Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
A major upheaval in American politics is on the horizon as the Supreme Court will release a verdict in a few weeks re-deciding the issue of abortion across the land. For us who recognize the fundamental value of human life from conception, the decision has enormous portent and consequence, both spiritual and natural.
Pregnancy in a woman involves the intimate, meticulous development of a human life in her womb. The Hebrew word for womb is "rechem". The verb, "rachem" (with the same root letters) means to love, to love deeply, to have mercy and to be compassionate. The connection in Hebrew between "womb" and "love" or "compassion" is literally visceral. A mother's love for her baby, so natural, deep, tender and compassionate, beautifully exemplifies our Father’s love for us. He is compassionate and merciful toward his human creatures.
The Hebrew for "tender mercy" or "compassion" is "rachamim"; another (plural) word with the same root letters. The connection to a woman's womb and her intimate, visceral connection with her growing child, is obvious. A baby in the womb is lovingly protected, sheltered, and nurtured up to the moment of birth.
When discussing the Kingdom of God with Nicodemus the Lord Yeshua said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God". This rebirth, a spiritual one "from above", is a profound spiritual parallel to natural birth, and is characterized by the same, even deeper, love, compassion and mercy, of our Heavenly Father.
We are spiritually birthed by, through, and into the compassion and mercy of God. If we truly appreciate the precious relationship between a birth mother and the infant growing in her womb, how much more might we receive the deep comfort of the spiritual birth we have experienced through faith in the Messiah. By His tender mercy, it's a comfort which is not ever "aborted", but continues "new every morning"... even forever.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]This is the touching story of how Yeshua (Jesus) was anointed before His crucifixion. But there's one thing about this passaage that stood out to me as I read it again.
As the war continues in Israel, much has been made of the success of the Iron Dome defense system which shoots down incoming rockets from the Gaza Strip. While we are very thankful for the protection this system affords, it does present a certain public relations challenge for Israel. Somehow, regardless of the differences in both size and intention between Israel and the Arab world, the global media frequently emphasizes what they call, “moral equivalency”. The perception of Israel’s military strength and technical superiority somehow makes her the aggressor with an unfair advantage.
There is an important lesson here and in other places of God's Word, namely that humility and gladness go together. What do the humble and the joyous have in common? They both look up. The humble are those who don't look down on anyone. The truly humble look up all the time. They have to look up, because their eyes are on God, and He's above them. The joyous are always looking up as well, otherwise they wouldn't be rejoicing. The joyous are believing the Good News, so they rejoice!
Picture this — you come home from a long day of work — you walk into your living room — plop down on your couch in exhaustion — and there in the corner of the room — your eyes are drawn to something moving — it’s a rattlesnake! Do you say to yourself, “Oh, I’m too tired to worry about that now, I’ll deal with it later?” Of course not! You’d jump up right away, find a bat or something of the like, alert your family, call the neighbors, call 911, call the fire department and who knows what else! It’s a life-threatening situation!
Have you ever heard of the Valley of Elah? It's the valley near Bet Shemesh where David defeated Goliath, yet this historic battlefield is virtually untouched in Israel. During the rainy season a brook runs through the midst of the valley, however it dries up during the summer. This brook is very likely the one from which David chose his five smooth stones – one of which was used to kill Goliath. Yet, this historic place has no landmarks, no churches – people drive past it all the time unaware of it's biblical or historic significance.
After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a once beautiful old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it."
The Book of Daniel prophesied in this passage, that the Messiah will come and be cut off, and then the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary (the temple) will be destroyed. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army led by Titus in 70 AD.