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August 26th

The bible reading today is in Lamentations 4&5.

Right to the text...

“How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands!”

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭4:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The last sorrowful song of Lamentations speaks of Jerusalem...poor Jerusalem. She has lost her brilliance. Not only the walls, the city buildings, the Temple, and her treasures, but primarily the “precious sons” of Zion....worth their weight and more in fine gold to Jerusalem...but taken to Babylon, their worth is as clay pots from the earth.

The exiles in Babylon would agree to that metaphor. They were the best and the brightest in their hometown. They were greatly valued by their faith, their skills, and their place in the fabric of the Judean community. Now they are little more than gold covered in dust from the ground and ash from the fire and smoke that covered all Jerusalem. No bright and shiny value now, just dimmed and destroyed. No longer a beautiful fit for their original purposes...or so they thought.

Although gold cannot be tarnished, it can lose its shine. Think about the sons of Zion in exile and the older, feeble, and sick sons of Zion that were left in the destroyed city of David to survive or die. Each of those sons of Jacob would be tempted to feel like they were now “worthless”...worthless to God...worthless to their family...and worthless to their nation.

These sons had lost their shine, but they did not lose their fundamental significance as a chosen one of God. They did not lose their supernatural God-given purpose for the rest of their life.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭115:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Whether the sons be in slavery in Babylon, or in the smokey streets of decimated Jerusalem, they are still the children of God. To continue to live to the glory of God, seeking Him with their whole hearts.

Yes, we have all had the shine knocked off of our “supposed glory”, whether by personal loss of our health or by the loss of family or friend in death. The shine may be dimmed, but who we are in Christ our Savior has not and will not change...from glory to glory.

One more analogy from the picture of the trampled gold and the scattered precious stones of battered Jerusalem. The gold of the Temple, ravaged by fire and crumbling walls, can even lose the shape that it was created by craftsmen to be. But it never loses its fundamental purpose.

Those gold laid vessels in the Temple would come under the great heat from the fires that engulfed the House of God. Those vessels would begin to melt and their shapes would be altered. Would they be useless now? No...not useless...but changed.

O friends, God used the heat and pressures of life's’ furnace to “change” His kids. Those in Jerusalem, those in Babylon, and those on this side of the cross, including you and me. May Jesus help us to accept the furnace from his hand that He might be better glorified in and through us going forward.

Remember the text referring to the precious stones of the Temple being scattered, separated from their God chosen environments? That made up tables, ornaments, and particular clothing worn by the priests?

The significance of that separation is realized that those stones represented the tribes of Israel. Those people living in community. Those people being divided and separated for any reason would affect the whole fellowship. No wonder David wrote the following...Ps 133

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭133:1-3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Life in unity...it is good...it is calming in ways needed by us all. It is refreshing and invigorating for whatever the next journey requires.

O Lord protect the fellowship of your church around the world in the days of COVID pressures and stresses. May we fight for unity at home as well as in our missional communities and our church at large...we are still the salt and the light and our testimonies still matter for Your redemptive purposes.

Have a great day.