Where was Israel when God found her? Was there ever a time she actually sought Him, even from the very beginning? A spiritual question answered by historical reality -- no, Israel did not seek God, for it has always been His to intrude where none are aware of Him. Israel was no different. But Israel in particular was a hard case. In some ways, we can call the Old Testament a triumph of God's will over the most hard-hearted nation in history. All the while they rejected His Law, they were telling the rest of the world how much holier they were. The history of the Nation is summed up in constant offense to God.
That God did not take action on a human time scale should not be mistaken for leniency. God by His own nature cannot abide sin, and must respond with wrath. It's not as if any other nation was better than Israel, but Israel had the full revelation for their time, and refused to honor it, or to honor the God who revealed Himself to them in a way not available to any other nation. Lying to a stranger is one thing, but betraying your Heavenly Father, closer than your blood kin, is beyond words. To the very soul of their being, the Lord would punish them fully.
Sure, there were a select few who were faithful. Their faithfulness cries out for some redemptive effort. But it could not be as though He would save the actual whoring wife called Israel. Instead, some child of their broken union would take her place, as it were. She would lose her name to another, but it would never be quite the same. Indeed, it would be far better. The New Israel would seek Him, because it would all be on different terms. No, Israel the First was a complete failure, unwilling to be faithful, they sought the most pernicious deities as greater gods.
Simple death itself would be too good for them. Instead of a dignified execution, He would abandon them to the full consequences of the sin they chose. Worse, they will look on as this New Israel has everything offered to them, but things they never knew. The Law of Moses was the path to a much higher Law of God, and the blessings of Moses were but symbols of much higher blessings. As Israel hardly entered into the lower, how could she ever know the higher? So she'll see the New Bride celebrate things she refused to seek. Indeed, God warns their literal name would become a curse. In the end, God would wipe away His sorrow in Israel by burying the memory under His New Kingdom.
Verse 17 is quoted by John in the Apocalypse, but fools adamantly insist on a literal meaning neither Isaiah nor John intended. That is, the literal meaning is, at most, a mere symbol of something too great for words. When anyone enters the Blood Covenant of Christ, he sees all Creation through eyes now suddenly clear, and a revealing light now pushing aside the darkness of sin. Both earthly and heavenly things change in his understanding. So it is our God will peel back the layers of mystery which hid the entire Creation, so men will have access to God's own perspective on all things. Whatever it was Jerusalem and Israel were supposed to mean will be revealed, and the former shadowy versions will be forgotten by comparison.
In this new spiritual existence on the earth, living a hundred years in sin will be a curse, while just a few years of grace will be eternity. What the Redeemed can build with this is hard to characterize, but it will be as if all Palestine was laid waste, and the New Kingdom built from fresh new materials something which cannot be described. It will be something which no human force can take away, because its true nature is rooted in Heaven. Everything Old Israel thought she enjoyed was nothing by comparison.
Most importantly of all is how these New Israelites will relate to Jehovah. He won't wait for them to hold a solemn assembly to call upon His name for relief, but will answer before they can formulate the very thoughts of calling on Him. As they open their mouths to state their request, He will already have the blessings in His hands. Can you imagine a world without predators? Can you envision a world in which there is no threat? So is the world Our God makes for His New Nation.
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By Ed Hurst
26 October 2009
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)