Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Your judgments. (Psalm 48:11)
There is a Talmudic legend that relates the reaction of a notable rabbi when he saw foxes roaming Mount Moriah among the ruins of the Temple. According to the legend, he laughed with joy. When asked why he would laugh when most were mourning the Temple’s destruction, he replied that there were prophecies for both its’ destruction and its’ restoration. His argument was, if the former had already happened then God’s people should be confident that the promised restoration would also occur — it was only a matter of time before its’ renewal would come to pass. And so it is written, “Let Mount Zion rejoice … because of Your judgments.”
God’s people are quick to see the justification for the judgments meted out on those who practice wickedness; some are even a bit anxious to see such judgment. However as it is written, “judgment begins at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). In the case of the Temple, though its’ destruction and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people were hard to bear, the fact is His fury was taken out, primarily, upon wood and stone. In short, He allowed the nation at large to survive and be the seed from which restoration and renewal would spring forth. Furthermore, Paul makes clear that, in the throes of national calamity, God’s purpose for the whole world became evident. Speaking of the Jewish people, Paul said: “their being cast away is the reconciling of the world” (Romans 11:15).
Peter advanced the notion that, in the absence of the physical Temple, God was building up another temple — one comprised of people. He said that we, “as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua Messiah” (1 Peter 2:5). All of this is to say that judgment might mean the end of one season — a season that needs to be terminated — but it simultaneously initiates a more promising season, a season or restoration and redemption. In short, God’s judgment is always tempered with mercy and always with an eye on restoration.
In that light, it is needful to reiterate the hope and belief of the aforementioned rabbi who was confident that God would restore His House and Jerusalem. He obviously believed that God’s judgments, though difficult to bear on one hand, nevertheless provide hope for the future. And so in that vein of thought, we will close with Paul’s thoughts on the issue of judgment and reconciliation where Israel is concerned:
If their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! … For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? … And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:12, 15, 26-27).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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