2022-04-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
God was aware that Israel would disobey Him and that, like a parent, He would have to discipline her during her history. We can be aware of two dyasporas (scattering of her people and temporary loss of nationhood) of which we are aware. The first one was after Israel took on human kings and divided herself into two separate nations: Israel, 10 tribes in the north with its capital at Samaria, and Judah, 2 tribes in the south with its capital at Jerusalem. This displeased God, until He allowed the first diaspora (in 722 BC at the hand of the Assyrians under Shalmaneser V until 444 BC and in the years between 602 BC and 586 BC at the hand of the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar until 444 BC). The divided kingdom of Israel had 19 consecutive evil kings; that of Judah had some great kings and some evil ones. At the end of Judah’s time, priests were practicing idolatry in a secret room built in the wall of the Jerusalem temple itself. That’s when God physically departed the premises [EZEK 8: 19; EZEK 10: 28]. God, the Father had decided to exile the Jews from their own land to discipline them for disobedience.
All the Jews eventually ended up in the hands of the Persians under Cyrus, the Great [who ruled from 559 BC-530 BC] whose edict of 538 BC announced that the Jews would be allowed to return to their homeland. It took until around 444 BC for the Jews to return in three groups led first by the scholarly priest, Ezra, then by a governor, Zerubbabel, who with Jeshua, led the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and lastly by Nehemiah, who had been appointed governor by the Persian ruler. The temple building began in 536 BC and was finished in 516 BC. Even such a long exile didn’t supply sufficient punishment to stop growing disobedience in Israel.
By 70 AD, the Romans [then known as the Kittim] had occupied the then-united Israel for quite a while and had a deteriorating relationship with her. In that year, the Jerusalem temple was sacked, and its treasures stolen. That was when the second diaspora began, and the Jews once again found themselves forced out of their homeland. It lasted until 5-14-1948, when Chaim Whitzman became the president of the restored land. Abba Eban was her foreign minister. During the second diaspora was when the pogroms of the 1880’s had happened and just prior to WWII, Hilter came into power in Germany and committed “Krystalnacht”-in 1938 (the breaking of windows of Jewish businesses). This was the beginning of Hitler’s “final solution,” the Holocaust. The latter was one of the most vicious programs of arresting Jews, placing them in concentration camps and gassing them to death in so-called “showers.” Six million Jews and Gentiles who tried to help them were exterminated from 1938 to late 1945 when the war finally ended. That was the impetus for reestablishing the state of Israel. It was an answer to long-held prophecies.
Just as we detest being separated from our loved ones, so God hates being separated from His people. JER 30: 23-24, “See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this.” These were the words of the prophet, Jeremiah (650 BC-582 BC). In the context of truth, the words he said, in JER 31: 2-4, Jeremiah, who prophesied under difficult times in his own life spoke these words. “This is what the Lord says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel.’ The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again, you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.’” God has always loved Israel and still does.
PRAYER: O Lord, we believe in Your triune nature-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You are one Deity with three personalities. Since you and the Son are both the same Being, it must have been some kind of exquisite pain for You and Him to endure a temporary separation at the time that Christ was being obediently faithful enough to give His physical life on the cross! We see some of this pain in LK 22: 42. In this prayer, this is mentioned, because it would be like the death of an only son in war and the sadness of becoming a “gold star” family. Christ gave His life for us on the cross, so that we can be saved [JN 3: 16], justified [RO 4: 3], and eternally forgiven [1 JN 1: 9]. We know we should focus on the sacrifices You make for us and the blessings You bestow upon us every day. You are to be praised for the unparalleled love that You show us too. Christ showed us what real love is and how to show it. We offer these prayers of acknowledgement and gratitude in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue writing about the restoration of joy that can come from the Lord after times of trouble. At the time, I’m writing this devotion, a horrific time of trouble has come to the citizens and other innocents in Ukraine at the hand of Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs of Russia. In a carefully planned and evil action taken, the free world has seen this tyrannical government in Russia invade Ukraine and wrest land territory from it. However, this is more than grasping Ukraine’s land. It is an effort to move the eastern boarder of European democracy west as it abuts a totalitarian regime. Putin’s lies about not targeting civilians have been broken before our eyes, as thousands of civilians have died, lost their homes, and stated avenues of egress from Ukraine have been closed. In Mariupol, even a maternity hospital was bombed. The Ukrainians under their Jewish president Zelinsky have put up a valiant defense of their country. Because Ukraine wasn’t a NATO member, the rest of the world has been limited to taking economic sanctions against Russia for fear that Putin might set off a nuclear war. Our faith is being tested as never before. We must trust in the Lord that He, Who alone has the power, will choose to stop this war before it becomes a world-wide catastrophe. PS 32: 10, “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him.” PS 86: 4, “Bring joy to Your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in You.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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