Dajspring andDay-star
By Charles I» Feinberg
A t certain seasons of the year, words of Scripture which are always meaningful receive added attention and emphasis. Such are the words now under consideration. At Christ- mastide the believing heart may well contemplate Christ under the con cepts contained in day'spring and day- star. Dceyspring is the translation of shachar in Job 38:12 and of anatole in Luke 1:78. In the Job passage the Lord is questioning Job whether he has “ caused the dayspring to know his place.” The reference is to the dawn. The place of the dawn is that point on the horizon where the sun rises on a given day. Because it changes with the changing seasons, the dawn does not always have the same place. At one time_ in the year it appears on the equator, then on the north, and on the south of it. Though its position varies, the laws of its appearing are determined by God. The Lord’s question to Job was meant to underscore his insignificance in the light of God’s creation and the consequent need on his part to exer cise humility as well as faith in God’s providential dea lings with him. See Psalm 74:16 and Isaiah 45:7. When we come to the New Testa ment citation, we find it in the song of Zacharias at the birth of his son, John the Baptist. He exults in God’s faithfulness to His promises to His people Israel to send them salvation and the remission of their sins. The agent for these incalculable mercies is none other than the Dayspring from on high who has condescended to visit us. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the LXX), the word anatole is used to translate the Hebrew word for branch, a well- known name for the Messiah in Jere miah 23:5 and Zechariah 6:12. Pro fane Greek does not use the word in this sense at all. What is the meaning of the word in Luke 1:78? The opinion has been advanced that the reference is to John the Baptist 3 4
as the forerunner of the Messiah. The entire passage in Luke would forbid the reference to mere man. The ul timate aim of godly Zacharias was not to magnify his son, privileged though he was, but to extol God for the sending of the Hope of Israel, Messiah the Lord. What is the concept behind the figure thus used for the Saviour? Man in his sin and condemnation is in deed in the darkness of sin and the valley of death. To him in such need the Redeemer comes as the Dayspring. One New Testament interpreter has suggested that the picture is taken from a caravan which has missed its way in the desert. Night overtakes the unfortunate travelers and they re sign themselves to certain death. Sud denly a star appears brightly above them and they are heartened at the sight. They leap to their feet with rejoicing as they realize that the her ald of the coming day is not far ahead of the glorious sun itself which shall soon be filling the whole hori zon with its light. With prophetic insight Zacharias saw that with the coming of Christ, the spiritual com fort and splendor of the Messianic age were being inaugurated for Is rael and the whole of mankind. Thus there is a telling connection between the last Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament in Malachi 4:2 and the last prophecy before the incarna tion of God the Son. The word day-star is found in Isa iah 14:12 (where it is the translation of helel ben shachar) and in 2 Peter 1:19 (where it is the rendering of phosphoros, whence we get our Eng lish phosphorus). Apart from the sun and moon, Venus is the brightest of About the Author Charles L. Feinberg is Director and Professor of Semitics and Old Testament at Talbot Theological Seminary, Los An geles. He has a Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University.
the stars. For this reason many com mentators feel Isaiah is comparing the brilliance of the king of Baby lon to Lucifer, son of the. morning. There are those who think it quite unfortunate .that day-star ever came to be associated with Satan. The connection is said to stem from the references in Luke 10:18 and Revela tion 9:1 ff. The fact is that the identification of Satan with Lucifer neither stems from the poets of the Middle Ages nor from ignorance as Calvin maintains. Jerome in his Vul gate translation of the Bible trans lates day-star as a name for the devil. Tertullian and other church fathers, even in the third century, were of the same mind. The passage in Isaiah 14, coupled with the testimony of Ezekiel 28, will not allow the refer ence to stand for the king of Baby lon alone, but for the energizing power behind him and his infamous ways. The occurrence in 2 Peter 1:19 is not open to such difference of opin ion. The Apostle Peter is declaring that the Mount of Transfiguration episode corroborated the Messianic prophecies and underscored the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the prophetic word is a light amid the increasing darkness which fortifies the believing heart. That light will guide and will suffice until the Day- star arises in our hearts. None other could be meant than Christ Himself. He later speaks of Himself as “ the bright and morning star” in Revela tion 22:16. How heart-warming, then, the truths contained in the words day spring and day-star. The first refers to the glory and light of His first coming to earth; the second points on to His coming for His own in the Rapture. See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Rejoicing in the accomplishment of the first, let us strive to be faithful till He come for His Bride. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” END. THE KING'S BUSINESS
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