2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today, the Lord leads me to continue writing about Handel’s “Messiah.” We have reached the place where this great musical work deals with Christ’s second coming. At this point it is appropriate to describe this important and remarkable event and to ask the question: what does this mean to us? No discussion of this would be complete without citing the most descriptive Scripture of it, which is in ZECH 14: 4,6-9. “At that time He will come to stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward and half of it southward.” (6-9) “When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost, nor any darkness. There will always be daylight, even at nighttime. When this will happen is known only to the Lord. When that day comes, fresh (living) water will flow from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean. It will flow all year long, in the dry season as well as the wet. Then the Lord will be King over all the earth; everyone will worship Him as God and know Him by the same name.” The supernatural nature of this picture makes God’s hand in it unmistakable.
Anyone who is been to the temple mount knows there is an east gate, the Golden Gate, which is sealed. I have never been to Israel, but I have read so much about it that I feel like I have been there well enough to know my way around Jerusalem’s old city and its immediate environment without a map. It would be interesting to some day go there and find out if my assertion has any basis in truth. I do dream about one day being there as any Jewish person would. It is beyond our ability to comprehend in ordinary human terms how the east gate will open and how the seemingly intractable problem of the presence of the Dome of the Rock will be solved, but MK 10: 27 gives us the explanation for that in Godly parameters. “Jesus looked straight at them [His disciples] and answered, ‘This is impossible for man but not for God; everything is possible for God.’ “ And so, this is the picture in my mind as the chorus stands to sing # 33 “Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates.” This section is based on PS 24: 7-10, “Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors and the great King will come in. Who is this great King? He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord victorious in battle. Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great King will come in. Who is this King? The triumphant Lord-He is the great King!” Now, here are the words the chorus actually sings: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle. The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory.” To me, this is powerful. It is the keeping of one of God’s most important promises, the consummation of a key issue that has been prophesied since OT times.
There is another part of this picture in my mind of the west side of the Mount of Olives looking toward the temple mount, which can be seen from it. Between these two is the Kidron Valley. The Hinnom Valley runs to the south of the temple mount. I remember reading that that when the animal sacrifices were being offered in ancient times, there was a rivulet of blood that ran down one of these valleys over which the people had to step to gain access into the temple. This rather unpleasant picture is replaced in EZK 47’s description of the supernatural change at the time of the millennium described in (1-2). “The man led me [Ezekiel] back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar. The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small steam of water was flowing out at the south side of the gate.” These pictures together suggest a washing away of the leftovers of man’s desire to rely on man and its replacement with something totally superior and eternally beneficial-dependence on Jesus Christ. This cleansing water is living water and represents in my mind the substitution of the old covenant with its temporary forgiveness for sin with the new covenant and its eternal forgiveness. There is no further need for animal sacrifices, because Christ’s death on the cross is a sufficient and complete propitiation for our sin.
The superiority of Christ over angels is made clear to us in HE 1:5. “For God never said to any of His angels, ‘You are My son; today I have become your Father.’ Nor did God say about any angel, ‘I will be your Father, and he will be My son” This citation is the basis for #34, a recitative for tenor, “Unto Which Of The Angels Said He.” What God is doing here through the author(s) of Hebrews is establishing Christ’s authority to be King eternally. HE 1: 6 continues and elaborates on this. “But when God was about to send His first-born Son into the world, He said, ‘All of God’s angels must worship Him.’ “ This is the basis for #35 for chorus, “Let All The Angels Of God Worship Him.” The words of the title are the words that are sung. What does all of this mean to us? Plenty! Not only does it mean that God will keep His promises to those who believe in Christ, but it also makes enduring through whatever suffering we have in our lives, particularly that which is attributable to our faith, have meaning for us. It is what makes all of this enduring and waiting worth the trouble it causes us. Because we believe in Christ’s righteousness and, of course, in God’s, we can be assured that the long wait for His return and assumption of His Kingdom will lead to the eternal joy and fellowship with God we so fervently desire. Because we believe in the truth of the Word, we can also take heart that the wait is close to an end. That is a great reason for us to get about joining the Lord in His work without delay and to refuse to put off getting our own spiritual houses in order.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us a picture that is real and personal of Your return and of God’s hand in the events and changes that will surround it. We see this through the Scriptures cited here and the sections of the “Messiah” which you inspired Handel to compose. We are blessed by having faith in You and by our obedience to You, because You are a promise-keeper. That anything is possible with You, even that which can’t be explained in ordinary physical terms, gives us hope. These are good reasons for us to get rid of sin from our lives, to obey Your commands, and to become dependent on You. No man can replace You in our lives; You are truly the Lord of all and will be eternally. We praise, adore, honor, and glorify your name, for that is what You deserve. In Christ’s name, amen.
My own vision for the day Christ comes is that all of you will be right there with me. Someone without faith might think I’m living in a dream world to say this, but the truth is that my faith leads me to that belief. We are so blessed to be loved to this extent by our Father in heaven. Be encouraged in the hope that we share that all of our trials and tribulations in the name of Christ are worth enduring. I hope you are feeling as I do that the time we are spending on this during Lent is our way of fulfilling God’s desire that we should focus our attention on the lessons He has for us in it about His Son. Our lives are enriched when we make Him the Lord of all in them. God loves you and so do Peter and I.
Grace, Peace, and Love,
Lynn