Day 223: Responding Well

Isaiah 66:1-6 This prophecy repeats the need of the right interior disposition of worship and sacrifices; it is the humble and contrite spirit that must inspire all external worship and sacrificial ritual. (CCC 1450-1453)

Ch 66:7-14 Zion is likened to the New Eve, the Church, that gives birth to many people who join the Family of God. Mary is a type of the Church (TYPOLOGY!!) and also called the New Eve since, through her faith and obedience, the Son of God made man entered into the world to redeem all people from sin. The Church herself is presented in motherly terms; hence, her traditional name is Holy Mother Church. (CCC 239, 370)

Ezekiel 25:1-17 The second half of this book begins with a series of prophecies pertaining to seven pagan nations. The number seven, representing completeness, is symbolic rather than exhaustive. Babylon was not counted among the seven possibly because it was used as an instrument of God’s Will to chastise the Jews. The point of these prophecies was to emphasize God’s sovereignty over all nations.

Ch 26-27 Tyre was an important port city, a key to the expansion of international trade. With a mixture of celebration and a tinge of regret over the loss of this proud center of commerce, Ezekiel announced its doom. 

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• And now, the long awaited conclusion of The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

• Also, yesterday Ezekiel’s wife died marking the moment of the destruction of this final siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple

• Ezekiel Chs 25 and 26 are words of prophecy against some of the nations, not necessarily the people of Jerusalem

• We are shifting Ezekiel’s and therefore God’s gaze against the Ammonites, the Edomites, The Philistines, Tyre, etc.

• BUT…

• Fr. Mike was praying about that reality when we ask God, “Please help us to have the right feelings.”

• We recognize that our feelings can be WRONG

• Not to say that our feelings are necessarily SINS

• When we feel ANGER

• When we feel WRATH

• When we feel LUST

• Those things are often INVOLUNTARY

• BUT…

• Our feelings CAN BE INACCURATE

• How we respond to a thing can be WRONG

• Let’s start with Ezekiel first

• Ezekiel is giving a prophecy against the nations AROUND Israel

• One of the things to highlight is that the Ammonites, Moabites, etc said “A HA” when they heard about the destruction of the Temple

• Either they were being INDIFFERENT

• Or they were REJOICING at the destruction of GOD’S PRESENCE, GOD’S HOME, GOD’S SANCTUARY, GOD’S TEMPLE OF WORSHIP

• THAT RESPONSE WAS WRONG!!

• IN FACT…

• That response of INDIFFERENCE

• Or that response of REJOICING

• At the destruction of God’s dwelling place was the WRONG RESPONSE

• They were called to MOURN WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

• They were called to MOURN THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

• AND THEY DID NOT!!

• That is a BIG DEAL

• When our FEELINGS

• When our RESPONSE

• Does not match up with what we are CALLED TO HAVE

• You can contrast that with the END of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

• Isaiah 66:10, “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her…”

• You mourned because it was the APPROPRIATE THING TO DO

• When Jerusalem was being SACKED

• When Jerusalem was being DESTROYED

• When there was FALSE WORSHIP going on in Jerusalem

• THAT WAS THE ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

• Remember yesterday when Ezekiel’s wife died and HE DID NOT MOURN

• That was because he was showing the Israelites that THIS WAS WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO

• WHEN JERUSALEM GETS DESTROYED

• WHEN THE TEMPLE GETS DESTROYED

• THEY WOULD HEAR ABOUT IT 

• AND THEY WOULD NOT MOURN THIS

• And here in Isaiah 66

• You mourn with those who mourn

• You are rejoicing when it is time for rejoicing

• Isaiah 66:11, “...delight from the abundance of her glory…”

• This last chapter of Isaiah is REMARKABLE

• Who has heard such a thing? 

• Who has seen such a thing?

• Isaiah 66:12, “For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream’…”

• People will come from all over the place

• He uses the terms THE NEW HEAVEN and THE NEW EARTH

• They will come from ALL the nations

• NOT JUST JEWISH PEOPLE

• God is going to bring THE GENTILES aka NON JEWISH PEOPLE

• REMEMBER...

• Go ALL THE WAY BACK to Abraham and the PROMISES MADE TO HIM

• LAND 

• DYNASTY

• THROUGH ABRAHAM THE ENTIRE WORLD WILL BE BLESSED

• Isaiah 66:20, “...upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries…”

• What an interesting word...DROMEDARIES

• CAMELS! 🐫

• Camels like the THREE WISE MEN

• Now we don’t know how many there were but TRADITION says there were THREE

• THE WISE MEN

• WHO JOURNEYED FROM AFAR

• AND CAME TO DO WHAT?

• CAME TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• EVERYTHING AT THE END OF THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH... 

• Is how the Lord RESTORES to the Jewish People His BLESSING

• He is also going to EXTEND TO THE NATIONS HIS GOODNESS

• He is also going to EXTEND TO THE NATIONS HIS GLORY

• REMEMBER

• God had his angels sing on the night of the Nativity where the shepherds are gathered

• GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST

• SO MUCH GLORY!!

• Isaiah 66:23, “...all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.”

• There will even be priests among those who are NOT LEVITES in the NEW COVENANT

• They won’t have to be LEVITES in order to be PRIESTS

• Jesus Christ is the GREAT HIGH PRIESTS

• We have the MINISTERIAL PRIESTS among Catholic and Orthodox Tradition

• We also have the KINGDOM PRIESTS

• EVERY BAPTIZED PERSON SHARES IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST!!

• WHAT A GREAT GIFT THAT WE FIND OURSELVES

• IN THIS MOMENT

• IN THIS PLACE

• RIGHT NOW

• INCREDIBLE GIFT!

• SO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• To live like this and realize that God has extended his BLESSINGS TO US

• “Ok Lord, when there is something to mourn let me mourn.”

• “Ok Lord, when there is something to rejoice in let me rejoice.”

• There’s a great song, “Help me to love the things you love and hate the things you hate.”

• Basically, “God, give us a HEART LIKE YOURS.”

• It is a GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE

• It has been a GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE TO BE WITH YOU FOR 223 DAYS!

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we thank you so much. Gosh, Lord. Thank you for journeying with us. Lord, I know that the Book of the Prophet Isaiah can be so intimidating. The books of any of the major prophets can be so intimidating. Here we are in the middle of Ezekiel. Here we are concluding Isaiah. And yet you walked with us and held our hands as we just sought to understand what it was that you were speaking to the People of Jerusalem, the People of Israel at the time, and what you are speaking to us today. Lord God, as often as your Word is confusing, and as often as your Word we only understand it as through a veil darkly, we ask that you please continue to illuminate our minds. And above all, even when our minds are darkened, inflame our hearts with a love for you that we can have the appropriate approach to you, the appropriate attitude toward you, the appropriate response to you. We ask that you match our emotions up with reality around us. That we only feel fear when there is something to fear. That we feel joy when there is something to be joyful at. When we mourn those things we are called upon to mourn. We grieve when we are called upon to grieve. And we rejoice when we are called upon to rejoice. Lord God, knit us back together. Make us whole again. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”