The consolation of Israel refers to the hope and comfort that God provides to His people Israel. This hope is rooted in God’s promises and plans for Israel’s future redemption and restoration. The Bible contains many passages that speak of God comforting and consoling His people in the midst of their suffering and exile.
A key passage is Isaiah 40:1-2 which says “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” This points to the future forgiveness and restoration that Israel can hope in. Isaiah 49:13 also says “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.” Here we see that God promises to show compassion and bring comfort to His afflicted people.
Jeremiah 31:13 declares “Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” This shows how God will take Israel’s sorrow and turn it into joy and gladness. There are many other passages in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophetic books that speak of how God will restore and console Israel after their long exile.
The consolation offered goes beyond just physical restoration to encompass spiritual redemption as well. Isaiah 12:1 says “You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.” Here we see that God’s consolation involves forgiveness and the turning away of His righteous anger against their sin.
This ties into the promise of the new covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 which speaks of how God will write His law on their hearts, forgive their sins and establish a personal relationship with His people. God will console and comfort Israel by redeeming them from bondage to sin and making them His people in truth through the inner working of the Holy Spirit.
The coming of the Messiah is connected to this consolation. Isaiah 52:9 says “Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.” The redemption of Jerusalem is linked to God’s consolation. Jesus as the Messiah came to redeem and restore Israel spiritually and physically.
Isaiah 40:11 presents the Messiah as a gentle shepherd who will “gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” This messianic shepherding reflects the gentle care and consolation God provides for His people. Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost sheep of Israel (Luke 19:10).
The New Testament confirms that Jesus fulfilled the promises of consolation for Israel. Simeon in the temple, upon seeing the infant Christ, declared that God’s servant was coming to “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” and to guide their feet into the way of peace (Luke 2:25-35). Jesus brings the ultimate comfort and consolation as the Messiah.
However, while many Jews accepted Christ as the consolation, the majority did not. Paul addresses this in Romans 9-11, explaining that Jewish unbelief does not nullify God’s faithfulness. “A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25-26a). God still has a plan to console and restore Israel completely.
The complete consolation will happen at the second coming of Christ. When Jesus returns, Israel will recognize Him and receive salvation and comfort (Zechariah 12:10). Revelation 21:4 also promises God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Though Israel has suffered greatly over the centuries, God has not forgotten His people or His promises to console them. He already provided the Messiah as the ultimate source of comfort. And God continues to preserve the Jewish people for a coming day of restoration. He will wipe away every tear and redeem their sad history in a future day of ultimate consolation through the second coming of the Messiah who will reign from Jerusalem.
In the present, Jews and gentiles alike can find comfort in Jesus the Messiah. As 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” The Holy Spirit is given as the comforter who consoles us in our suffering and equips us to share Christ’s comfort with others.
Through faith in Jesus, we can experience the promised consolation of Israel now in the spiritual sense of salvation, forgiveness, and adoption into God’s family. We look ahead to the ultimate consolation of resurrection and the eternal paradise promised for God’s people. When Jesus returns, the full consolation of Israel will be realized across ethnic, national and spiritual lines as people from every tribe, tongue and nation join the restored nation of Israel in receiving the Messiah and His everlasting consolation and peace.
In summary, the consolation of Israel refers to the comfort and hope God provides for His people Israel through the promise of future redemption and restoration. It encompasses spiritual salvation through the Messiah as well as national deliverance and return to the land. Jesus came as the Messiah to being the ultimate consolation of salvation for all people including Israel. The full consolation will be realized at the second coming of Christ when Israel receives their Messiah, the dead are resurrected, and God’s kingdom comes to earth. Through faith in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles can experience the promised consolation in the present. The consolation of Israel testifies to God’s unfailing, faithful love and restoration for His people.