Skip to main content

Shiloh- a comparison


The observation:
Jer:7:14
So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this temple that bears my name, this temple that you trust in for help, this place I gave to you and your ancestors. 

The question:
Wait. 
What are you saying? 
This can't be. Shiloh cannot be destroyed. 

The contrast:
Shiloh is the holy city where the Tabernacle is. It is the holy place where you are supposed to reaide among your people (in case you need to be reminded). Your presence is what makes the place and the nation different from others. We are your people separated from other sinful nations. 
Why will you do it? Shiloh is your favorite right? It's people are all yours right? You are a loving God right? Why will you do it? 
But God did destroy Shiloh, ultimately. Because of the entity that was ruling over the entire place - called sin. And the city was in wreck. What happened to the everlasting love of God? Well, He asks, what have you been doing with the attribute, that you have been conveniently forgetting - called holiness? You are talking about love. My love. What is the status of your love? To me? To others? Have you ever sought me with all your heart mind and soul? And now you talk to me about my love? 


Oh! Shiloh is the One who was promised to come in the name of the Lord. Shiloh is future. Shiloh is hope. The promise given to Judah  (and through Him to the entire nation, and through them to the whole world) by Jacob himself. Shiloh is the one whom the people were all waiting for. The Messiah. Gen:49:10.
Oh! Will you pass the judge me on Him? Your chosen one? Will you do that massacre on the one whom you sent? He is your own Son. Blameless. Sinless. He is innocent of any crime. Will you do this Oh! Loving God? What sort of a righteous judge are you? 
He who knew no sim, became sin. Because of my love. I could do this to myself (not to another person called my son) because of my love to you. Weren't you asking about love? This is my answer. This is my love. This is my forgiveness. This is pardon. 
He was led like a lamb to slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. 
Not because He was found guilty. But because He was innocent to the core. But His love to them who crucified was so deep. (That includes me and you). 
He was unjustly condemned. 

One Shiloh will be destroyed because of the pride because of idolatry, because of rebellion. 
The other Shiloh has been destroyed because of love, because of obedience, because of humility. 


The conclusion: 
Shiloh is destroyed because of sin. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dopamine rush

My nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing His work. Jn:4:34 What is your driving force?  What gives you a dopamine rush?  What gives you energy to move on? For Jesus it was doing the will of the Father, who sent Him and finishing the work He was sent to do. Be it convincing an outcast woman to tell her own city, that she has found the Messiah. Be it healing fever, or blindness, or lameness. Be it sleeping in the open. Do you grade your work for God? Oh! Just because I could only wash the dishes and not give a message today doesn't mean I am not useful for the Kingdom. God doesn't categorise people by the work they do. But He sees the heart with which they do the task given to them. Am I doing it cheerfully? Or is there a list of complaints? Image credit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-hypnosis/202402/3-activities-to-beneficially-release-dopamine/amp

Ashley

Dear Brother. Rest in peace. This life is small. Yet proved again. But you proved. Living for Christ alone matters. Trying to acquire skill  And to use your well earned medical knowledge For the poor and needy. Your words still ring in my ear. "We are alone there" Brother gone too soon. Leaving behind a legacy. Well done good and faithful servant. Enough is enough. Come back and enter the rest planned for you. In His bosom, the classic smile I can imagine. Your laughter will surely resound in heaven today. There is rejoicing in heaven  For a son has come back home. Fulfilling his Father's will for him Why should earth be gloomy?  For he is home.

What do I mean when I say I'm born again

No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again. Jn:3:3 Born again as told by Jesus to Nicodemus means being born of the baptism of repentance and being born of the Spirit. A new life. A new creation. The old has passed. The new has come.(v5) Born again means believing that the Son of Man, a term Jesus uses for Himself, quoting the prophet Daniel, as for the Messiah, is the only way to eternal life (v15) Born again is believing that the Father God, loved me so much, that He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for my sin, that I may have eternal life (v16) Born again is loving the light more than the darkness. The darkness is normally loved by others. But light I love. It is an about turn. And as I walk, I am willing to be cleansed by the light, as my sins are more exposed and desire to walk continually in the light. (v21) Image credit: https://stockcake.com/i/sprout-in-desert_1239350_943191

Duality

Come, He replied, and you will see. John:1:39 Preaching from the pulpit is easy. Do you dare to take them home? Not a pre-planned visit. Do you dare to show them your messy bedroom? Do you dare to show them, how you spend your 'me time'? Do you dare to show them how you react at home? You preach about faith from the pulpit. But at home you fret, you are frustrated, you are angry - faithlessness written all over you. You preach about trust from the lectern. But spit words of venom back home. There is worry when small things are upside down. You speak about purity from the rostrum. Whereas your home is filled with unwholesome talk. Your thoughts are as filthy. What you are in the outside, why are you not at home? This is duality. This is hypocrisy. This is what Jesus addressed as white washed tombs. Give me integrity Lord. Make me reflect you, both in the public and at home. Image credit: https://hareesh.org/blog/2016/5/25/the-dangers-of-duality-recognition-sutra-6

His humble dwelling

Jn:1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and only, who is at the Father's side has made Him known. Jesus' sole purpose of life was to make the Father known to the people who forgot Him. Only a bridge could do that. Only God Himself would know Him fully. The Son - who is one with the Father - who is the One and only. He became man, so that we would know God. What a mission? To not consider the consequences as significant. Considering only the goodness of the fact that we who were His enemies would become His children. That is humility. That is love. Fullness of grace and truth as described about Jesus, depicts His diety. His Godhood. Grace only God can show. And Jesus is full of it. Truth -  only God is true. This is God. This Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Jesus is not a prophet who came from heaven to direct people to God. Nor is He a powerful being from the heavenly realms. He is the Son of God. Who became fully man to reveal God Himsel...

Closed door

John:3:27 No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. This dictum if we inscribed in our hearts would ease up our lives. John was losing on his followers. His disciples were complaining. But John was sure - I am only here to prepare the way for Him. He is the bridegroom, and the joy of the bride is to join the bridegroom. The bestman is simply glad to stand with him. This is the solution for all forms of jealousy. There is no need to compare your walk with his/hers. No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. Which means no one can have something which God has taken away from him. Closed doors always lead to paths which are not destined for you. Do not force it open. Open doors lead to paths which God has planned for you. Walk in it. May God open our eyes and equip us to see God's hands in our lives. To see closed doors as God given opportunities to say no as well. Above all has He not promised that He will be with you till the very end...

Beat around the bush

Do you want to get well? Jn:5:6 To the specific question that Jesus asked, the invalid is beating around the bush. When He is willing to do a supernatural miracle, the man expresses logicality. Let God do what He is good at. Expect unexpected things from God. Those are not unnatural for Him. That is faith. Believing that God can do anything. Nothing is impossible for Him. He need not walk in human's pathway. He is not limited to man's perspective. He is beyond that. Being His child it is our privilege to wait to expect Him to work that way. Image courtesy: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-man-in-a-field-of-bushes-with-a-stick--YhAwRDPjoc