We have begun the season of Advent since Sunday. Our traditional understanding is to prepare our hearts to receive the birth of the Jesus within this season of Advent. Joy to the World has this lyric. "Let every heart, prepare him room." I believe the inspiration for this Christmas carol came from the nativity narrative inLuke where Bethlehem had no room for the Saviour so that he was born in a manger.
Joy to the World was not the first one to call people to prepare their hearts. Some 30 years after the birth of Jesus, another person called upon the Jews to do the same. This call conjures up the image of a wild man, John the Baptist, shouting in the wilderness. "Wild" because he wore camel hair and ate locusts (Mark 1:6). He was also "wild" in the sense that he did not give face to people of status. He scolded them and called them "brood of vipers" (Luke 3:7). However, this "prepare our hearts for Christmas" spirituality is not quite right because John the Baptist did not appear at the birth of Jesus. There were only shepherds, Simeon, Anna, the Magi and the murderous Herod. Moreover, this spirituality is too narrow. What will be left after Christmas each year? Nothing. We will have to wait for 11 more months and start the preparation again! Therefore, I agree with Bishop John Tong who said that we should be preparing, not just for the Christmas in the past, but for the second coming of Jesus in the future, the end of the world.
Joy to the World was not the first one to call people to prepare their hearts. Some 30 years after the birth of Jesus, another person called upon the Jews to do the same. This call conjures up the image of a wild man, John the Baptist, shouting in the wilderness. "Wild" because he wore camel hair and ate locusts (Mark 1:6). He was also "wild" in the sense that he did not give face to people of status. He scolded them and called them "brood of vipers" (Luke 3:7). However, this "prepare our hearts for Christmas" spirituality is not quite right because John the Baptist did not appear at the birth of Jesus. There were only shepherds, Simeon, Anna, the Magi and the murderous Herod. Moreover, this spirituality is too narrow. What will be left after Christmas each year? Nothing. We will have to wait for 11 more months and start the preparation again! Therefore, I agree with Bishop John Tong who said that we should be preparing, not just for the Christmas in the past, but for the second coming of Jesus in the future, the end of the world.
I wonder how many people have, after watching or hearing about the movie 2012, become more alert to the fact that the world will end one day. Logically speaking, since the world began at a certain moment in the past, it is only natural to expect the world to come to an end at a certain moment in the future. Therefore, the end of the world is a certainty. Naturally, we will ask what life will be like at that time. Will it be similar to the Messianic Kingdom prophesized inIsaiah 11?
Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah who possesses the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, (piety), knowledge and the fear of God (Isaiah 11:2-3). The Messiah will rule with righteousness (Isaiah 11:3-5). According to Old Testament theology, peace is the outcome of justice. Therefore, Isaiah continues to paint a peaceful world in which the lion will eat grass like an ox (Isaiah 11:7). However, problem arises when we come to verse 9.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
Now, is this peaceful kingdom logically consistent? It is peaceful because wolf and lamb can live together. It is a kingdom because the Messiah will judge over the holy mountain of the Lord. However, if the earth is already full of the knowledge of the Lord, do the people need a king, a Messiah to execute justice? When people are full of the knowledge of the Lord, they will be able to lead a morally autonomous life. There will not be injustice, infighting anymore. Moreover, people will lead a saintly life because they know the mind of God. Their life will be led in accordance to the will of God. Therefore, the Messiah has no role to play.
Now, suppose this Messianic kingdom is a temporary device. It is only a transition from this corrupt world at the present moment to the peaceful world at the end. If this is the case, the end of the world will appear gradually, getting more and more peaceful until the final end appears. In the meantime, the Messiah takes up the role to keep peace, to enhance peace and to bring about the ending. But this description is contrary to the teaching of Jesus. He said that the end will come suddenly like a snare when we least expect it (Luke 21:34). He also said that there will be great tribulations before the end comes. There is no peace before the end (Luke 21:5-28). So, Jesus has refuted the conception of a peaceful Messianic kingdom.
In conclusion, the Messianic kingdom described in Isaiah 11 is logically impossible. Either the Messiah has no role to play in such a peaceful kingdom, or this kingdom is never a peaceful one.
Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah who possesses the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, (piety), knowledge and the fear of God (Isaiah 11:2-3). The Messiah will rule with righteousness (Isaiah 11:3-5). According to Old Testament theology, peace is the outcome of justice. Therefore, Isaiah continues to paint a peaceful world in which the lion will eat grass like an ox (Isaiah 11:7). However, problem arises when we come to verse 9.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
Now, is this peaceful kingdom logically consistent? It is peaceful because wolf and lamb can live together. It is a kingdom because the Messiah will judge over the holy mountain of the Lord. However, if the earth is already full of the knowledge of the Lord, do the people need a king, a Messiah to execute justice? When people are full of the knowledge of the Lord, they will be able to lead a morally autonomous life. There will not be injustice, infighting anymore. Moreover, people will lead a saintly life because they know the mind of God. Their life will be led in accordance to the will of God. Therefore, the Messiah has no role to play.
Now, suppose this Messianic kingdom is a temporary device. It is only a transition from this corrupt world at the present moment to the peaceful world at the end. If this is the case, the end of the world will appear gradually, getting more and more peaceful until the final end appears. In the meantime, the Messiah takes up the role to keep peace, to enhance peace and to bring about the ending. But this description is contrary to the teaching of Jesus. He said that the end will come suddenly like a snare when we least expect it (Luke 21:34). He also said that there will be great tribulations before the end comes. There is no peace before the end (Luke 21:5-28). So, Jesus has refuted the conception of a peaceful Messianic kingdom.
In conclusion, the Messianic kingdom described in Isaiah 11 is logically impossible. Either the Messiah has no role to play in such a peaceful kingdom, or this kingdom is never a peaceful one.
Dear Lord, I am a bit confused in the reading of Isaiah 11. Help me clear up my heart and my mind so that I may be able to understand this passage better. Amen.
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