For
the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to
many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations,
but they shall not rule over you.
Deuteronomy 15:6
It
shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the
LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be
lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall
come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the
house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk
in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:1-2
Then
the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the
city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds
of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2
I’ve
been reading about how we, the nations, have been scattered throughout the
world, Lord and I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I’m out of step. My
uneasiness stems from an observation of the world’s divisional tendencies;
whether a favorite sports team or a political persuasion, an ethnic preference
or even…a church or religious institution.
As
I scan scripture, I find at least 327 references to “nations” and Your
relationship with them in the Bible. That number of verses centering on one
issue, place the subject into the “pay attention and learn” category: And so I
obey.
First
I find that there are two major separations regarding nations: Them and us. The
question is who “we” are and who are “they”. This one is easy. We are God’s
chosen; they are not. Wait…what did I
just say―that was easy? Not at all! In fact, Lord, I now have to go back and
define God’s chosen―Israel.
Hold
on a second, I’m not a Jew, and if I’m not a Jew, then…am I chosen? Oh yeah,
I’m grafted in. But…grafted into what? It seems to be getting more complicated,
Adonai, please clarify: You say that by Your blood sacrifice and resurrection,
I’m offered eternal salvation becoming one with You and “in” You. But You’re
the God of the Israelites and You commanded Israelites to be all about
Your land and Your covenants. You have said the land of Israel is the inheritance
of the Jews and so…shouldn’t I be all about Your land and covenants?
Oh, that’s right, I’m
freed from that because of the New Covenant, right? Uh, no it appears that the
other covenants are not extinguished by the New C; the New C simply finalizes
the set. So, I’m still, as a Born Again Believer; not only Your child,
but also a servant as defined by a specific connecting thread. You said the
land of Israel is where we shall gather; any nation who blesses Israel will be
blessed; anyone who curses Israel…?
There’s plenty of
scripture that consistently backs up this concept and I’m certainly not going
to get into a quoting contest with You, Master of text. But I do ask You to
help me understand something―It appears that, at this moment in time, even the
government and the people of Israel are not all about Israel. They too
appear to be wrapped up more in their favorite sports teams, political
persuasions, ethnic preferences and even…their church or religious
institutions. As someone who lives in a distant land―someone who longs to live
within and love the land of my inheritance―how can I share with You, other
believers and with my Jewish kin; Your desire for a united people within a
united kingdom while here on Earth? Am I to be more about Israel than Israel?
Is that what You are asking of Your children?
Maybe I’m getting too
worried about my future rather than trying to live out my “now”. Or is this the
time when all of us should be living as You have asked us to―teaching and
baptizing all nations, instructing them and living out by example all
the commandments You have given us? As part of my national heritage, it would
seem that I have a responsibility once again, to follow Your footstep example— as when You walked the
earth. You spoke often and clearly about the land of Israel. You pointed the
nations to Abraham and to the coming age when all would be gathered—not each to
their own country, but all to one place—to Your place, Zion. Jerusalem.
Were Your words all
metaphorical, Lord? Is there any or all of Your text that I should read literally?
Shouldn’t I be committed to—praying about, supporting and familiarizing myself
with that place where I will someday dwell with You?
I believe all of
what You have given us in Your instructions to be literal, all pressing
and all important for all Your people, Lord. I believe it because
You repeated it in word and by example, over and over again and I want to be
obedient to Your ways.
Yet my question still
stands, how can we, as Your children unite concerning our heritage when many of
those I observe in Your body of believers seem to have no problem with the
condition of Israel and the decay of its people’s focus toward You? How can I
help shift the paradigm of awareness when few seem motivated to change?
Adonai, I pray
for inspiration: please show me, show all of us how we as separate nations will
be gathered as described in the writings of Micah and Revelation. King of
kings, encourage and direct us in our commonality as one body, focused on going
up to Your mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that You may teach us Your
ways, that we may walk in Your paths.
Anxious for more teaching from You,
Mark C.
