Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:14–16, NIV 1984).
My Musings – That was then. Approximately 740 years before Christ. Much later, from Malachi to Matthew, there followed four hundred “silent” years between the testaments. Then nearly two thousand years between the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. and the reestablishment of a Jewish state by the United Nations in 1948, with the Holocaust in between. Surrounded and harassed by hostile nations since, who are calling for its total destruction.
It might stand to reason that God’s chosen people would feel forsaken and forgotten even today. But not in God’s reasoning. For “you know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave [Israel] has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14, NIV 1984). He will not forsake His promises, nor will He forget them. God may again discipline them, but their total destruction is not in the cards. And woe to those who try to bring it about. Because His promise to Abraham still holds true. “I [the Lord] will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” (Genesis 12:3, NIV 1984).
My Advice – There is a promise for us today too. “He [says] to [us], ‘put your finger here; see my hands…Stop doubting and believe.'” (John 20:27, NIV 1984). Those nail prints “on the palms of [His] hands” are more than scars. It is where our name is engraved. If. “If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2, NIV 1984).
The Brew Is A Musing 