Temporary vs Eternal
Monday Reflection – 2017
Isaiah 51:6 – Temporary vs Eternal
(Greetings on this National Heroes Day in Jamaica. We pause to remember today our national heroes and heroine who sacrificed all to help in the process towards our emancipation and independence. We also recognize our present heroes, some of whom will receive their national awards today. Let’s not forget our unsound heroes who have and continue to give of their all in service to their fellow human beings.)
Last Tuesday, the USA football team failed to qualify for the World Cup finals, the first since 1986. Trinidad and Tobago defeated them 2-1. This was shocking to many, to say the least. It was as if USA occupied a permanent place at the Football World Cup finals. This brought home forcefully the reality that we can become so accustomed to some things and persons that we start believing they are permanent. What a danger!
Today’s Daily Watchword provides a stark reminder:
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like gnats. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6
Scholars say that Isaiah 51 is part of Second Isaiah. It was written near the end of the Babylonian captivity, in a time when most of the Israelite exiles would have been born in captivity, never having seen Jerusalem. They would have spent their lives in servitude, and would be tempted to believe that Yahweh has either abandoned them or is not sufficiently powerful to help them. It is a time of minimum hope and maximum temptation to follow after other gods.
The emphasis in chapter 51 is comfort and encouragement. There are the promises that God will transform Israel’s wilderness into an Eden-like garden (v. 3), the people will find joy and gladness (v. 3), justice (v. 4) and salvation (v. 5). It also assures the people that the salvation that God offers, unlike the transient world with its ups and downs, is forever (v. 6).
The heavens above, the earth beneath, and all that lives upon the earth are but for the moment. They will exist for a period of time, and then they will die. The heavens will vanish like smoke and the earth will wear out like an old pair of work clothes. The living things will die like gnats (flies).
It is sometimes difficult for us to imagine that everything that we consider real will one day vanish. It is even difficult for us to contemplate our own death, even though we say “The only certainty in life are death and taxes.” But we see it happen all around us every day – funeral homes have a steady clientele; hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes sweep away entire towns; fires destroy houses and cities, and the list goes on. Nothing in this life is permanent.
BUT God’s salvation is eternal and his righteousness which Christ has secured for his people, and by which they are justified, is everlasting. They shall not be broken, they answer all the demands of law and justice, stand firm against all the accusations and charges of men and devils, and shall not fail. Only God and his finished work of salvation and his guaranteed righteousness are eternal.
The text offers two thoughts:
- Challenge – We must recognize that everything in life is transient, temporary and some trivial. Nothing lasts forever. Therefore, it is foolish to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, we should lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20).
- Comfort – We also receive a word of comfort that the challenges and pain we feel today are temporary, for joy will come in the morning. The aches, heartaches, sorrow, grief and burdens are temporary; they too shall pass. We learn the lessons of the present for the greater work God has in store for us in the future.
Prayer from the Daily Text:
Dear God, thank you for salvation through the obedience of you son, Jesus who is the Christ. Thank you for the preparations that have been made for us. Praise you for our deliverance from death and destruction. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Till next week, anchor your lives in the Lord.
Jermaine Gibson