Comfort my people in Zabarmari

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2). The book of Isaiah is centered on the Babylonian exile, which began in 586 BC. At that time King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and then enslaved the Jewish people. The exile ended in 539 B.C.   When Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple. The book of Isaiah makes it clear that Nebuchadnezzar was God’s instrument to punish the Jewish people for their sins, and Cyrus will be Yahweh’s instrument to set them free.

When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Holy Temple, he exiled 10,000 of the brightest and most promising of the Jewish nation (including Daniel Mishael and Azariah), leaving behind the labourers to work the fields. The Jewish people who remained in Israel under the rule of King Zedekiah began rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet Jeremiah begged the king to end this foolish rebellion and submit to Nebuchadnezzar before it was too late, but his warning fell on deaf ears. The remainder of the Jews in Israel were crushed and sent into exile: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we also wept, when we remembered Zion” (Psalm 137)

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The Roman Empire brought the final blow for Jewish sovereignty in Israel and the final exile for the Jews, one that has lasted for nearly 2,000 years and has not yet ended. The Jewish people during that time were split into four factions: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Sicarii and Zealots. Some of these groups began rebelling against the mighty empire. The Emperor Nero saw this as treason and sent his best general, Vespasian, along with his son, Titus, and 60,000 Roman soldiers to quell the revolt. Finally, in the year 3829 (69 CE), an oppression that started with heavy taxes ended with mass murder. The Jewish people were butchered and slaughtered, their homes ransacked and the Holy Temple burnt to the ground. And since then, the Jewish people have been persecuted and exiled.

In the year 1096, the First Crusade destroyed Jewish communities across Europe and in Israel. In 1144, the first recorded blood libel took place. In 1190, Jews were massacred in England during the Third Crusade. A public burning of the Talmud took place in Paris in 1242. In 1290, all Jews were expelled from England. The Spanish Inquisition occurred in 1478. In 1648, Jews were massacred by Chmielnitzki’s forces (what is known as gezeirat tach v’tat). In 1918, over 60,000 Jews were killed during the Russian revolution. Finally, during the Holocaust: six million Jews were slaughtered.

In chapters 1-39 of the book of Isaiah, the scriptures outlined the punishment that Judah could expect as a result of relying on alliances with other nations rather than placing their trust in God. Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed and the people would experience a lengthy exile. That has happened. The exile has lasted nearly fifty years. The Jews are living in servitude, as they had done in Egypt so many years earlier. Most of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem have died in exile, and a new generation has been born in servitude.

In these words, “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God,” we find that same seed of hope. Yahweh has punished Jerusalem for its sins, but his purpose was not their suffering, but their redemption. He allowed them to suffer the fire that their sins might be purged. He did this to restore them to their former status as his chosen people—a status that they never fully lost, but that they compromised by their unfaithfulness.

When we go through the scriptures, we feel empowered by the love and mercy of God who shows us the depth of his love, despite our sinfulness and unworthiness. God demonstrates his power to humanity through his loving mercies. His ability to pardon the worst of sins and crimes. And we see this in the lives of David, (2 Sam. 12: 1-15), Mary Magdaline (Luke 7:36-50) St Paul the Apostle, and St Augustine of Hippo.

Like Nebuchadnezzar was allowed by God to rule over the people of Israel. For us in Nigeria, it has never been this bad. To the community of Zabarmari, Maiduguri in Borno State who were slaughtered in their farms on the 29th of November, we say comfort. May the Lord console and heal you all. Words are not enough to convey what the majority of Nigerians feel about what has happened.

World leaders including Pope Francis, have offered words of condolence: The Holy Father said: “I want to assure my prayers for Nigeria, which unfortunately once again has been bloodied by a terroristic massacre. May God welcome them into his peace and comfort their families, and may he convert the hearts of those who commit such horrors, which gravely offend His name.”

Over 43 men were beheaded in the attack, which began on Saturday morning the 28th of November 2020, in the village of Zabarmari, and UN estimated that at least 110 people were killed across the Jere local government area of Borno State. In a public show of support, Governor Zulum was seen carrying the corpses of the dead and assisting in the burial. That image was very consoling to me. May his passion for peace meet the right political will.

On the flipside, it’s utterly shocking to notice how the country was never shaken by the death of those farmers. The flag was never flung at half mast, as a sign of mourning. Everything moved as normal as if nothing happened.  Our elected officials never made any significant gesture to show empathy and concern, just like the sad event of the shooting at the toll gate that took place during the #EndSARS protest.  For many of us in Nigeria, the scariest part of the Zabarmari tradegy is the lack of empathy and concern shown to that community by the entire country. As the prophet Isaiah said to the exile community. We say to you dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord Comfort and heal your pains.

Fr Stephen Ojapah is a priest of the Missionary Society of St Paul. He is equally the director for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism for the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, a member of IDFP. He is also a KAICIID Fellow. ([email protected])