June 2, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.” (Isaiah 65.17-19)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

We are probably more familiar with this image from the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to John than from this given to the prophet Isaiah. Could it be that John was a student of the prophetic writings and thus greatly influenced to hear the words of the Glorified Christ within this framework? Could it be that this revelatory scene is another example of “the One who was, is and is yet to come“? If that was the case, we certainly see the consistency of God’s Word upon which we can and may depend. The thrust of the promise of God to “see what I have done and what I am about to do [or, what I AM is about to do]” is real. We would have either a difficult time in ignoring it or prepared to bear the burden of justice for doubting it to the point of casting it aside. From the vista of spiritual foresight, insight and “in the moment” vision, I can only imagine what each magus must have experienced when their individual revelatory experiences became a shared community of expectation concerning the birth of a king in Israel who would rule the world. In their collective, the emotion and spiritual energy had to be overwhelming. They would have been, and we know they were, compelled to follow the sign which had been given. They each were given a sign which aligned themselves with each other as do the planets in the sky. [I am not saying that is what the “Great Star” was, mind you, but presenting a story in image form.] Consider those wise men of old. They were consultants to their own kings, caliphs and rulers about the portents of the heavens and their congruency with historical reality. They were used to serving for the greater good knowing that a power even greater than those whom they served was a work. That power either had to be believed and received or ignored and “let the chips fall where they may.” They believed and, with the commissioning of those whom they served, went to find the meaning of what had been revealed to them. As mighty ones of God filled with wisdom from the Holy Spirit, are we in search of the meaning which has been revealed to us? Are we in longing now for what is yet to come hearing what was (the Revelation to Isaiah in the Old Testament), what is (the Revelation to John in the New Testament) and what is yet to come (the fulfillment of what was promised in a “new” Word, Covenant, Testimony)?

We must understand the depth of the “weeping and wailing” God addresses in our past, present and future. It is, as Peter wrote in his letters to the churches in Asia Minor directly and to the entire Roman Empire by application, the “end of days.” Tribulation is experienced every day of our lives. In the small angst moment when things are not going our way because of negligence on our part or someone else’s, we feel “put upon.” We lament. We complain. We may even consider acting out upon it in some fashion to “get justice.” But what happens when our opinion, understanding and belief system of faith comes under scrutiny or outright attack? Do we consider that tribulation and persecution as biblically severe? We may not like to be questioned. We may not feel adequate to the testing of our faith as defenders of it by “word and by deed.” Shouldn’t we be adequate? Why else are we engaging in authentic biblical education? Or are we? To what depth are we being trained, by practice, in becoming and being scriptural/biblical gladiators? Are we faithful enough to accept judgment from the faithless as Stephen? The apostles? The martyred Christians at the wiles of Nero and Domitian? Are we able to stand in dialogue as Paul, Priscilla and Aquila or John the Elder? Can we be silent and let it speak louder than words? Can we speak so as to silence the demonic voices which seek to dilute and conform modern opinion until “God’s truth becomes a lie in the ears of the hearers” and the “world’s truth, which is a lie, becomes acceptable.” I would ask you to consider this, as well, that within the Church itself, there is a false gospel. Peter and Paul warned of such. It is the diluted truth of the Word of God so as to soften its corrective nature and to become more tolerant of the infusion of sin as acceptable behavior (think of, a white lie….Jesus called the Pharisees “white-washed tombs” and that would have been an example of those who live by “little white lies.”) You may hear of cheap grace, cotton-candy gospel, not so bad as it could be behaviors. These are all a part of what creates the “weeping and wailing” when God’s correction and judgment comes to bear. First is that which is caused by the pain of doubt, confusion and abuse fostered by seeking to like in the kingdom and in the world. Then there is that which is caused by the affliction of the truth in treating the woundedness of sin so that the old is cleaned out and the new is fostered to grow and take its place. Then there is that which is caused by the judgment of truth that is not willing to be compromised. It is, what some have called, “the God’s honest truth.” Yet, the day is coming when all of these “tribulations” will have passed and the mourning and sorrowing will not longer be an option available to the believers. This is what we long for and this is what God has promised, is promising and will fulfill as He has promised in His Son who is Jesus the Christ.

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

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free in Jesus’ name. AMEN.