Mt 5:4/Lk 6:21 “Blessed are they who mourn/weep now, for they shall be comforted/laugh.”
Within the past month, members of this congregation have experienced mourning and weeping. With the death of two family members, loved ones and friends had a personal and family experience of weeping and mourning. And now this week, we have joined with the nation that weeps for her children, the 73 young men – soldiers – who died without warning or expectation; not at the hand of their enemies, but in a collision of two helicopters of our own.
Who among us did not cry before the Lord when we heard the news? Who did not feel the pain of the families and close friends? Who among the children of God the Father in Heaven does not pray from his heart, “Until when LORD?!; Thy Kingdom come!; Blessed is He who comes in the name of YHVH!; Come, Lord Jesus!”?
I heard that among some groups of the religious, there was rejoicing! These are those who do not even recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel because their Messiah has not yet come. YHVH’s Anointed One, Yeshua/Jesus, whom we know has come, and will come again, used the example of national tragedies to bring the people to repentance. He proclaimed that those killed were not worse sinners than others, and that unless they repented, they, too, would likewise perish. (Lk 13:1-5)
Those who were rejoicing in their heart – whether they be Israelis or enemies of Israel – will not know the comfort which the Lord Jesus promises to those who mourn. Let us look together at another passage from the prophet Ezekiel, and consider the mourning of which Messiah speaks: Ezek 9:1-11 (esp. v. 4,9) The city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel (Judah) are filled with blood, violence, iniquity because the people have no personal relationship with, nor faith in YHVH. There is no genuine fear of God. Instead, they say that the LORD has forsaken the land, and that He does not see. Yet there were those within the city who sigh and groan over all the abominations done in Jerusalem, and by the religious priests in the sanctuary of YHVH. Upon these mourners the Lord ordered His servants to write a mark on their foreheads.
It is interesting that in ancient Hebrew the letter ת (tav) was written like a ‘t’. The ‘mark‘ here in v. 4 is called a tav
(תו). Brothers and Sisters, the mark of God, which He places on those whom He delivers and passes over from His wrath, is the cross! It is at the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus/Yeshua that self is slain, and God alone is good and worthy.
The message of the cross is proof that the gospel is neither Jewish nor Greek/Gentile: The Jews do not accept it, and the Gentiles do not respect it. (1Cor 1:18-23) Jewish people avoid any use of a cross design or symbol (even in arithmetic and at a cross-road intersection!), and Gentiles who know little or nothing of the true meaning of the cross have used it to terrorize Jews and others, and to blaspheme God and Christ.
The truth is that the cross, and its message of Messiah crucified, is, like the gospel, from God. It is the New Covenant in Jesus which brings it to light. Besides the ‘mark’ in Ezekiel, the cross appears in other significant places in Israel’s history by God’s plan and wisdom:
–the sprinkled blood on the door posts at the Passover in Egypt
–the formation of the tribes of Israel as they camped and moved on in the desert, with the Tabernacle in their midst at the center
–in the arrangement of the holy furnishings and vessels of the Tabernacle and the Temple, showing the way into God’s presence and glory
The cross is God’s mark upon His people, which represents the spiritual condition of the inner man. To the carnal and unbelieving it is a mark of shame and dishonor; to the spiritual person in Christ, it is the mark of God’s glory in the person and character and atoning death of His Son, Yeshua the Messiah, and of God’s redeemed people, whose glory is our Head, even Christ Jesus Himself. The cross is God’s mark to separate the world from His people, and His people from the world. (Gal 6:14), and it is by the shed blood of Yeshua on the cross, which we, as it were, sprinkle (1Pt 1:2) on our hearts and minds, that God will save us from the day of His judgment, which begins – today as in Ezekiel’s day – in the household of God. (1Pt 4:17)
The other night at the Bible study from the epistle to the Galatians, we discussed the matter of circumcision, which was and still is an issue in some groups, as a sign of keeping God’s covenant with Israel and with belonging to His people – even for Gentiles. Foods also have an importance in similar arguments. During the same time as our study, but without our knowledge, the helicopter collision occurred in which the 73 persons with names were killed without warning and, as far as we know, without Christ. The nation mourns; we share in that grief. God’s kingdom is not about circumcision and food (Heb 13:9), but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Peace is the fruit of righteousness, and especially that righteousness which comes from God. Joy in the Kingdom of God is a holy joy, not a devilish delight in other people’s calamities or sin, but rather a joy in truth and righteousness and judgment (justice) and goodness. Despite their significance, our righteousness before God does not depend upon such matters of circumcision and food, or even head coverings, and the Lord does not want contention (discord) and divisions over them, which can only quench and grieve the Holy Spirit.
A true Jew and a true Christian seeks God’s approval. God approves of us when we believe in and obey His Son, our Lord Jesus. Jesus acknowledges us as belonging to Him when we do the will of His Father in Heaven. God is working both within Israel and within the Church to cleanse and to purify His people. To be a disciple, Jesus says that we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow Him. Both baptism in water and the cross speak the same message: death to the self-life; alive unto God in the Spirit through faith.
This way which we travel, and which Israel is being required by her God and Savior to travel, is long and hard and narrow. It is a well-traveled road, and many more will yet know suffering on it. Yeshua/Jesus, the King whom Jewish people say they do not want to rule over them, but whom YHVH God intends that they will have, has walked this same way – the way of the cross. He exposed Himself to the condemnation of man, and became a curse for us under God’s own Law, in order that we could receive God’s approval. If we follow Jesus and His lead on this path, we will arrive safely home – our conscience cleansed, and with love out of a purified heart perfected. Despite the sentence of death in ourselves, we go on in victory in Christ because God has forgiven us of our sin and our sins. Praise the LORD! Yeshua is no longer on the cross!
The Lord is calling us to intercede in mercy — as His priests — for the Jewish and Arab peoples to repent and to believe the gospel, for the Kingdom of God is near. Until they do, there will continue to be much sorrow and mourning. Until we let God’s spiritual mark distinguish us, then we, too, stand in danger of suffering from God’s righteous judgments upon the world. (1Cor 11:31-32)
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” God intends to answer the prayer which the Lord has taught us to pray and which the Holy Spirit quickens as the birth pains increase.
Let’s be encouraged together, as we conclude from the truth of God’s prophetic word: Rev 21:1-7; 22:1-9
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
