Living Stones – Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Eyes have seen
Luke 2:25
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
There are some people who are a part of the Christmas story but who are often forgotten whenever the story is told. Simeon is one such forgotten person.
The birth of the Christ Child took place in a challenging social, cultural, and political environment that must always be considered when we want to understand the impact that His birth had at that particular point in time.
Israel was an occupied country. In a sense, it was almost always occupied. By the time of the birth of Jesus, the Romans were the occupying power, with Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, directing their fate, at least so he thought. It was this Roman occupation and the drive by Caesar Augustus to increase and improve the tax base that led to the fulfilment of a critical piece of Old Testament prophecy. The Messiah was born in Bethlehem as a result of the census, the census was strategic for Caesar Augustus’ tax plan, God used it for His plan for our salvation.
Things in the country were difficult, there were tensions between the citizens and the authorities and most critical were the tensions caused by the Jewish authorities having a power-sharing agreement with the Romans authorities. The Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin, had some power still, some local government power, but it was subject to the supreme power of the Romans.
There are so many social, economic, and political challenges in our countries today that we are often concerned about our fate and quality of life as the Jews were under the Roman authorities at the time. For many reading the devotional today there may not be an occupying political power running the country but the circumstances remain challenging and in some cases, deteriorating.
In Acts 17:26-27 the Apostle Paul, speaking in Athens, had this to say about nations, “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” In other words, the nations, my nation, your nation, our nations are a specific part of God’s plan for redemption. Our search for relationship with God is often tied up in the national experience.
Writing much later after the birth of Jesus, and after the other critical events of His life, like the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, the Apostles were still concerned about the issues of national life.
Peter wrote, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” 1 Peter 2:13-14
Paul urged that, as part of our church activities, Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Timothy 2:1-2
The Jews desperately needed deliverance, and many were praying for it. This could be seen all over the Christmas story and this is what we find Simeon doing as he waited for the Lord’s Messiah. Simeon was devout and carried a burden for his nation and for his people and had received from God a promise that he would not die until his eyes had seen God’s answer to his prayer for the nation.
The old priest Zacharias, if you remember, while he was praying for a son, was also praying about the fate of the nation and he received the first notice that God’s answer to the problems they faced was on the way. Looking back quickly we know that Gabriel’s last recorded appearance before talking with Zacharias, was to Daniel who was at the time praying for the fate of his nation. Abraham, also, interceded for a people, when he had a Divine visitation.
We cannot disconnect our faith and religious activities from the fate of the nation and those who lead it. However, too often these days, church leaders what to hobnob with political leaders but spend very little interceding for the nation and leading the church in such regular intercession for the culture, the society, the economy, the judicial system, and so on.
In the song ‘Come down Jesus,” quoted in these devotionals before, the blind José Feliciano appealed to Jesus, “Won’t you help clean the land / Of the fire and the sword.” José can’t see physically but he could certainly see. We can see but can we see.
Simeon saw what was going on around him and prayed until he saw God’s answer. We should be doing something about what we see in the nation, that we might also see God’s salvation
Think on these things:
- How much of your personal prayer time is directed to issues of national life and your national leaders?
- How do we pray for the nation(s) as a church?
- What are the things that you observe about national life that demonstrate that God is at work in the nation as well as in individual hearts?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for our nation and for our national leaders, each by name.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
