Monday, May 9, 2022
I saw before me what
seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who
had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing
his name. They were all holding harps that
God had given them. And they were singing the song of
Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord
God, the Almighty. Just and true are
your ways, O King of the nations. Who
will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy. All
nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been
revealed.” Revelation 15:2-4
My sheep listen to
my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27
The
imagery of God’s people as sheep is plentiful in Scripture, and a common
metaphor for those who follow the Shepherd.
Less on the front burner is that of a Chief Shepherd who is also a
sheep. Yet, the connection is
unmistakeable. In any account of the
Incarnation of Christ, He is the Lamb, who will be slain – a sacrifice for
sins. The Shepherd is also a sheep.
Leaping
from the Incarnation to the eschaton, the last days, and of Christ’s coming,
and our gathering ‘round the throne of God to worship the Ancient of Days, the
meaning of my sheep hear my
voice, and they follow me is Revelation’s flock singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. It is here we
see that glorious condescension of the Christ of eternal glory stooped to enter
the manger. He became one of us, that we
might recognize Him, and hear his voice.
While
in seminary in the port city of New Orleans, our family hosted two Japanese
officer trainees for a day. They spoke
no English, and we were clueless as to their language. We all pointed, gestured, and did whatever
possible to convey meaning to our conversation.
In the end, all we could do is smile and misunderstand.
In
Eden, God spoke human language, and Adam and Eve understood. By the time of the tower of Babel[1] humankind
had gotten far enough away from God to not listen for His voice. They lost the sound of their Master, like
wandering sheep straying from their shepherd.
That is, by the way, the story of most sin…selfish wandering, mindlessly
grazing on whatever satisfies a momentary appetite. God sent prophets to remind them of what the
Shepherd’s voice sounded like; one after another the prophets were ignored, and
eventually slaughtered to stop their bleating.
The wandering continued, unhearing.
Finally,
God sent his son to be a sheep…some heard, others prepared a cross.
In the
final account of Revelation, the continuing, eternal story of after the end, the restored Eden will be filled with the sound of
God’s flock, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Even those who have died will hear his voice,
and follow Him. The sheep will hear the
Lamb, one who became one of us, to speak clearly the love of God.
For You Today
One day our journey will be complete, and the flock will lie down together
in perfect harmony with all creation.
And we’ll sing. We’ll sing the
song of the Lamb throughout eternity.
And we’ll be on key, in perfect harmony!
[1] Title image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] See Genesis 11
No comments:
Post a Comment