glorious consummation shall be attained, "for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it". The

prophetic utterance is then rounded off by a vision of the coming of the Lord, and His

twofold character of Ruler and Shepherd, uniting in His Person and work of the office of

Kinsman-Redeemer and the Avenger of Blood.

The first expansion given by the prophet of what is intended by the ministry of

"comfort", with which this great section opens, is found in the words, "Her warfare is

accomplished". The reader will note that for "warfare" the margin reads "appointed

time". The Hebrew word translated "warfare" is familiar to the English reader in the

Divine title, "The Lord of Sabaoth" (Rom. 9: 29), which is taken from the Hebrew

Tsabaoth, "Hosts". Tsaba occurs in the O.T. 485 times, of which 394 occurrences are

translated "host", 42 translated "war" or "warfare", 29 translated "army", and 6 translated

"battle". The glad tidings that at length shall be proclaimed in Jerusalem is that her

"warfare" is "accomplished". This will be incomparably good news, for Israel's history

is deluged in blood and soaked in tears. War, both on the physical and spiritual plane,

has been theirs, and is even threatened at the close of the Millennium (Rev. 20: 8, 9). The

prophet Daniel was staggered by a vision that revealed "warfare great" (Dan. 10: 1) for the

word translated "appointed time" is tsaba. Peace however shall come; Israel's warfare

shall one day cease;  it shall be "accomplished".  This word "accomplished" is a

translation of male, "To fill", and is of frequent occurrence in the Scriptures. Isaiah uses

the word in a very forceful manner when he speaks of hands being "full of blood" (1: 15);

loins "filled with pain" (21: 3); lips "full of indignation" (30: 27); but in Isa. 40: 2 he

uses the word in a slightly different sense, indicating that Israel's experience of war will

at length be "filled". It will indeed have been a full measure, for the prophet's own

comment is that Israel has received of the Lord's hand "double" for all her sins.

The prophet Ezekiel, referring to the punishment of Israel at the hands of the King of

Babylon says, "Let the sword be doubled" (Ezek. 21: 14). The prophet Jeremiah says,

"First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double" (Jer. 16: 18); and again,

"Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction"

(Jer. 17: 18).  In all probability there is a literal fulfillment of the law in all this, for

failure to keep faith was punished by restoring the amount involved "double"

(Exod. 22: 4, 7, 9). This same principle is seen at work at the judgment of Babylon:

This however would be no word of "comfort" to Jerusalem, but there is another side to

the matter. The same Isaiah, when he looks forward to "the acceptable year of the Lord"

and the day of Israel's restoration, says:--

and the prophet Zechariah says:--