What a glorious day in Israel on the day the wall was
completed! Singers, dancers, priests and
Levites all served and rejoiced. The
people rejoiced in their spiritual leaders and the first order of business was
to appoint those who would serve to collect the offerings of the people which
would be brought. Remember this was in a
time of economic difficulty, it was just two days ago in our readings that
Nehemiah was dealing with the trying circumstances under which the people were laboring. The expectation was that the Lord was going
to bless them so they appointed those who would collect and distribute the
bounty that would come into the city for contributions, firstfruits and
tithes. The celebration must have rung
out over the hills and plains, surely reaching the ears of those who had set
themselves in opposition to the rebuilding project. A bitter sound indeed.
Is the kingdom of heaven the most important thing in your
life? The first two parables all speak
of the surpassing value of the kingdom, that it you perceive its value the only
real option available to you is to get rid of everything else in order to
possess it. That kingdom becomes like an
obsession, you must have it. The third
parable is similar to the wheat and weeds in that there will be a net with many
fish in it, some will be kept and some sorted out by the angels and
discarded. I don’t like that idea but
there is no way around it, Jesus is clear about this sorting process more than
once, particularly in Matthew’s Gospel.
Are we uneasy enough about it to begin to pray in earnest for those
friends and family who are unbelievers and to take the risk of sharing the
Gospel with them?
This part of the Revelation is a mélange of Old Testament
images. The measuring rod is reminiscent
of Ezekiel, the miracles of the two prophets are similar to the work of Moses
and Elijah, the olive trees and lampstand are from Zechariah and the beast
reminds of Daniel’s prophecy. That
shouldn’t be surprising, these are the images God has given to His people, they
bear repeating. A new thing, like Jesus
spoke of in the final words of the Gospel, doesn’t mean that there is none of
the old. The beast seems to triumph over
the prophets and there is rejoicing again in the city until they are
resurrected and taken up into the clouds (familiar image?) in the sight not of
the disciples but of their enemies prior to the judgment of the
earthquake. Now, the seventh angel
announces that all is the Lord’s though the battle is not yet done. Heaven rejoices over the announcement, as though
the victory was already complete. That
is the confidence we are to have as well.
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