Daughter of Jerusalem Rescued

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I know it’s been a while, honestly my thoughts have been elsewhere. Gardens, schooling, and more. I’ve been busy and rather tired and falling asleep in the evening when I would normally be blogging. Last time we might we discussed The Mountain of the Lord.

In that day, declares the Lord,
    I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
⁷and the lame I will make the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.

⁸And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹Now why do you cry aloud?
    Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
    that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
¹⁰Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹Now many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
¹²But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and shall devote their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Scripture Speaks

Look at the people The Lord God will gather together: the lame, the driven away, and the afflicted. God will make the lame a remnant and the cast off into a strong nation.

Not only that, the Lord God will reign over in Zion for ever.

and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.

Tower of Flock

There is some discussion about what tower of flock means. Some thinks it means Jerusalem, some think it’s an actual tower, and yet others think it’s a gateway that Christ will come through. But whomever it is, whatever the tower of the flock is, kingship will come. It doesn’t make sense that it is Jerusalem, but she can’t be her own daughter. Figurative language not withstanding. 🙂

⁸And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

The questions come:

⁹Now why do you cry aloud?

Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
that pain seized you like a woman in labor?

With no answers given to the questions, the daughter of Zion that rescue is coming. But rescue will come after struggle. Struggle as if in labour pains, leave the city, dwell in the open, go down to Babylon and wait. Rescue happens in Babylon. Rescue by the Lord, the one who redeems her from the enemies.
¹⁰Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.

Rescue will happen

In Babylon the daughter waits, the nations around mock. 
Now many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
But you know what?  These nations don’t understand the thoughts of God.  They have no clue what he plan is. 
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
These nations don’t know that they are about to be put to the threshing floor.  They will be beaten and the goods gathered from them, devoted to God. 
   
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and shall devote their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Thinking a bit

I think about those words “they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan”

Ruminating on those words one can find comfort. Comfort that the enemy of the Lord doesn’t know God’s plans. He doesn’t know the end run. He see the long term goals. For all he knows, what he sees is the immediate and thinks a winning hand is there.

I recall how they mocked the daughter of Jerusalem, showing no pity, but wanting her to be defiled. They only saw her struggle, they didn’t see the end that God had in store.

Isn’t it just like it is in our lives? So easy to kick the person that is down, or helpless, or in a hard place. The daughter of Jerusalem was in a hard place and had no one coming to her aid. Imagine being alone in childbirth and how hard that would be. So hard and alone eh?

But they don’t know. They don’t. Rescue is on the way and God told the daughter of Jerusalem that it would be so. She knows better, but her nay-sayers don’t. I do hope she listens!