In the ancient Middle East, a king would occasionally travel away from his city.
[1] His travels might be to strike an alliance or to secure the trade of some needed goods. He would leave his people in the relative safety of his city fortified by its massive walls.
[2]Inside his people would go on with their ordinary tasks: the preparation of food, the practice of their trades, the care of their children. They knew their king would return. Meanwhile their city was well fortified and supplied with all the necessary water and provisions to last throughout the absence of their king.
However, it was not unusual for an enemy, a king from a neighboring city, to take advantage of the king’s absence and lay siege to the city without its king and army.
There was no greater threat to the inhabitants within the wall. The invading king and his army would cut off all water supplies. No one could go out to bring in fresh produce from the surrounding lands. These were now in the hands of the invaders. No messengers would dare leave the city to inform the absent king. The population was doomed to the disgrace of surrender or invasion. In either case, the women would be raped, all survivors would be taken as slaves, the city looted, and set on fire. Upon his return the king would find his people gone, and his city in ruins.
During the first few weeks of the siege, the population survived on the rations of water and food stored within the city. The sentries and the few soldiers left behind would try to fend off attacks from the invaders attempting to scale the walls or breach the wall with their battering rams.
[3] Their only hope was the return of the king. But if the king delayed, and no message of the city’s plight could be delivered, the inhabitants faced certain death through starvation or invasion. The survivors faced slavery and exile.
[4]As the weeks passed, rations would run out. The inhabitants would begin killing off their starving beasts of burden for food.
[5] Then they would chew on the leather on their sandals. When these were gone, the survivors would turn against their own infants for food.
[6] They were hopeless and helpless. In their weakened condition they could not fight against the invaders besieging their city. Neither could they attempt to escape. They faced certain doom. Their only hope for salvation was the return of their king.
Then abruptly the besieging army would leave. The sentries on the wall would give notice of their sudden departure. This could only mean one thing: the return of the king. The besieging army was going out to meet him in battle and prevent him from rescuing his city. As the sentries scanned the horizon they would indeed see the dust rising from the battle. Hours would pass, sometimes days as the two armies would maneuver for battle, attack and counterattack. Still, no one in the city would dare escape nor could they. Most were sickly and dying. On the walls the sentries strained their eyes for some sign that would tell them if their king was defeating the invaders or if the besiegers would soon return to take their city uncontested.
Then suddenly, the dust of the distant battle field would begin to settle, until no din of battle sound was heard nor dust from the clashing armies could be seen. A disquieting calm would settle over the desert.
The sentries on the wall looked for some sign, some news that would let them know what the future held for their suffering and dying people.
“Do you see what I see on the hill to the left?” Perhaps one sentry would ask another. “Yes, it seems like there’s something there...” another would answer. Straining their eyes in the falling twilight they could see what looked like little bursts of dust rising from the path on the distant hills. “Yes, yes, I see it, it is dust... could it be he?” The dust would reappear closer on the path... “Yes, yes, it is... he’s coming this way...”
Then the sentries thought they could hear a shout... “Could it be?” Now their concentration was fully fixed. Ears and eyes alert to the slightest sound and movement. There was that far off sound... indeed it sounded like a shout... but they needed to be sure before they could react... They must be sure... if it was... it was too good to be true... Yes, yes, it was. They looked at each other for confirmation... a smile beginning to break on their haggard faces... They could now understand the distant runner’s shout though faint and far... “Bashaaaar! Bashaaaaar! Bashaaaaar!”
[7]Although in disbelief, looking at each other they nodded. Yes, it was “Bashar!” The words echoed now from the surrounding hills. Edging toward the inside of the city wall the sentries gathered their strength to repeat the shout to those dying within: “Bashar!” “Bashar!” “Bashar!”
“Bashar” meant many things all at once. Foremost it was “Great Good News!” Thus it also meant, “The King is Victor”, “Salvation!”, “The King is Savior”. It could also stand for the name of the King. At times even the messenger was called “Bashar”. “Bashar” was unmistakably “Good News”. It did not require explanation. Upon hearing the cry from the sentinels on the wall the people inside found themselves as if reborn. The cry itself was like new life to their dying senses. Whereas one moment they were doomed, upon the hearing of “Bashar” they knew they were saved. One moment they were condemned to certain death. The cry of “Bashar” meant they would live. In the proclamation of one word there was an instant passing from death to life.
[8] That new life came entirely from without. Their new life was entirely the gift of another. It was granted to them through no participation, struggle, or effort on their part. It was entirely the king’s doing that brought “Bashar” and its new life to those dying inside the city.
[9]At first it seemed unbelievable. Great good news is always like that. It seems too good to be true. But upon hearing the cry from the sentinels the people inside the city first looked at each other in disbelief. Then slowly one would begin repeating it to another. “Bashar”, “Bashar”,“Bashar”. And slowly the realization of salvation would penetrate through their dying senses. “Bashar?” One would ask for confirmation. “Bashar” another would answer. “Bashar”, the questioner would then repeat in acceptance. They would then hug in the joy of the good news. Then small groups would come together in joyful hugs. Their energies began to return as tears now of joy covered their faces. Slowly the cry from within the city began to be heard echoing the cry from the sentinels on the wall until one joyful chorus erupted from within: “BASHAR!”, “BASHAR!”, “BASHAR!”, “BASHAR!”.
A small door on the gate was opened to let the messenger in. Everyone flocked him to hear first hand the good news. A myriad questions all at once were put to him: How was the battle? How many soldiers died? When are they coming? Was the enemy totally defeated? But the messenger had only one answer: “The King is mighty!” “The King is mighty!” “The King is mighty!”.
Soon the victorious king and his army, with all their booty would come to the city. Psalm 24:7-10 records the entrance of the king into his city, and the adoration with which he was received. The triumphal entry described here is a processional in which an adoring crowd surrounds the king and acclaims him with choruses proclaiming him conqueror and mighty king.
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! [RSV].
As they approached, the king’s entourage would shout to the sentinels on the wall “Lift up the gates that the king of the bounty may come in!” The soldiers on the wall would respond, “Who is the king of the bounty?” The king’s entourage would respond “Our king mighty in battle, he is the king of the bounty!” The gates would open, the king would come in amidst the rapturous adoration of his people. The booty would be distributed to his starving people, and a long, long feast lasting for days would begin.
[10] “Bashar” was most certainly “great news of glad tidings”.
However, these words of victory manifest a triumph of much greater magnitude. The battle won by the king celebrated by these shouts of victory is of transcendental and eternal consequences for all. Psalm 24 describes a victory parade in three stanzas. The words of victory quoted above form the last of the stanzas. The first is a description of the territory successfully defended by the king and the king’s original right to govern over all its inhabitants and territory.
The earth is for the Lord, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
[11]Through God’s creative acts, the earth is God’s city. Therefore, everything in it, including all the planet’s inhabitants, exist for the sake of the King. Since they exist for his sake, he lives for their safety, protection, prosperity, and perpetuity. He will risk his life to protect and nurture his people, and to save them from all evil.
The second stanza shocks the listener with the true nature of the Hero’s battle and conquest. Apparently the right to dwell in God’s earth and before God’s presence has been lost. There was a moral defeat. No one can now live before the presence of God on the earth unless that person can provide an entire life cycle of moral purity and perfection, of relationships characterized by nothing else than love and justice.
[12] All who have struggled in the battle to regain that moral perfection have fought and lost... that is until this heroic king went out to battle on behalf of the lost and condemned due to their moral failure. But now they surround their victorious hero with acclamations of victory. In this great victory parade part of the choristers pose the question:
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
Other choristers respond as they surround their victorious hero and uphold him on their shoulders:
He who has clean hands a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of his salvation.
These words describe the moral qualities of the hero. They are not a reference to themselves or requirements they must meet. The entourage is a group of “fans” describing the mettle and character of their hero. The other fans in the choir then join them together in joyful acclamation:
Such is the generation [lifetime] of the one who seeks him,
[13]who seeks the face of the God of Jacob [NIV].
[14]Those who praise the king praise him for his amazing moral fortitude. Throughout his life span his life consistently expressed love, joy, honesty, integrity, both in deed and in thought. That moral hero was not only true to others, but also entirely true to himself... consistently, always loving towards self and others. Quite a victory. Worthy of the praise he now receives.
No wonder now the gates open before him... and those who enter with him enter not because of their own moral virtue but solely because they acclaim and adore him as their hero! His victory is bashar for them!
Due to his moral courage he can boldly ascend into the presence of the Eternal One and boldly stand before the Eternal’s presence. He brings before the Eternal one a life that passes the most searching scrutiny at the hands of the Eternal One. This hero has struggled with the fiercest temptations to live entirely for himself, climb all the ladders of power and control, yet always and decidedly chosen to walk the life of lifting others. This One has successfully fought off all the tempestuous waves of the darkness within and without, consistently throughout his life span. This One has consistently and creatively overcome evil with good. He can now approach the One who knows all and with clear conscience say, “Here am I with my perfect deeds, thoughts, and aspirations. Extend your welcome to me, for I meet the requirements to live eternally before Your presence.”
This One has passed the most carefully scrutiny and investigation to find at least one with “clean hands and a pure heart”, one who has never yearned for escapes and false methods of dealing with reality. One whose deeds from birth to death have only expressed acts of disinterested, unprejudiced love. One whose thoughts have always expressed the purest desires and passions towards self and others. A tall order indeed. But this One came forward with his life. This One has clean hands, a pure heart. He never lifted up his soul to what was false, and never swore deceitfully. This One has received blessing from the Lord. This One has been vindicated by God as just, righteous, entirely loving. He has indeed ascended the hill of the Lord, and now stands in God’s holy place. He has been declared victorious and triumphant over all the powers of darkness, falsehood, and evil. The gates have been indeed been lifted so that this triumphant One may come in.
Yet he does not come in alone. He is crowded by a multitude that acclaims his triumphs, his qualities, his love, his integrity, his truthfulness. On what basis do they enter? On the basis of their own victory and success? If it were so, their acclamations would include themselves: “those [we] who have cleans hand and those [we] who have a pure hearts.” Nothing like that here. It is all his worth, his victory, his triumph.
In fact, the psalmist cannot but express his total moral insufficiency when compared to this moral hero. Seeing his own destitute nature, the psalmist cries out to the God of Jacob.
Such is the lifetime of the one who seeks your face, O God of Jacob (Psalm 24:6).
Why Jacob? Why not cry out to the God of Israel? Jacob and Israel were two names given to the same man. However, Jacob was renamed Israel for his moral quality of fighting for God’s blessing until prevailing. Why does not the psalmist appeal to the God of Israel, the wrestler, the fighter? Why does the psalmist rather appeal to the God of Jacob?
Jacob was the younger of Isaac’s twins, Esau and Jacob. He was named Jacob because upon his birth his hand was grasping tightly Esau’s heel. This action of the infant was interpreted by his father as an attempt to supplant or overthrow his older brother. Thus the name Jacob which means “supplanter”. Throught his younger life Jacob was known for his duplicity and complictiy. He was an accomplice with his mother to deceive Isaac in granting him the oldest son’s blessing. Later, he was involved in deceitful dealings with Laban. Jacob was a deceiver. In contrast to the moral hero lauded in this psalm, Jacob was one who “did lift up his soul to what was false, and who did swear deceitfully.” The psalmist sensing his immense moral insufficiency when describing his moral hero, identifies with Jacob the deceiver rather than with Israel who struggled until he obtained the victory. In a prayer for mercy, and as if in contrition beating upon his breast, he appeals to “the God of Jacob” for mercy.
[15]But the King comes as the “King of glory”. In Hebrew the word “glory” is a synonym for the word “weighty possession”. The glory refers to the booty brought by the king as representative of his victory. The greater the loot, the greater the victory. The booty of this king is his moral worth, the value of his life. He freely and graciously invests his entourage with His victory and they enter in on the basis of his triumph... not theirs... all of them were as good as dead and dying before the cry of bashar was given due to his victory. Good news indeed... They bask in the bashar of his victory and triumph as they surround him with joyful acclamations of praise and adulation!
The earth is indeed for the Lord, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he has founded it upon the infinitely vast seas of the hero’s moral worth and established it upon the waters of his mercy. Bashar! Bashar! Bashar!
Good News: The King Suffers for His People
A direct reference to the announcement of bashar on the basis of the Hero’s struggle and victory is found in the writings of Isaiah, chapters 53 and 54.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news [basahr], who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:7-10 NRSV).
The announcement of bashar is because there is a Hero who has “bared his holy arm” on behalf of his condemned people and given them salvation.
Whereas Psalm 24 describes the moral qualities of the Hero that gave him the victory, Isaiah 52 and 53 describes the price of suffering this Hero had to pay for his moral victory. It was no easy battle. It was not a conventional struggle, and he was not your typical Hero. Rather than the stereotypical fighter with superb physically attractive qualities, this Hero showed up to battle as a David before Goliath. He seemed to have nothing going for him.
Many were astonished at him - his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men (Isaiah 52:14 RSV)... he grew up before him like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (53:2 NRSV). He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (53:3 RSV); and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account (53:3 RSV).
The meaning of this description which portrays him as a nobody with nothing going for him is to emphasize his aloneness in his struggle. In looking like an outcast, he had no social support, no group of peers to cheer him on, no fans on the sidelines. He trod the “wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me” (Isaiah 63:3 RSV). Rather than a king with the support of a mighty army, he fought this battle on his own. In fact not only alone, but jeered, booed, and rejected by those he was trying to save. A few fans are enough to encourage the underdog. But this one had none in the greatest struggle ever fought, with the most at risk of any struggle: the salvation of his people. “We held him of no account.”
[16]Yet the struggle he endured alone was not for his sake, it was for his people. It was a vicarious or substitutionary struggle. He endured the cruelest pain and punishment on behalf of his people. Those he was fighting for deserved nothing more than the death sentence for their repeated moral failures. Yet he took that punishment upon himself while those whose pain he was taking upon himself were booing him for his attempts.
Surely he has borne our griefs (RSV) and carried our diseases (NRSV); yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6 NRSV).
What a struggle! Such commitment! Such love! Innocence and virtue taking on the pain and punishment of guilt and perversion. Yet all along maintaining “clean hands and a pure heart” towards God, those who were inflicting his torment, and those whose pain he was taking upon himself.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth... they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth (53:7,9 RSV).
Notice the striking similarity between the descriptive phrase “although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth” with the phrase “he who has clean hands and a pure heart... and does not swear deceitfully” of Psalm 24:4. Both passages (Isaiah 53 and Psalm 24) are describing the same person, the same heroic figure.
The moral victory and suffering of this figure is counted as a sacrifice or an offering for the moral failures of his people. Both his moral uprightness and his suffering are substitutional or in place of his people.
You [the Eternal One] make his life an offering for sin... The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities... he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (53:10-12 NRSV).
By providing this substitute for Israel, the Eternal One has become as a divine husband to Israel.
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called (Isaiah 54:5 NRSV).
God’s provision of this Substitute is indeed Good News for the inhabitants of the earth, it is the great shout of Bashar for all. In fact, it is incredible news. No wonder Isaiah 53 begins with the words, “Who has believed what we have heard?” (53:1). The next phrase, although in question form, gives the answer for such unbelievable good news, “And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The arm of the Lord has been revealed to this substitutionary heroic figure, whose physical attributes did not quite meet the hero’s standards. Yet, it was in the hero’s weakness and disadvantages that his victory was even more astounding and incredible.
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry gound; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account (Isaiah 53:2,3 NRSV).
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! [Psalm 24:7-10 RSV].
Such is the story of the Old Testament record. God looks for a morally upright human creation and cannot find it.
[17] They have all been besieged by an enemy who has broken them down morally and find themselves morally destitute. In their desperation they are at war with each other and cannot find a way out of their condemnation. But the Eternal One and their Creator provides a substitutionary figure who against all odds is able to provide such moral fortitude. And with his triumph, all the inhabitants of the earth are also victorious over death and eternal condemnation. Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the mansions prepared for you before the foundation of the world.
Bashar! Bashar! Bashar!
[1].The following is a study in preparation of the meaning of the word “bashar” in the Old Testament as a foundation for understanding the New Testament term “gospel” or “good news”. Copyright Haroldo S. Camacho, January 10, 2001, Los Angeles, California.
[2].The following description is based on various Old Testament references.
[3].2 Samuel 20:15 describes a siege of a city attempting its invasion with a mound rampart and battering ram.
[4].1 Kings 20:1-6 records the threats of rape and captivity made by the invading king.
[5].2 Kings 6:25 records the high prices that were paid for the body parts of the beasts of burden during a siege.
[6].Deuteronomy 28:52-57 describes all too vividly the atrocities committed and suffered during a siege of a city.
[7].For a descriptive account of the sending of the messenger, the watchmen looking for signs of the runners, and the receiving of the news of “bashar”, see 2 Samuel 18:19-33. This account however, is most moving since what the runner thinks is good news for the king in fact breaks the heart of the king.
[8].See the story of the four lepers during the siege of Samaria who could not keep the good news of “Bashar” for themselves seeing it meant life for their city (2 Kings 7:9).
[9].Isaiah 52:7-10 records the joy of the watchmen on the wall as they hear the messenger’s shout of “Bashar”. Moreover, in these texts, the prophet sees Israel’s God as the King who returns to his city. “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news [bashar], who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings [bashar], who proclaim salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem [NIV]. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God [RSV].”
[10].2 Kings 7:1,16 records the distribution of the bounty taken from an invading army.
[11].Notwithstanding the many translations to the contrary, the Hebrew denotes the dative and not the genitive (“The earth is for the Lord” rather than “of the Lord”). The sense of the dative for concurs with the overall style of the psalm which is liturgical, to be used for praise, in praises for the One who has conquered, and thus redeemed the earth for the Lord.
[12].As will be seen later, the Hebrew term dor denotes primarily a life time, or life cycle of an individual.
[13].The Hebrew is in the singular “the one who seeks him”. The translation from the Hebrew of this first part of the verse is the author’s; the latter part is from the NIV.
[14].The Hebrew term dor which is generally translated “generation” does not refer to the progeny, descendants, or followers of the hero. This Hebrew term refers primarily to the life time, or life cycle of the hero. Specifically it was used to describe the span of time between the birth of a male child and the firstborn of that individual.
[15].Genesis 25:26; Genesis 32:27,28.
[16].See also the Messianic prayer of Psalm 22:11: “Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help”. Psalm 22 is the first of three Messianic psalms, of which Psalm 24 is the last. Psalm 23, at the center of these three is the faith expression of the human Messiah.
[17].Psalm 14:2,3.
