"I Will Say Unto The North, Give Up"

"How hath the oppressor ceased!" exulted those who had groaned beneath the tyranny of an ancient ruler who "ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained" (Is. 14:4-6). He had shaken kingdoms and "let not loose his prisoners to their home" (v.17). History repeats itself. Tyrannies react savagely against dissidents in our generation. It's still a feature of such regimes that they let not loose their prisoners to their home.

Special attention was focussed recently on the release from USSR of the Jewish dissident Anatoli Shcharansky. On his return to Israel he was given a hero's welcome, for he personified the spirit of freedom which burns in countless hearts. Shcharansky had endured years of suffering in prison because of his outspoken championship of freedom. His release to Israel was seen as a tremendous triumph for skilfully orchestrated international protest. Yet he left behind him many thousands of Russian Jews who have been refused permission to emigrate to Israel. Many of them have been subjected to restrictive, penalizing regulations. This renewal of anti-Semitic policies in USSR recalls the pattern of judgement foretold so clearly by Moses over 3000 years ago. Departure from God would bring loss of national privilege, scattering among the nations and a constant sense of insecurity. Since 1948 we have seen the revival of Israel's nationhood after nineteen centuries of dispersion. But the plight of Russian Jews forbidden to return to Israel reminds us that there are millions of Jews still dispersed among the nations of the world.

This gives special point to prophetic scriptures which look forward to the time of the Lord's return as Israel's Messiah and the setting up of His millennial kingdom. Repeated reference is made to the regathering of the Jewish dispersion to share in the unique glory then to be enjoyed by the Israel nation.

'Tear not; for I am with thee.' I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west,' I will say to the north, Give up; and ~o the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth" (Is. 43:5,6).

And again,

"Saying to them that are bound, Go forth ... Lo, these shall

come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, 0 heavens; and be joyful, 0 earth; and break forth into singing, 0 mountains.' for the LORD hath comforted His people, and will have compassion upon His afflicted" (Is. 49:943).

It's Isaiah also who writes:

"Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee"(60:9).

In May 1986 there was a well publicized reunion in New York City between Anatoli Shcharansky. and Yelena Bonner, wife of the famous Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. Sakharov, a distinguished nuclear physicist and Nobel Peace laureate, was banished to the city of Gorki in 1980 because of his advocacy of human rights. In 1984 his wife was forced to join him in exile. She later developed a heart condition which needed specialist surgery in the West. At first she was refused permission to leave the country: it was only after Sakharov had undertaken two hunger strikes on her behalf that she was granted a permit for a visit to the United States and Europe for medical treatment. Happily the surgery seems to have been a success. Her visit also brought her into contact with many western politicians, a circumstance of which the media took full advantage, highlighting the oppressive treatment experienced in USSR by the Sakharovs. Will the pressure of international opinion yet result in some improvement in their lot?

Whatever influence may be brought to bear for the help of a few well known people, it appears that the great majority of the oppressed must remain under a heavy yoke. Several organizations try to keep a world-wide watch on the situation and their reports emphasize the extent of the problem. For many their freedom will doubtless have to await the coming of the Lord as Son of Man, to take His great power and reign: "He shall break in pieces the oppressor ... He shall redeem their soul from oppression and violence: and precious shall their blood be in His sight" (Ps. 72).

Meantime, however, each individual is offered through the gospel of Jesus Christ the most important of all freedoms deliverance from eternal judgement and from the power of sin in their present experience. Blessed in this salvation, Christian submissiveness to the ruling power, however oppressive, will bring glory to God (Rom. 13: 1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17).

unknown | Oct 1986
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