The second feature which demands notice is the increasing stress laid upon the individual. In the earlier history of Israel the conception of salvation had been primarily national, but with the destruc- tion of the nation the attention of the prophets was directed more and more from the people aa a
360
SALVATION, SAVIOUR
SALVATION, SAVIOUR
whole to the units which composed it. Jeremiah, and still more Ezekiel, are tlie prophets of this growing individualism, which appears clearly in Euch passa<;es as Jer SI-"- ^'', Ezk 18. No small part of Messiah's work consists in ri<,'hting the wrongs of the oppressed, and re-estahlishing the widow and the fatherless in the rights of which they have been defrauded (Ps 72^- '», Is 11'- ■• 61'-»). Under Him, as under a faitliful shepherd, all those wlio have been faithful to J" during tlie period of Israel's misfortunes shall be gathered together to form a new tomnionwealth in which righteousness shall be the controlling feature (Ezk 34, cf. Is 60''). This conception of God as the Saviour of the indi- vidual tincls expression in the Wisdom literature {e.g. Job 5'" 22-" 26=, Pr 2(F), and in many of the Psalms. J" is the deliverer of the weak and the needy (I09»', cf. IS" T2>- "), the Saviour of the meek (Te' 149*. cf. Job 22^), and of all that put their trust in Him (86'-, cf. 88>). The poor man cried, and J" heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles (34"). He saves the upright (37^'- '"'), and such as be of a contrite spirit (34'*). He hears the cry of them that fear Him, and fulfils their desire (145"). Whatever may be the true inter- pretation of many of the later Psalms, there can be no doubt that their tone was much influenced bv this growing individualism. There is a sense oi intimacy in relation to God, a confidence, a joy in trust in Him which can only be thus explained. Out of their own experiences in personal com- munion with God the writers have gained an insight into His tenderness and love which they transfer in thought to the nation. It is no accident that later ages have given an individual- istic interpretation to psalms whose reference is clearly national. And if we do right, witli many recent interpreters, to understand tlie suttering servant of Deutero-Isaiah, of Israel the nation, it was surely through some personal experience of affliction gladly borne for another's good that the prophet was raised to his sublime interpretation of the meaning of his people's deeper sufl'erings.
The crown of this individualism is reached in the doctrine of the resurrection, which unites in an unexpected way the conceptions of individual and of national salvation. In most of the OT, salvation is a conception which has meaning only for this life. There is indeed an existence after death, but it is gloomy and uneventful, without experience of God's mercy and grace. ' In deatli there is no remembrance of thee (God) : in Sheol who shall give thee thanks?' (Ps 6"). This earth is the scene of God's salvation, whether present or future ; and even the gloi ies of the Messianic age unroll themselves upon this platfonn, and will be enjoyed by those only who may be alive when the proniist'd deliverance comes.
But with the growing sense of God's greatness and power came the conception that even the realm of the dead was under His control, and that thy riijhtuous wlio had died in distress might still hope aft IT death to see the salvation of Goa. This hope, which appears in sporadic utterances in the Psalms {c.ff. 4'J" 73'-''- "), and finds classic expres- sion in Job 19-''-'' (' I know that my vindicator liveth,' etc.), culminates in the doctrine of indi- vidual resurrection, wliich meets us for the first time in Is 20'", and is repeated in Dn 12'''.
But this growing individualism had a still more important consequence than in extending the range of the Divine salvation. It materially modi- fied the idea of its nature. The conception of sal- vation with which we have tlius far been dealing Is, for all its ethical features, more or lesi ex- ternal. It is deliverance from the consequences of tin rather than from tin itself. The projihets call npon men to repent and forsake their sins, that
they may become worthy to receive the promised salvation. But with the deepening moral sense tlicre conies the insight that even for repentance itself Divine help is needed, and the cry arises to God for a deliverance whicli shall include not merely the consequences of sin, but the very sin which has caused them. This new insight finds expression in such a praj'er as that of the 51st Psalm : ' Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a firm spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy ot thy salvation ; and uphold me with a willing spirit ' (vv.'"-'-). Here the salvation for which the Psalmist prays includes deliverance from sin as one of its elements (cf. Ps 130'-* 'O Israel, hope in J" : for with J" there is loving-kindness, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities'; cf. Ps 39' 79"). It is the prophets of individualism, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who give clearest expression to this idea of salvation as deliverance from sin. ' Be- hold, the days come, saith J", that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. . . . But this is the covenant which I will make. . . . I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it ; and I will he their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brotlior, saying. Know J " : for all men shall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith J" ; for I will forgive their iniquity, and tlieir sin will I remember no more ' (Jer SP''**, cf. 33'). ' And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthi- ness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your Hesli, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them . . . and I will save you from all your uncleanncsses ' (Ezk SG-^'-*, cf. 3'7-^). Here we have a conception of salvation which goes deeper than any external deliverance. The great prophet of the Exile carries on the same line of thought. To him the chief blessing of the Messianic age is the forgiveness of sins. It is not Israel whose right- eousness deserves the s.ilvation of J", but J" who goes out after His erring children, to forgive and redeem them for His name's sake (Is 43--'-^ ; cf. 442-2 33Q2. 24 646-9 (551. 2^ Zec P 13'). In such passages we have a direct preparation for the profound con- ception of the NT.