Smoodock's Blog

The ancient Latin hymn, Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel, was translated to the English language in 1851 by John Mason Neale, and changed slightly ten years later in 1861 to what we sing today. I’d like for us to think upon the first stanza of this beautiful hymn in light of Jesus’ genealogy’s 42 positions (Matthew 1:17), and, while we do so, consider the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. The hymn: “Oh come, oh come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel; that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appears;” then the chorus: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel!” Why would this hymn make sense for us today? Is Israel still in exile? Why would a Jew in Israel in the 21^st century AD sing those words and mean them for himself and his country? If we have a nation called Israel on our world maps, in what context would a Jew consider himself still in exile? Didn’t the exile end, when Cyrus the Great commanded a release of the Jews and sent them to build up Jerusalem and the Temple once again?

Actually, Jews view their history as going into four exiles after God had brought them into the Promised Land. First there was the exile brought upon them by the Babylonians, when they were conquered and moved to Babylon, after Jerusalem and the Temple were completely destroyed. When Persia conquered Babylon, then the exile transferred to Persian dominion, even though the Jews were ultimately permitted to rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple. When Persia was conquered, the Greeks came to be in authority over the Jewish exile. Finally, the Romans came and ruled over the Jews, ultimately casting them out of their land for a second time, destroying their capital city and their Temple. For nearly 2000 years the exile has continued, even though there exists, today, a nation called Israel in the Middle East.

The Jews have been a conquered people longer than they’ve lived in the Promised Land, before being exiled. They’ve endured antisemitism, the burning of their synagogues and holy books, being cast out of one nation after another, the slaughtering of their families during the three Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and other types of movements in various countries. They’ve been butchered and murdered and made to endure all types of persecution and bigotry. Six million of them were starved, burned alive, murdered and used as lab rats during the Nazi Holocaust of World War II, and antisemitism continues.

Oh come, oh come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here!

In Matthew 1:1 Jesus is introduced to Matthew’s readers as the Son of Abraham. In Genesis 11 we have the account of God scattering the people of the world in judgment,[1] but in chapter 12 we have God once more gathering the people together, beginning with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). Not only is the regathering begun with Abraham, but God gives him certain promises: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you… and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you.”[2] When has this ever happened in Jewish history? Must we look forward to it occurring in the future? It is implied in Jesus’ genealogy, beginning in generation #42 (cp. Matthew 1:17), that the gathering is fulfilled in the Messiah (cp. Matthew 23:37).

Notice, in Matthew 1:1 Jesus is also introduced as the Son of David. In 2Samuel chapter seven, David decided to build a house for God, something similar to what folks tried to do in Genesis 11:3-4! Nevertheless, the Lord sent his prophet, Nathan, to tell David that he wouldn’t build a house for God, but his Son (viz. the Messiah) would, but David took the Lord’s word literally and began storing up gold for his successor to build the Temple of God in Jerusalem. However, because of David’s honorable intention, the Lord promised he, God, would build a house for David, in that his throne would be established forever. He would never lack a son to reign on his throne until the Messiah would come (cp. 2Samuel 7:13, 16; cp. Psalm 2:6-12; 72:8; 89:27, 36-37). When has this ever occurred in Jewish history? Must we look for it to occur in the future? Matthew implies that it is done in Christ, generation #42 (cp. Matthew 1:17), with the preaching of the Gospel by the “brothers” of Christ (cp. Matthew 28:18-20). All peoples from all nations are gathered together by God under the banner of Christ and through the preaching of the Gospel. The kings of the earth bow down to Christ, and they are regathered together in him, thus coming to understand “one language of speech toward God” (cp. Genesis 11:1).

Oh come, oh come Emmanuel… Yes, who is ransomed? Who gets blessed? Who is able to come out of exile? The answer is in Jesus’ lineage. They are those who respond to covenant breakers according to their own hearts (Tamar); they are sinners, adulterers and harlots (Rahab); they are strangers who don’t know God (Ruth), and sinners, whose sin leads to violence (the wife of Uriah). The Lord doesn’t choose the righteous to bless (cp. Matthew 9:13). Instead, he keeps his promises to us in spite of our sinfulness. If we could choose our ancestry, we would fill it with folks like Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel, but Jesus chose Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah! He is the Messiah of an ethnically diverse lineage with plenty of immoral skeletons in his closet (lineage). We simply don’t come to Matthew 1:18 without first coming through the previous 17 verses. The whole world is in exile, but the exile ends, when we come to Christ, generation #42, and allow Emmanuel to ransom us and regather us under the banner of the Kingdom of God.

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[1] See my earlier study in Genesis for what kind of scattering that was: The Whole Earth Was of One Language!

[2] In a very real sense, all nations are in exile. Only the Jews had ever been gathered together in the sense of being “one language of speech” toward God (Genesis 11:1).