Yesterday, we reflected upon the hopeful suffering of Israel
as they awaited the coming of the Messiah. They church today, though many years
away, is not too distant from yesterday’s Israel. The church has been referred
to as the “New Israel,” and in many ways this holds true. Since the coming of
Christ and the redemption of God’s people through his life, death, and
resurrection, the church has lived in the world as the resurrected body of
Christ and the renewed people of Israel.
Still, God has made a promise to his people that he will
return. And in this return there is great hope for the final renewal of his
creation and the resurrection of his people. Yet, though there is great hope,
there is also great suffering. There is suffering as we still see and
experience the effects of sin. There is real pain over innocent lives lost.
There is hurt as people continue to starve, mothers forced to give up their
children in order that they may live, and governments attempt to increase their
own power (often under the banner of “liberty”). Through the centuries, many
have been martyred for proclaiming the name of Christ. Still today, Christians
across the world risk their lives for the sake of this same gospel.
In the midst of such suffering, we often find ourselves
crying out as Israel did, “How long, O Lord? How long?” Perhaps we even wonder,
has God forgotten?
Yet, in our waiting and in our suffering, we too remember
the stories that have been passed down from faithful generations before us.
Stories of God’s people crying out in anguish, in oppression, in persecution,
and God always hearing the voice of those who cry out in faith. We remember
how, time after time, God heard and acted on behalf of his people.
We remember Israel’s own waiting, how they too faced immense
suffering, yet remained hopeful. And the church today knows this hope was
fulfilled in the coming of Christ!
God did not forget!
So the call for the church today is to walk with Israel. We
await a promise, and though we wait in suffering, we know this hope to be true,
that God will remain faithful, because we have heard of his great and
never-ending faithfulness to his people. God will not forget!
Give thanks to the
Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast loyalty endures forever!
Let the redeemed of
the Lord say so –
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from
the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
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