A little child should have led us

God rails at Israel for long verses at the start of Isaiah's prophecy.

Then, stuck in the middle of the seventh chapter, there is this language: "So Isaiah told them, "then listen to this, government of David. It's bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you're making God tired. So the master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split..."

One could question the prophecy, since part of it is hard to understand, but since there has been but one girl who was a virgin that became pregnant and bore a son named Immanuel, one could rightly see that this is talking about the coming (way down the road) of Jesus. The peace maker. The Prince of Peace.

In the Jerusalem Post Christian edition today, it is pointed out by a writer named Michael Freund that Bishops in Rome tossed theological equivalent of hand grenade, threatening to blow up decades of efforts to improve Catholic-Jewish relations. This past Saturday, a synod of bishops in Rome tossed the theological equivalent of a hand grenade, threatening to blow up decades of efforts to improve Catholic- Jewish relations. In a press conference at the Vatican, Monsignor Cyril Salim Bustros, a Greek Melkite archbishop from Boston and president of the Church’s Commission for the Message, launched a blistering attack against the very foundation of Jewish belief. “The Holy Scriptures,” Bustros declared, “cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands.” Not stopping there, he went on to state that “we Christians cannot speak of the ‘promised land’ as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people... There is no longer a chosen people.” ... Even a cursory glance at the Scriptures makes clear that the Jewish people’s right to the Land of Israel is indisputably ordained. Take, for example, Isaiah 14:1-2: “The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land.”

The Prince of Peace came, fulfilling scripture, and here we are at the end of another year of incredible violence and the absolute desecration of Old Testament prophecy.

What lies ahead? Isaiah spends a great amount of time telling us that the nation was falling apart. But he spends a bit of time telling us that it will be brought back by a child. That they missed the child complicates matters, but doesn't end the covenant between God and Israel. It complicates it even more.

May this year be the year for peace in Jerusalem. May that be our prayer. A little peace around here wouldn't hurt things either. Happy New Year indeed.