Those of us who did hard time in a seminary can attest that the book of the prophet Isaiah is actually a composite of three successive works. First Isaiah, as it is called, is about the downfall and exile of Jewish people to Babylon. People with marketable skills and physical strength were taken, primarily from the southern kingdom of Judah, to what is modern-day Iraq and insinuated into the general population. First Isaiah tell us that the exile ended when Cyrus, King of Persia, allowed the small minority of Jews who wanted to return to the holy land, to do so. Second Isaiah says no, it was a bigger deal. God decided via Cyrus to release the captives who had double-paid for their past sins and would now receive, not further punishment, but redemption and consolation. YHVH makes a proclamation in the heavenly council, for the God of Israel is still seen as a king presiding over his court of lesser Canaanite gods.
Here is how another biblical prophet in part describes the situation: "Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory of God...Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look towards the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies, but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory as on a royal throne." (Baruch 5: 1,5-6)
For Second Isaiah the liberation from Babylon has three characteristics. First it is a re-enactment of the original Exodus from Egypt. Second, it is a revelation of God, of who God is. And third, it is an invitation to liberation, not a forced return home. Scholars estimate twenty percent came back; most had been assimilated, were successful and comfortable. And in fact, to this day, the Babylonian Talmud written during the Exile, is considering the highest-ranking Jewish biblical commentary.
In the gospel for the second Sunday of Advent, we have John the Baptiser proclaiming yet another act of liberation coming in human history. The One for whom he is forerunner will come to bring us out of an exile as real as the Egyptian or Babylonian experiences. We shall be freed from sin, from being any less than all that we can be. We will find ourselves freed from our addictions, our many compulsions, and all those "lesser gods" that keep us held bound, that prevent us from returning to our spiritual homeland.
Let us ask ourselves this Advent: What are those things keeping us in captivity in our consumerist, imperialistic, self-absorbed society? Where do we need to learn to move on and not remain stuck in the past? God is still liberator, and the invitation to liberation stands open to all who will accept it.
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