(M,C,P)B...
Illustration
(M,C,P)
Even though this lesson reads like a requiem, it is not an account of unrelieved tragedy. The dissolution of Israel stands as both warning and promise for the reader. When a people put their trust in the things of this world it brings its own judgment. Not even God can unilaterally bridge the chasm and make us love him again.
Jesus could not heal in the face of disbelief. The father of the Prodigal could not drag his son kicking and screaming back into the household. There is a patience, a silence and a suffering on God's part which we often call his judgment upon us.
The people of the Exile had to learn that. They had to move through varied feelings about God -- from void to enemy to friend. The phrase, "to fulfill seventy years," is a promise. It tells us that what we see as the judgment of God is not the last word of God. There will also be a word of forgiveness.
Our Christian forebears often said it this way: "God stands in the shadows, keeping watch over his own;" "Behind a frowning countenance he hides a smiling face." We often break the heart of God Yet, while God hates the sin, he always loves the sinner and waits for the seventy years to be fulfilled.
- Lincoln
Even though this lesson reads like a requiem, it is not an account of unrelieved tragedy. The dissolution of Israel stands as both warning and promise for the reader. When a people put their trust in the things of this world it brings its own judgment. Not even God can unilaterally bridge the chasm and make us love him again.
Jesus could not heal in the face of disbelief. The father of the Prodigal could not drag his son kicking and screaming back into the household. There is a patience, a silence and a suffering on God's part which we often call his judgment upon us.
The people of the Exile had to learn that. They had to move through varied feelings about God -- from void to enemy to friend. The phrase, "to fulfill seventy years," is a promise. It tells us that what we see as the judgment of God is not the last word of God. There will also be a word of forgiveness.
Our Christian forebears often said it this way: "God stands in the shadows, keeping watch over his own;" "Behind a frowning countenance he hides a smiling face." We often break the heart of God Yet, while God hates the sin, he always loves the sinner and waits for the seventy years to be fulfilled.
- Lincoln
