As I read this beautiful passage of the nations coming to
Israel and bringing glory into her, serving her and blessing her I can’t help
but think of today’s situation in the nation.
Indeed, nations like the United States, ostensibly the most powerful nation
on earth have provided funds and protection for Israel, we played the starring
role in re-establishing the nation after World War II and have been her
protector since then. People from all
over the world travel there because it is the city of God, the place where
Jesus ministered and was the place where He was crucified, died, was buried and
rose again. We, Christians all over the
world, in places no one in that time could have imagined, read the word hungrily,
read Isaiah to seek to know the meaning, ultimately, of His prophetic
visions. The vision is being fulfilled
in our own day as we read this passage, as we make what is for some a
pilgrimage to the “Holy Land” and as we work for peace in the Middle East. It is odd and amazing that this nation has
persevered and even exists after all these centuries. If it were not for the covenant there would
be no Israel. What does it all mean?
The mystery of the Gospel is that you can’t do it yourself
and what you think you know you don’t.
The rich young man was aware that there was something missing in his
life. He had money and he had, by his
own account, kept the commandments but he asked Jesus what he had to “do” to
inherit eternal life. He had no security
in spite of all he had and all he did.
Did you notice what the commands Jesus listed did not include? They didn’t include the commandment to have
no other gods before the Lord and his duty vis a vis the Lord. Jesus’ command to sell everything he owned
exposed that he didn’t love the Lord enough to give up his earthly
inheritance. Jesus’ words concerning the
difficulty of the rich to enter the kingdom causes despair in the disciples,
they too are looking for thrones and earthly evidence of blessedness. No one went away that day satisfied with the
answers they were given, they weren’t yet looking for the real kingdom, they
didn’t know yet what all this means.
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith,
love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” That is tough advice for a young man. The process of maturity involves sorting out
youthful passions and reigning them in.
the passions aren’t necessarily wrong in and of themselves but they need
to be kept in their boundaries, not allowed to dominate our lives. If we didn’t have those youthful passions we
wouldn’t reproduce, we wouldn’t fight against wrong, but those same passions
can become unbridled and rule our lives rather than us ruling over them. Paul writes as though the kingdom were a
mystery, the Lord knows who are His own but we may not actually know. To understand the times, to understand the
world and events around us is the work of revelation. God is in charge, He knows what all things
mean and if we would have wisdom, we must not only ask the right questions but
ask the right person.
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