A King and His subjects make up a kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:10-16 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
The house refers to a royal bloodline which is referred to as the house of David. Out of this bloodline would come the Messiah King. But the nation of Israel if they commit iniquity will be chastened but God’s mercy will never leave them. This house of David and the Kingdom will last forever.
Luke 1:57-66 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. 59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
After 400 years of silence Zacharias, filled with Holy Spirit, prophesied of the work of God in his son, John. John the Baptist would go before Jesus and pave the way for those who would trust in Him for salvation.
Luke 1:67-79
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Ephesians 2:11-18 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
With few exceptions Jesus dealt exclusively with the Jews. It was hard for them to accept that the Gentiles, aliens of Israel, through faith in Jesus would have the same rights as the Jew. For 2000 years God made His will known to mankind. Few followed His commandments. Ultimately through the rejection of their Messiah King by His chosen people the whole of mankind was offered salvation in Him. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. He came to His own and His own knew Him not. Christ the King was crucified. He suffered death to offer salvation, the gift of God, to all who believe in Him. He died for the sins of the world. He is risen! He is the only truth that matters. Carla
Paul urges the Gentile believers to recall their life before Christ, just as the Israelites were often told to remember what God had done for them (Exodus 13:3).
Uncircumcision was a derogatory term emphasizing that non-Jewish people are outsiders in relation to God’s covenant with Israel. This category includes most members of the churches planted or empowered by Paul.
The Greek word used here for made by hands, cheiropoiētos, portrays circumcision as a human rite. In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), this word is used to refer to idols (Leviticus 26:1; Isaiah 2:18; 10:11; Daniel 5:4). Faithlife Study Bible
Because the sign of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision, the Jews proudly referred to themselves as the Circumcision. Somewhat less kindly, they called Gentiles the Uncircumcision.
Paul painted vividly the bleak condition of pagans. They had no hope, for God had not reached out to them to establish a covenant relationship. However, the shed blood of Christ could bring the Gentiles back to their Creator.
The middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles was vividly portrayed by an actual partition in the temple area, with a sign warning that any Gentile going beyond the Court of the Gentiles would receive swift and sudden death. Paul was not saying that God had rejected the righteous standards of the law. Rather, in Christ the righteous standards that people could never reach have been accomplished. He is our righteousness; in Him, believers fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17, 20; Romans 3:21, 22, 31). The Christian church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, is described as one new man. In the earliest days of Christianity, the church was largely made up of Jews. But under the direction of God’s Spirit, the believers witnessed to Gentiles (Acts 10), who then outnumbered the Jewish members. The NKJV Study Bible
Colossians 1:20–22 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled…
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Isaiah 57:19
“I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,
“Says the LORD,“
And I will heal him.”
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the fulfillment of Prophesy to the Israelites all things will be just as described. Peace will come to the Jews when they accept Jesus as their King. They will always be His chosen people.
Ezekiel 35:1-15 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, And make you most desolate; 4 I shall lay your cities waste, And you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 5 “Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, 6 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. 7 Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it the one who leaves and the one who returns. 8 And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall. 9 I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the Lord. 10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, 11 therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’ 13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them.” 14 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The whole earth will rejoice when I make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom—all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’
600 years before Christ these words were prophesied and they will come to pass. Mt Seir was Esau’s land which today is the Arab world. We are seeing this fulfilled in our lifetime. God can use other nations to chasten Israel but they will always be His chosen people.
And then we read this from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, "So; chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."
I like the paradigm shift. We are not mandated to design or create or assemble the wardrobe. Only that we inhabit the wardrobe we’ve been given.
And here’s the good news; every single one of us have been endowed and equipped, because every single one of us has been given the name, peacemaker.
Yes. Love is the way.
Too good to be true? I can relate.
So, too often, I settle for less.
Because, “That can’t be me,” I tell myself.
Which begs the question; in this churning, and uncertain, and too often disheartening environment, from where do we draw our identity?
From where to we draw our character?
I know this to be true: the bottom line is that I would like to be known as a peacemaker.
I would like to live as a non-anxious presence.
And that sounds like a pretty good way to live.
"Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish.
Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears.
Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless.
Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human."
Thank you, Henri Nouwen Sabbath Moments
