Monday 17 December 2007
- Bible Book:
- Isaiah
"Shall not Lebanon in a very little while become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?" (v.17)
Background
Isaiah, one of the Old Testament's best-known prophets, is in anoptimistic mood here, looking to the future of God's people."Lebanon" was not intended as the modern-day country, but rather ametaphor for God's nation, Israel.
The deaf, the blind and the poor are singled out here to benefitfrom this sense of future hope - reminding us of yesterday's versesin which Jesus defined himself in terms of bringing healing to thedisadvantaged (
Like so much prophecy from Isaiah, today's words can be taken aspointers to the advent of the Messiah, and all the good thingsaccruing to God's people as a result.
But the growth of a fruitful field into a forest is also a powerfulmetaphor for ways in which growth, healing and fruitfulness are allpart of a process in which God's people evolve and become stronger- like the famous "cedars of Lebanon".
Recent experience of so much suffering in modern-day Lebanon mightalso evoke images for us of a hoped-for future in which the peopleof the Middle East could live peacefully and creatively.
To Ponder
What hopes do you see for the future of God'speople today?
How does the imagery of a fruitful field growinginto a forest relate to churches and communities you know?