MINISTRY//Comfort my people
Notes from our 316NOW team
Between now and the end of the year, our 316NOW team will have the opportunity to share with you some of their stories.
As you read their stories, please do two things.
Pray for our team and the souls they care for.
Consider how you might partner with them. https://www.316now.org/firmlyforward
It has happened several times when I have taught “The Two Great Truths of the Bible," the law and gospel course that we offer our Chinese students.
“Pastor," the translator tells me, "there’s something wrong here.”
The problem was with Isaiah 40:1-3. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
What could be wrong? That is such a comforting verse for us. God is promising his forgiveness in the Savior-to-come.
Here's what's wrong: In the Chinese version, the end of verse 2 reads, “She has received from the Lord’s hand double punishment for all her sins.” Double punishment?! What comfort is that for sinners!
The problem lies in the Chinese misunderstanding of this verse. The word “punishment” is not in the original Hebrew. It reads, “She has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” What the Chinese translation misses is that a rich inheritance is what is doubled, not a punishment.
It is similar to the Hebrew custom which gave the first-born son a double portion of the inheritance. How happy and thankful that son must have been to his parents. What a blessing!
The Chinese version actually presents the opposite thought. Instead of picturing a gracious blessing of forgiveness and the comfort which it brings to repentant sinners, it speaks of condemnation. It turns a wonderful gospel promise into a threat of judgment.
How thrilled my Chinese students are to hear the true significance of this golden prophecy from Isaiah.
I thank you -- and our students thank you -- for your help in making these divine truths a part of their lives. Thank you for helping Chinese Christians realize the great comfort God gives us in the gospel -- and then to share that comfort with others.