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Isaiah continues to prophesy of the new Jerusalem, and this is what he says the Lord says about this new city that is to come one day:
“I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
In this new Jerusalem, there will be a coming together of both Jew and Gentile, an event that will succeed the coming of the Messiah to the Jews when there will be no more distinctions under a new covenant.
The Lord says, 18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done, I am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.
But there is also everlasting doom for the wicked who are unrepentant. They will have their chance to choose their camp, and if they choose to remain unpenitent, there is an everlasting separation of the righteous from the wicked at this time.
And this is what we learn lies in the future: 22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
Turning now to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we find Paul addressing most likely another debate about the alleged superiority of the Jews in comparison to the non-Jews who have recently adopted the Christian faith.
These groups of legalistic Jews disseminated a doctrine of compliance to all Jewish practices such as circumcision upon conversion to the Christian faith, and Paul is constantly offering arguments to oppose these irrelevant ways of thinking and practice.
In this letter, he goes about making his case in a tongue-in-cheek manner, so as to say, you think you’re so cool, well, let me tell you how cool I really am!
And so, Paul says this about his own Jewish heritage: If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
This Law vs. Faith debate is an old one, and Paul’s paramount purpose in addressing it time and time again is to convince his readers that nothing compares to the saving power of simple belief in the work already accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross and beyond.
So great is this fact of death and resurrection that translates to a free gift of eternal life that no amount of good works, kosher dietary laws, or even circumcision may attain this, because if that were the case, then grace is made null and void, and our faith is in vain.
To this end, Paul says: 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
But inasmuch as Paul preaches a doctrine of grace, he is quick to point out that he is not sitting smug on the sidelines as if he has arrived at his final destination. This is a faith that is transformative over a lifetime; it is a journey that teaches us many a lesson along the way.
Paul explains: 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Finally, he closes out this part of his letter with these words of encouragement: 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Turning now to our reading of the psalms, we find David offering a most humble plea to the Almighty for help and victory. He says:
21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long. 23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.
Finally, a couple of verses from the book of Proverbs which comprise another “saying” by king Solomon:
15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; 16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
