What is the consolation of Israel?

56 Luke 2:25. — The "Consolation of Israel" was a Jewish name for Messiah. In John 14:16, the "another" presupposes that the Lord was already "Paraclete."

This term "consolation of Israel" is a reference to the Messiah. In Jewish writings the Messiah is sometimes called the "Consolation of Israel". Simeon's eyes were now fixed upon the Person of whom the Spirit had spoken.

*The Jews, we are told, frequently wrote of their Messiah under the name of "The Menachem," or Comforter, as Simeon here is described to be waiting for the "consolation of Israel;" i.e., for the Messiah. And it has been thought, that this leads the Lord Himself to use the expression (speaking of the Holy Ghost) "another Comforter."

Thus, in presence of the oppression of the Gentiles, and of the iniquity of a people who were ripening or rather ripened in evil, the remnant who trust in God do not lose that which, as we saw in the preceding chapter, belonged to Israel. In the midst of Israel's misery they had for their consolation that which promise and prophecy had declared for Israel's glory.

The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he should not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. That was the consolation, and it was great. It was contained in the Person of Jesus the Saviour, without going farther into the details of the manner or the time of the accomplishment of Israel's deliverance.

Simeon loved Israel; he could depart in peace, since God had blessed Him according to the desires of faith. The joy of faith ever dwells on the Lord and on His people, but sees, in the relationship that exists between them, all the extent of that which gives rise to this joy. Salvation, the deliverance of God, was come in Christ. It was for the revelation of the Gentiles, till then hidden in the darkness of ignorance without a revelation; and for the glory of Israel, the people of God. This indeed is the fruit of the government of God in Christ, that is to say, the millennium. But if the Spirit revealed to this pious and faithful servant of the God of Israel the future which depended on the presence of the Son of God, He revealed to him that he held the Saviour Himself in his arms; thus giving him present peace, and such a sense of the favour of God that death lost its terrors. It was not a knowledge of the work of Jesus acting on an enlightened and convicted conscience; but it was the fulfilment of the promises to Israel, the possession of the Saviour, and the proof of the favour of God, so that the peace which flowed from thence filled his soul. There were the three things: the prophecy that announced the coming of Christ, the possession of Christ, and the effect of His presence in the whole world. We are here in connection with the remnant of Israel, and consequently find nothing of the church and of purely heavenly things. The rejection comes afterwards. Here it is all that belongs to the remnant, in the way of blessing, through the presence of Jesus. His work is not the present subject.

But if there was no natural éclat but evident humiliation in the facts of our Lord's infancy, what was there not of moral glory! This again it was most suitable for Luke to notice, and he alone does so. "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was just and pious, awaiting the consolation of Israel,56 and [the] Holy Spirit was upon him." The consolation of Israel was come; the Person who brought it in, and who would make it good in due time, was here. But, further, it was revealed to Simeon "by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see [the] LORD'S Christ."57 These and the like revelations were vouchsafed before the canon of Scripture was complete. "And he came in the Spirit into the temple." It was a part of that same goodness of God, Who would give suitable witnesses, that this godly man came in at the very time when the parents brought in the infant Jesus to do for Him "according to the custom of the law." But he sees that there was in that babe One altogether above the law. In grace He might become subject to it, and His parents were, of course, right in paying every deference to its ordinances. But Simeon "received him into his arms, and blessed God, saying, Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go according to thy word, in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."57a The law of Moses never could give a sinful man to depart in peace — so to speak, it never ought. Peace must be, in order to be real and righteous, from the God who gave the law present in grace, present as man in this world, and present to suffer for sins, the Just for the unjust. And so He was, for such was Jesus. No wonder, then, that he whose eyes were touched with a better eyesalve than that of earth could see God and His salvation in the Babe — could say, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." It was not imagination, but sober faith; it was "according to thy word." It was not a mere craving desire, nor a sanguine hope. There is nothing so sure as the testimonies of God and His Word; and he had an intimation that he should not see death until he had seen the Anointed of Jehovah. But to depart in peace according to the Lord's Word was a matter of broader interest; it was for others who might not see the Babe. To him, however, it was pledged and performed. "For mine eyes have seen thy salvation." This was what kings and prophets had desired to see, and now Simeon saw it in the person of Jesus. And so, as it was grace of the most marked character in the favour shown to the aged Simeon, he enters more or less into the dealings of grace by the power of the Spirit of God. Thus he pursues it: ("Mine eyes have seen thy salvation), which thou hast prepared before the face of" — not now "all the (Jewish) people," but "all peoples." Again, it is "a light" not exactly "to lighten the Gentiles," but "for revelation of [the] Gentiles, and [the] glory of thy people Israel."58 To this godly man there was an intimation of the momentous change that was at hand. The salvation of God could not be restricted to one people; if God's salvation was upon earth it must at least in result be before all the nations; as St. Paul said, "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11). That goes farther, no doubt, because it supposes the work done, as well as the person manifested; nevertheless the principle is the same, and it is here.

But further note, "a light for revelation of [the] Gentiles." This is an unusual expression and to be weighed. The Gentiles during God's dealings with Israel were in the dark. Those were the times of ignorance, and God winked at their ways. But now, says the apostle, He commands all men everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30). There is no excuse for ignorance longer. The Light shines, the true Light. Christ was that Light, and He is a Light for revelation of the Gentiles. This is the time during which Israel is blinded, and the long hidden Gentiles are revealed, brought out of the degradation in which they had hitherto lain.58 But when God has accomplished His work among the Gentiles, that which is added here will be made true, "and the glory of thy people Israel."58a This verse is very important as showing what was to ensue when Israel would reject the Messiah, and before they shall be brought in by and by. This is not the order that we find in the prophets. There the Lord, wherever He is presented as the Glory of Israel, is also seen as blessing the Gentiles subordinately to the chosen people. Here the reversed order is, I think, significant: "a light for revelation of [the] Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." The predicted and regular state of things will follow this exceptional period during which the Gentiles have been revealed. Nevertheless once God has brought the Gentiles into light, He never puts them back into darkness. But this will not hinder Him from bringing Israel to the highest pitch of earthly glory above all the Gentiles. Thus God's wisdom will secure that His goodness to the Gentiles shall never pass away, but at the same time He will accomplish His ancient and special promises to Israel. During the present dispensation these two things are necessarily separated. The Gentiles are being revealed now, and though hereafter they shall not cease to be revealed, Christ will be the glory of His people Israel. Now He is, as it were, their shame, or rather they are His; because they crucified Him, and they have not yet repented of their sin, but added to it their contempt of the Spirit's message of forgiveness on faith in the Gospel.

The same Jewish line of thought distinguishes the language of the aged and devout Simeon. What he was waiting for was, not the Saviour of sinners, but "the consolation of Israel." What he was to see before his death was, not the despised and rejected One, but Jehovah's anointed. When he beholds the child Jesus, he recognises in Him these characters, and praises the Lord — "For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." But this salvation was national; it was to be displayed before all the people, was "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." And though the Spirit leads him on to foretell the rejection of Jesus, still even here, the aspect in which he regards Him is as One "set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel" (Luke 2:25-35). Here, then, all through, the words and thoughts of Simeon are taken up with the promises of blessing to God's earthly people, and the national deliverance which was to be brought them by the Messiah.

(2) It is as thus presented to the Lord that the testimony of the Spirit is given as to Him. We find once again the people who fear God, and with whom the secret of the Lord is, not among the heads of the nation, but little known of men; though in communion with one another as those upon whom the Spirit of God is. Of Simeon we know nothing but his character as just and pious and waiting for the consolation of Israel. It was not merely for his own; even spiritual good: his heart longed for the blessing of the people of God, keenly feeling their condition and what alone could meet it, — Who alone could bring effectual comfort. To him it was given by the Spirit to know that he should not see death till he had seen the Christ, Jehovah's Anointed.

He comes, therefore, into the temple at the time Jesus is brought in, and taking Him into his arms, breaks out in praise. This praise, moreover, goes far beyond the consolation of Israel, while it includes this: for the bud of God's promise has a sweeter, richer unfolding than the promise itself implies. Simeon, no doubt, did not realize all that his words pointed to, and there were still developments to be in the day just dawning.

Notwithstanding this, there were some exercised and waiting ones, who were anxiously and prayerfully looking for consolation and redemption through the promised Seed of the woman, the Saviour and King. Such was pious old Simeon, and now the long-expected moment for which be and others had waited, had come, when he should see, possess, and bear testimony to Jehovah's Anointed. Israel's redemption and consolation governed his thoughts and heart, and Simeon had learnt that this could only be by the coming of the promised Messiah, the Object of His people's hope. Does this not speak to restless man today, with his desires for, and expectations of, a better state of things? As in Simeon's day, so in ours, there are those who believe and know that Christ alone can be, and is, the source of all blessing for the earth and for man even He who is now the Saviour, and will hereafter be manifested as King, who shall judge the world in righteousness. Not for His lowly birth in Bethlehem's manger do Christians now look, for that is past, but for His glorious appearing, when His foes shall be subdued, and His rule for God, both over Israel and all the nations of the earth, shall be established.

But another point is here made prominent by the Holy Ghost, insignificant as He may apparently be who gave occasion to it. Jesus is recognised by the godly remnant of Israel, so far as the Holy Ghost acts in them. He becomes a touchstone for every soul in Israel. The condition of the remnant taught by the Holy Ghost (that is, of those who had taken the position of the remnant) was this: They were sensible of the misery and ruin of Israel, but waited upon the God of Israel, trusting to His unchangeable faithfulness for the consolation of His people. They still said: How long? And God was with this remnant. He had made known to those who thus trusted in His mercy the coming of the promised One, who was to be the fulfilment of this mercy to Israel.

The righteous and pious man, and waiting the consolation of Israel - to him by divine grace, while the common hope was the same, the present accomplishment of this hope was revealed. The Daystar was risen in his heart.