From warnings of the Prophets to Mercy for Israel soon to be seen through Jesus Christ:

From warnings of the prophets to mercy for Israel soon to be seen through Jesus Christ:

Read the warnings of God to the shepherds of the Old Testament who took their mission for granted and see the acclamation of his mercy to be found in Israel in the near future of Christ’s return.

From Ezekial we see the Lord speaking to him and taking a stick with the name of Judah and another stick with the name of Joseph.  Then placing the two together they become one and the Lord tells Ezekial to announce the two shall now become one.  He continues with the promise that his servant David shall be prince over this joining together and there shall be one shepherd for all the people.  

I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.  My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the Lord, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.  (see Ez 37: 15 - 28).

With so many disastrous attacks upon Israel especially since the recent murders of young Israelis on October 7, 2023 and the ongoing threats by Palestinians makes one wonder how far and intense the destruction on Israel will become.  Did God’s promise to Ezekial with a  new peace include this latest attack that since 1948 and Israel becoming a free nation the Jews are still the target of evil intent upon God’s people?

From Isaiah we also read; For Zion’s sake, I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.  Nations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; You shall be allied by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the Lord.  You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by your God.  No more shall men call you “Forsaken,” or your land “Desolate.”  But you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land “Espoused.”  For the Lord delights in you, and makes your land his spouse.  (Is 62: 1 - 4).  

Again, the promise from God to Israel is not hyper-bole as some doubters may imagine but the very essence throughout the Old Testament that gives warning to anyone or nation that insists on destroying this nation because it is God’s chosen people since they alone believed and worshiped the Lord while others turned their attention to false gods which promised nothing since these were not real.  This turning away from the Creator who loved us with his very Passionate sacrifice of Jesus Christ will as a fact from the last sentence from; “Jerusalem the Lord’s Bride;” As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you.  As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.  (Is 62: 5). 

These are the words which the Lord spoke to Israel and to Judah: thus says the Lord: A cry of dismay we hear; fear reigns, not peace.  Inquire,, and see; since when do men bear children?  Why, then do I see all these men, with their hands on their loins like women in childbirth?  Why have all their faces turned deathly pale?  How mighty is that day  - none like it!  At time of distress for Jacob, though he shall be saved from it.  On that day, says the Lord of hosts, “I will break his yoke from off your necks and snap your bonds,” Strangers shall no longer enslave them.  Instead, they shall serve the Lord, their God, and David, their king, whom I will raise up for them.  (Jer 30: 4 - 8).

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord.  But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.  I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord.  All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.  (Jer 31: 31 - 34).

The Prodigal may now enter on the scene of life since WE are forgiven and through the greatest sacrifice that God planned from that day he said, “You have eaten from the tree which I had forbidden you to eat.”   (Gn 3: 11).  We may ask with sincerity; we didn’t do what Adam did when his wife gave him to eat as well?  

Who among anyone of us can boast that we are like the older son who never sinned and followed your commandments to a T?  When describing the dialogue between Adam and God the writer hit the point directly when God condemned Satan to crawl forever on the ground and eventually reap the punishment he deserved.  

Take another look at the words the older brother told his father when his brother came back saying he was sorry.  Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way bac he heard the sound of music and dancing.  A servant said to him, “Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”  He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.  He said to his father in reply, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.  But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.”  He said to him, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.  But now we must celebrate  and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.  (Lk 15: 11 - 32).

How often we might find ourselves claiming to be like the older brother in this parable.  Our complaint will be; look how often I go to Mass, receive the Holy Eucharist frequently, and pay my tithes as prescribed.  Yet those who have disobeyed are being forgiven?  

Yes, because of the mercy that Christ extended to you and me on the cross was so that each of us could find the opportunity to also enjoy the ring on our finger, sandals on our feet, and total forgiveness; because we were all lost and have been found.

Ralph B. Hathaway