O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together , even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! MAtthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together , as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Luke 13:34
In the verse just prior to this statement we are told that Jesus had stopped and was weeping over the City of Jerusalem, but more than the city it was the inhabitants that Jesus was weeping over. HOw many signs and miracles did the Children of Israel receive as proof that God was on their side? we look back and we see the Passover, the exit from Egypt, the crossing of the red sea, the manna, the quails, the water from the rent rocks, when no other water was available. We see the sun standing still in Joshuas day, we see the walls of Jericho falling down after nothing more than marching around the City and blowing of trumpets, we see individuals that were barren being given children. We see in tolerabnle odds against the children of Israel in terms of might and power of force in the surrounding armies, we think of the midianites, the amalekites, the philistines the Jebusites, the Assyrians, and all the other armies that either were defeated or put to death. We look at the great showdown on mount Carmel with Elijah, or Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel the 'great' prophets, but we also need to remember that God was working greatly in those times, and there were other prophets too who were not afforded the priviledge of writing books that made it into the Tanakh or the the New Testament, yet God honoured these prophets, prophets such as Nathan who maybe are given brief one liners in the biblical narratives, but who had obviously proved their worth as prophets of God. Yet in the biblical narrative we see that all these signs and wonders did not change the rebellious hearts of the people, and time and time we read that the people wandered away from God and had to have prophets sent who would once more call them back. After Joshua died, the people backslid and we see troublesome times recorded in the book of judges, every one doing what was right in his own eyes. The people once more were doing their own thing and GOd brought to them prophets and prophetesses. THese were systematically rejected until in the day of Samuel, the people were tired of being ruled by Prophets and 'men of God', and ultimately GOd Himself, and clamoured to be like the nations around them begging to have a King rule over them. God told Samuel that it was not a rejection of SAmuel (Who it seems was the ruling Judge at that time), but rather that it was a rejection of God himself. This was a slippery slope, for as the line of Kings was established, First through Saul, and then David, we see in the lives the history of Israel playing out time and time again, Turning to God and turning away from Him, until eventually you see more and more wickedness in the Kings, and Prophets when they are not liked, and their messages not popular instead of just being ignored and left on the sidelines are killed. Isaiah was placed in a log and sawn in half, Jeremiah like John had numerous attempts at getting him killed and out of the way, Zechariah killed between the pillars of the temple and many more that we do not even know what happened to them.
Yet we see here that despite the fact that Jesus knew they were about to kill Him too, and that each generation the majority decided the fate of the nation, and that for centuries the majority would be still persecuting and killing the true, metaphrorically or physically, yet still Jesus wept over the city, and the inhabitants of that once great city who would continue that trend. Such wonderful love, and yet still today two thousand years later Still today God is calling to that City, and that Nation, and those chosen people that Today if you will hear my voice harden not your hearts as in the days of the provocation. Still today does God weep over everyone of His chosen people that continue to reject His Son and their Messiah. There is a concept that is well known is Judaic circles, that we as Christians have lost sight of - that is corporate responsibility. We see it best in the business world where the CEO represents a whole body of workers, each one of those workers represents the whole and if one does something wrong or illegal the whole company is taken down, and marked because of it, and in God's church you have the same thing. In Abraham we are told that Levi paid tithes to malchisidek, and you see the principle at work most fervently in Numbers 25 where one mans sin with a midianite woman had brought a plague on the whole nation, and God had declared that the Elders (70) were to be killed facing the east, yet the actions of one priest, Pinchas the son of Eleazar the Son of Aaron averted God's anger because he filled with Zeal for God went and killed the man in question and the midianite woman. On top of all this, we see the corporate responsibility in terms of repentance brought out clearly in the first half of the ninth chapter of Daniel. In Dnaiel 9 DAniel is not confessing personal sins for we know that Daniel was a righteous man - so much so that he and his three friends had undergone severe trials because of their obedience and faith, and yet Daniels prayer is recorded that he prayed 'we' have sinned and forgive 'us'. Daniel was taking into and upon himself the responsibility for the sins of his people. So we too as Christians need to be taking upon ourselves and praying the we have sinned and turn back O Lord to your people. Paul tells us in Romans that we are grafted into the Olive tree, Jesus says that He is the vine we are the branches. God has called both Jew and Gentile to be part of His church, yet how often do we truly understand that if we be Christs then are we Abrahams seed, and Children of promise? Oh how our hearts should long for and cry out daily for the return of God's people, not just to physically return to the Land of Israel, but more importantly to cry out for the spiritual return of Israel to her former Glory as the Chosen people of God, and that they one day will accept their Messiah, for truly still today would Christ gather them under his wings as a Hen gathers her chickens............
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for great peace have they that love thee.
Challenge for Today: Take on of the Bible narratives and identify yourself with those in the narrative, then look today at the nation and people of Israel, and find something in their present that you can identify with, and take both of these to God in prayer. Wait for a response from God, and the answers you get will be surprising.
Further reading: Psalm 79:1; Psalm 122:2; Isaiah 40:9, 51:17, 52:1; JEremiah 6:8, 15:5; (Daniel 9); Zechariah 9:9; Zechariah 8.
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