If I Were In Israel. . .

If I were in Israel this is what I would do. Find a Jew and read Isaiah 51 to them.

Isaiah 51

The LORD's Comfort for Zion

1"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3For the LORD comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4"Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7"Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations."

9Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
that pierced the dragon?
10Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12"I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
13and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15I am the LORD your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--
the LORD of hosts is his name.
16And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'"

17Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, the cup of staggering.
18There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you--
who will console you?--
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?
20Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the LORD,
the rebuke of your God.

21Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
"Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
'Bow down, that we may pass over';
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over."

The parts I hilighted in blue were parts that stood out to me strongly as I read it and thought of the current attack on Israel by Hizbullah. Not that I skimmed over the other parts as irrelevant, not at all. I loved it all, but the blue parts were the words to which my spirit sang out, "Amen!" as I read them.

I felt a great desire to bring comfort to Zion as God does in this portion of Scripture.

This post underscores one of the great things I have been learning over the recent months, and arguably over my life: That God deeply loves Israel. The more I have learned about His love for Israel, the more my love for Israel has grown. But her friends are few.

Six Days or Sovereignty?

Try this one on for size. It seems appropriate for the beginning of this blog.

My sister just said that whether God created the earth in 6 days or 6 million years is not as important as the fact that He created it. I have always been in circles that would spend time defending 6 days til the cows come home, but although she believes it was 6 days she does not make a big deal about it.

That's interesting. I can rest in what God has told me about creation. I don't have to spend my life trying to debate with every evolutionist or theistic evolutionist to prove what God already said. Take Him at His Word.

And what does His Word say there? That God is Creator. His emphasis is not on how fast He did it, but that He did it. Shame on us for losing sight of His main point when we approach His Word. What's the point? If He created it, then He is Lord of it. The rest of the Bible is about what He proceeded to do with it after He created it.

Don't see six days, see Sovereignty. This Lord of Creation has continued to be Lord and to direct history. On a personal level, He is Lord of me and sovereignly directs all that occurs in my life as well.

My sister says she doesn't feel threatened by people who think otherwise. Of course! Why can't we always have that perspective? The truth will always be the truth whether people believe it or not. It is when we get militantly defensive--or worse, offensive--that people stop wanting to listen. There are more subtile tactics than that, people. I am not arguing for this world's form of tolerance, but rather a more calm assurance in what we believe. If we take that stance we might find that more people will want to listen to us.

Prerequisites

Let's start with this. I am dealing with God, the immensely complex Being. In fact, it would be safer to say that He is dealing with me. I have been learning about Him all my life, and I am finding that He is so complex that I may have been wrong about some things. Indeed He is so complex that perhaps 95% of all the things I post on this blog will turn out to be wrong.

But my goal is to not be satisfied with what I already know and understand. If there is one thing I have learned from Augustine it is that the element of wonder is important in my relationship with God. He must not be taken for granted, and we must not accept every trite answer we hear from a pulpit, pope, greeting card, or well-meaning friend.