In
which the exiles embody peace between nations
Genesis
7:13-16
That
very day, Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife,
and the three wives of his sons together with them, came into the ark, they as
well as beasts of each kind and cattle of each kind and each kind of crawling
thing that crawls on the earth and each kind of bird, each winged thing. They
came to Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh that has the breath of life
within it. And those that came in, male and female of all flesh they came, as
God had commanded him, and the LORD shut him in.
Isaiah
2:1-5
The
word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw in a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
And
it shall happen in future days that the mount of the LORD’s house shall be
firm-founded at the top of the mountains and lifted over the hills. And all the
nations shall flow to it and many peoples shall go, and say: Come, let us go up
to the mount of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God, that He may teach us of
His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For from Zion shall teaching come
forth and the LORD’s word from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations
and be arbiter for many peoples. And they shall grind their swords into
ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not raise sword
against nation nor shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, let us walk
in the LORD’s light.
The
Temple is to be rebuilt in the context of a Flood that will cover the face of
the earth, that will sweep away empires, one after another, within the great
cradle of civilisations bounded by the Zagros Mountains to the east, the Taurus
Mountains to the north, and the Hejaz Mountains to the southwest. The turbulent
rise and fall of the family of nations. Above all this welter and waste is the
Temple in Jerusalem, symbol of hope, resting under God’s protection, a firm-founded
place given for the nations where all who will come will receive instruction in
peace-making.
Let
us pray for the Church, called out from every people-group, sent out to every
nation, that we may embrace and model the ways that make for peace, in
partnership with people of peace of all faiths and none.
Biblical
texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
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