January 10, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.” (Isaiah 45.24B-25)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Mighty ones of God, do not think for a moment that what God had given to Isaiah to share with Israel in His call for repentance and redemption was a “See, I told you so!” There is nothing within the prophecy nor the heart of God that declares “just because you are a people automatically means you are the people.” Jesus faced this attitude in His own ministry as He was confronted by the Pharisees. In Matthew, chapter 3, and John, chapter 8, Jesus was challenged with their pride which declared in defense of their position, “We have Abraham as our father.” Jesus replied, “Really, God could raise up children of Abraham from these very stones.” I love this retort of Jesus as it puts a tremendous amount of emphasis on the matter of “faith” as our true inheritance. We would hear this declaration again when the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law meet Jesus as He enters the East Gate on the Sunday before Crucifixion. His arrival in Jerusalem in the season of Passover caused a great stir of anticipation. Many believed that Jesus of Nazareth (remember, “what good had ever come from Nazareth”) was going to be the Messiah who would drive out the Romans, put the Jewish leadership in their place and validate Israel as the true people of God. Seizing the moment to make their own profession of hopefulness (I would not say “faithfulness” as many would turn away by the time Jesus went to trial for crimes against God and the State), a “flash mob” formed chanting “Hail, the Son of David comes!” At the very front of this processional were the disciples of Jesus like cheerleaders. They encouraged, shall we dare say incited, the crowd to meet what they thought was the agenda of Jesus but really was their own. Let’s say the disciples heart was in the right place. Regardless, the Jewish “leadership” feared the moment at many levels. They approached Jesus and asked Him to quieten things down. Jesus replied, “Even if I did silence these men, the very stones at the side of the road would begin to cry out.” (Luke 19.40) Okay, let me add another passage of scripture to the consideration of Isaiah’s prophecy “Out of the mouths of babes is ordained perfect praise.” (Matthew 21.16; Psalm 8.2) In other words, the truth cannot be silenced. Everyone and everything have the opportunity to praise God from whom all blessings flow. It cannot be bound into one people but rather “one voice of a people who respond to the truth of God.”

Am I saying that God has forsaken Israel? God has not forsaken “old” Israel for “new Israel.” God has not forsaken Israel of the past nor the present. We have already seized upon the truth that 1) God had called Israel to be His chosen people and 2) the call of chosen-ness was for His purpose to bring the world into justice and right relationship with Him and each other. The question will be for both old and new “What have you done with the calling?” Again, I would urge the reader to see the word of prophecy which has been given to the prophets the call to bring good news for all people. It wasn’t original to the cry of the angels when Jesus was born in Bethlehem who said to the royal shepherds in the fields before dawn “Unto you is born this day, a Savior, Christ the Lord. Do not be afraid. We bring glad tidings of great joy which is good news for all the people.” Perhaps if the angels were “Jewish” we might suggest “all the people” meant only the nation of Israel. I think we may safely assume that was not the case nor is it the case today. Nor will it be the case in the future. What is the case, however, is that the Word of God is the same “yesterday, today and forever.” God loves His people whom He has called. God loves His people who are called by His Name. God loves even those who reject the call and reject the name. The consequences of that love may be different. That is a sadness which is a choice of the people and a certainty defined by God.

So, what am I suggesting? I am suggesting there is vindication for those whom the world despises, rejects and seeks to silence even by death itself whom God loves. Jesus warned His disciples that the day would come when they would be “hated, reviled and persecuted for His name’s sake.” Because they would be faithful to His call in their lives and God’s call on their lives, the world would stand against them and attempt in every way to eliminate them. Why? The reason is simple but foolish “silence the messenger and the message dies out.” It was the logic of the Temple leadership in the day of Jesus’ life and ministry. It has been the logic of the world since that day. It will be the logic used by the enemy until “that Day” when Christ shall return in truth and justice. We not only know that “on that day every knee will bow and tongue confess” but that “Israel will exult in being justified in her belief that there is but one God over all who has called His people into life and love.” The question for us is “Who is that Israel?” It is, of course, the Bride of Christ, those who have chosen to submit to the will of God as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth who is the Son of Man and of God. “That” Israel is not the singular nation, or state, of Israel. “That” Israel is not a singular denomination, or church, of Christendom. “That” Israel is the new creation brought about by those who put their faith in Jesus as the Christ, who call upon Him as Lord and Savior and acknowledge that He is the only “way, the truth and the life” by which the Kingdom of God shall be gained and entered. The day of that revelation is coming soon!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.