Life Matters - January 17, 2024
Two sons. Cain and Abel. Ishmael and Isaac. Esau and Jacob. What these three pairs of brothers all have in common, besides their lives being recorded in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, is that the younger, the second born, was blessed and accepted by God despite their failures. Though no such failures are recorded of Abel, before his life was cut short by his older brother Cain, yet we believe by faith that he, with like passions as we, had them, having been born after the fall in the garden. That the order of age was purposely orchestrated by God who knows the end from the beginning is underscored for us in Romans chapter 9 where God informs us in chapter 13 that “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” What these three sets of brothers also have in common is being an allegorical object lesson of God’s hatred for the spirit of our first birth rebellion against His authority, and His love for the spirit of the second birth, those who are born the second time, acknowledging, submitting, and then being in submission to, and living by the power of, His authority. (John 3 - Romans 8)
These allegories are underscored by the first temple, the first covenant, being superseded by the second. The second covenant as in Hebrews chapter 9, and the second temple being a very personal, a very present part of every one of us! We are designed to be God’s temple. Through Jesus Christ and through His Spirit! (John 14:21-26)
As I stood on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, the feelings coursing through me were accompanied by thoughts like as the above. And, as my eyes gazed again upon the temple mount and I reflected upon the words of Jesus when, possibly standing on this very spot, those gracious words flowed from His lips, “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” (Matthew 23:3-7)
“Ye would not.” How often might that be said of us? God’s call for personal relationship and personal dependance upon Him and His Word is first of all to each one of us individually. And His call spreads out from there as individuals make up families, families become communities, communities make up counties and towns, counties and towns form states and states become a country. And as a country that is governed, “of the people, for the people, and by the people” draws close to or departs from God and His Word, the drawing close, or the departure, is merely a reflection of individual thought, life, and influence.
As a side note; stolen elections and election interference through lying propaganda can be expected as departure from God cracks, then opens the door, then the flood gates, to all manner of vice as winning elections and/or power becomes paramount, superseding the call for truth and reality. When God and His Word of truth are no longer paramount, then mankind naturally defaults to the most important person being what my dad called “der gros ich” (The big I)
‘’Der gros ich’’ is nothing new. He was present in the Garden of Eden and could be found in all conflicts since then. He was, in fact, to be found in Heaven as one of the angels at one time, in the form of a glorious angel who lifted himself up, as in “I Myself” thinking to be like the Most High. This darkened angel, whom we know of today as simply the devil, was overcome and cast out of Heaven, taking a third part of the angels with him. “Der gros ich” was present in expectations and then the ever-increasing conflict the Jewish leaders had with Jesus, recorded for us in the Gospels, especially in the book of Matthew. “Der gross ich” had found a comfortable co-existence with the Roman government and had established himself in the political maneuverings of the day. Or, the night, as Jesus was captured and tried at night to avoid, (we make a Bible educated conclusion) the adoring crowds of people.
It was over the above groups of leaders that Jesus mourned “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” He knew that their earthly temple was soon to be taken away, overpowered by pagans and their own factional conflicts, to eventually be replaced by a place of worship for the natural and/or spiritual descendants of Abraham’s first born son, the son of the bondwoman. A mosque. Keeping the Old Testament temple from being rebuilt on its original building site.
And now the Dome of the Rock mosque gleamed in the noon-day sun as I gazed downhill at the temple mount from this vantage point on the Mount of Olives. As I pondered the past and wondered at the future… Life Matters!