah and Authorial Intent.” In Bind up the Testimony: Explorations in the Genesis of the Book of Isaiah edited by Daniel I. Block and Richard L. Schultz (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2015), 227–254.

¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (ESV)

Isaiah communicates by employing exodus language, and especially in verse 3. Just as God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and brought them through the desert to life across the Jordan in Canaan, so now, by virtue of the covenant (as the closest relative of Israel), the Lord will deliver her from slavery to sin in a new exodus (Luke 9:31). The statement “she has received . . . double for all her sins” does not mean that the penalty was twice as severe as the wrongdoing, but that the penalty was double for the crime, i.e. the exact match and perfectly suited the wrong-doing. This is the lex talionis—retributive justice—where the penalty precisely is as much as (but no more) than the wrong-doing.

The Lord is so anxious to forgive and restore his people that he rushes out into the desert to meet them on their way to the new Jerusalem. This is like the father of the prodigal son rushing out to bring his lost son home.

Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s time were facing the threat of major war in the Middle East. The Assyrian giant had reawakened and was campaigning west and south into Palestine. The Arameans in Damascus, capital of Syria, and the northern kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria had formed a coalition against Judah to face the coming threat from Assyria. Jerusalem was beset on all sides. But Isaiah wants them to look to the future, beyond bad king Ahaz and even supposedly good king Hezekiah to a coming Davidic ruler who will bring true justice and righteousness (Isa. 16:5).

Isaiah 7 & 9

Citations from Isaiah 7:14 and 9:2, 6 come from the third section of Isaiah where he promises judgement for Israel’s covenant breaking (idolatry and social injustice) and looks beyond the exile promised to a coming king who would restore a righteous Zion. There are three panels that portray the coming king: (1) the Immanuel Section (Isa. 7:1–8:18), (2) the Mighty God Section (Isa. 8:19–10:19), and (3) the Shoot from Stump of Jesse Section (Isa. 10:20–11:16). In these three sections prediction of a coming king in the distant future is contrasted with imminent destruction and exile brought by the Assyrians as the Lord’s instrument of judgement.

The Virgin Birth

The first section predicts a coming king born from a young virgin. We known that the child is royal because Judah is called Immanuel’s land (Isa. 8:8). Who else owns the land except a king? Admittedly debates have raged for centuries over Isaiah 7:10–16, and currently many scholars think that the Hebrew word ‘almâ translated into Greek as parthenos (virgin) only means “young woman” and does not necessarily entail virginity—in spite of the clear interpretation as such in the Matthew 1:23. Some evangelical scholars, persuaded by the consensus, may correlate Isaiah’s Immanuel with the birth of Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz from Isaiah’s wife in Isaiah 8:1–4.^[2] Yet careful analysis shows many differences between Immanuel and the child in Isaiah 8:1–4. The child born to Isaiah’s wife is best considered a harbinger of a future miraculous birth.

2. See e.g., James M. Hamilton, Jr., “ ‘The Virgin Will Conceive’: Typological Fulfillment in Matthew 1:18–23,” in Built Upon the Rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew edited by Daniel M. Gurtner and John Nolland (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 228–247.

Nonetheless, new recent research based on modern linguistic and semantic principles has shown that the consensus is wrong.^[3] The word ‘almâ means specifically a young virgin. It is common in many languages to have both a word designating virgin (regardless of age) and a word for young virgin at the same time, as the table below shows:^[4]

Changes in the phonology of Hebrew led Jewish scholars after 150 A.D. to correlate the Hebrew word ‘almâ with the wrong root in a false etymology. Careful analysis of the textual tradition also shows that Proverbs 30:19—a favourite prooftext for those who argue that ‘almâ does not mean virgin—is not about “the way of a man with a maid” but about “the way of a man in his adolescence.” The careful semantic study by Rico of all other known instances has confirmed that the word ‘almâ in Isaiah 7:14 means “young virgin.” In addition, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint (including Old Latin), and Syriac all support translating Isaiah 7:14 as “he will be called” rather than “you shall call” or “she will call.” This correct translation actually confirms the quotation in Matthew 1:23.

Return from Exile

Two further points are of note. First, Isaiah 7:13–14 is in the second person plural, so the sign is for the entire Davidic dynasty, not just for the time of King Ahaz. Second, we should translate Isaiah 7:16 as follows: “the land which you [Ahaz] are tearing apart [by your unbelieving policies] will be ridden of the presence of her two kings.”^[5] The prediction concerns exile for her two kings, i.e. both Israel and Judah, (not Israel and Syria) confirmed by the fact that the child will eat butter and honey before he comes to the age of maturity. The eating of butter and honey shows that shepherds have taken over from farmers and the land is in exile.

5. Christophe Rico and Peter J. Gentry, The Mother of the Infant King, 209–213.

The reason for the virgin birth is not made plain in the Old Testament, but it is con­nected to the return from exile and the forgiveness of sins in the context of Isaiah.

Isaiah 9:2 is part of a statement that those living in the region of the sea of Galilee would exchange their gloom for bright light. This prediction is a response to the conspiracy theory plaguing not only Judah and Jerusalem, but even Isaiah. According to Isaiah 8:11, God warns him to avoid conspiracy theory and to fear Yahweh alone, instead of the armies and powers of his time. Isaiah and his children are signs and symbols to point the right way to the future. In this context of darkness and gloom causing great consternation about the political situation (see Isa. 8:21), God promises a great light. And here is the astounding thing: the light will fall first on Galilee. This is because the first parts of Israel to be handed over to foreign powers were the tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali in the region of Galilee. So, God, in his plan of restoration and salvation has determined that the return from exile will begin exactly where the exile first started. Oh, what grace in the mercy and salvation of God!

Isaiah 60

Finally, the libretto of Handel’s Messiah appeals to Isaiah 60:1–3. At the centre of the last and seventh section of Isaiah is a vision of the Transformed Zion in Isaiah 60 and a portrayal of the Coming Servant King in Isaiah 61 (appealed to by Jesus himself in Luke 4:18–19). Like Isaiah 9:2, this is described by the metaphor of light. Zion is portrayed as a rising sun because God himself is their source of light (Isa. 60:19). And all of the nations will be drawn to this light shining from Zion. Here we see earth’s kings come marching into Zion and bringing the best of each and every culture into the new creation.

Conclusion

Throughout Isaiah the return from exile entails forgiveness of sins, renewal of the covenant, rebuilding of the temple, and the return of Yahweh to Zion to dwell in the midst of his people as king. So there is a lot at stake in the coming of the king at Christmas. The church of Jesus Christ is the beginning of this new creation community, the restored Zion where both Jew and Gentile are forged into one new humanity. May the justice and righteousness displayed in our community be a light at Christmas in the darkness.