This time, I wept.
Last entry I mentioned that I was on the verge of weeping when, in 2 Kings, Jerusalem was ransacked. You see, I've come to love Jerusalem. I don't think it strange to say that. In fact, had I wept for her when I read about how she was attacked, I wouldn't have been crazy. Jesus wept for Jerusalem.
"As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”"--Luke 19:41-44
I held my tears. But, when you pray for something everyday, you grow to love it. Holy Moley, just typing that made me draw a correlation to another area of my life. Whoa now. When you pray for someone everyday, you will grow to love them. C.S. Lewis says, "Whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more." Hmmm. Start praying for someone everyday and your thoughts towards them can be shifted so that you view them from God's heart (though never as fully as He loves). Wow. Well, there you have it, Lydia. Anyway, back to praying for and loving Jerusalem. We are commanded in Scripture in Psalm 122:6 to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee." "Sha-alu Shalom Yerushalayim: Ish-layu Oh-havaich." I pray that everyday and God has turned my heart to Jerusalem. How can you not love the city God chose?
שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשׇׁלׇם יׅשְׁלׇיוּ אֹהֲבׇיׅךְ
But, I did not cry over her fate in 2 Kings. As I said before, I felt God remind me that she's been redeemed. She may not know it yet, but her sins are forgiven and He's coming back for her, and us.
I did weep tonight. I'm going through the Beth Moore study Mercy Triumphs on the book of James. Tonight, she said that this session would NOT be the one that is life changing. We wouldn't come back saying, "Session two rocked my socks off!" Oh, but she was wrong. Tonight we learned that James' name is actually Jacob. Really? So why doesn't it say "Jacob?" Well, James is the English translation of the Greek word for his name, Iacobos. James was a Jew and his name in Hebrew? Ya'akov. Jacob. No surprise that he was named Jacob. Joseph's father was named Jacob. But, why did this make me weep? Insert his Hebrew name, Jacob, into James 1:1 and I'll tell you. "Jacob, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings." You see, I've been absolutely immersed in Jewish law, history and culture for months. But, also in the last month I've been reading through the Bible with a 90 day reading plan. That means that in the last 25 days I've read Genesis 1:1-1 Chronicles 13. I have seen our fathers: Abraham, Isaac and JACOB. Jacob IS the father of the twelve tribes of Israel who at the time of James' writings were spread throughout the nations. Y'all! That's huge! "Jacob, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings." I was so completely blown away by this discovery that during the session I literally put my face in my hands and wept. SHE'S BEEN REDEEMED!!!! And James (aka, Jacob) was now writing to the Jews who had put their faith in Jesus Christ, their long awaited Messiah. She's been redeemed! I just love how God's redemptive plan comes full circle from "In the beginning God" to "Even so, come Lord Jesus."
Ἰάκωβος
Iacobos
Ya'akov
Jacob
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