New Life - Welling Up To Eternal Life
A new thing - do you not percieve it?
Isaiah 43:14 refers to the exile to Babylon. God then speaks of the time when he rescued them in the exodus out of Egypt - a time God told them to commemorate (Exodus 12). So God's next statement is amazing.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19
The next verses make it a clear the new thing refers to the New Covenant keeping the promise.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
Isaiah 44:3-4
The next chapter carries on the theme of the word flourishing.
You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it.
Isaiah 45:8
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Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
Isaiah 45:22-23
In this sense, it is understood that the purpose of the word that the Angel Gabriel brought to Daniel, was to bring in the kingdom of God. It is not only foretelling of what was to come, it also carries with the power to establish what has been spoken. By engaging in the authority of scripture we start to tap into a force that brings about God’s purposes. The word began before Daniel was ever born, was purposed right from the beginning, in the mind of God and has slowly been revealed to mortal man. And it is the revelation of Jesus. He is the one who would bring righteousness for our sake.
“This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, the Maker of all things,
who stretches out the heavens,
who spreads out the earth by myself,
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,
who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah,
‘They shall be rebuilt,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,
who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’
Isaiah 44:24-28
God's plan was to promote the righteousness of God among the nations. The proclamation of everlasting righteousness in Daniel's seventy sevens came as a direct result of his anointing on Cyrus the Great, king of Persia.
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5:24
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This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…
Romans 3:22
Word in Season
The Word is inextricably linked to the seasons in the pattern of rain with sowing and reaping. This is not surprising as we have seen how the promise is tied to the land. We have seen how rain is used to show how the word comes to us. So, in order glean some further understanding on this topic, its worth, now, exploring the role of rain and how it relates to festivals within in the Jewish calendar; The establishment of the festivals are aligned to the former and latter rains which translates into understanding about the Old and New Covenant.
Festivals and the Gospels
The festivals relate specifically to the gospel:
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The Purim festival (Esther 9:26-28) was established after the word was passed by the Angel Gabriel to Daniel. Although not one of the festivals commanded by God (Leviticus 23), the Jews took it upon themselves to celebrate this day of freedom. It parallels the day of freedom bought for us by Jesus victorious sacrifice for us on the cross.
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Three festivals, by remembering what God has done in the Old Testament they point to the death and resurrection of Jesus in the New Covenant:
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Passover - Died
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Unleavened Bread - Buried
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First Fruits – Risen
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Similarly, Pentecost, points to the Holy Spirit coming to us in New Covenant; with the hot winds of ‘Hamsin’ ripening the harvest. (John 4:35 ESV ripe/white wheat harvest [5])
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Three festivals speak of how to live in the New Covenant
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Trumpets – Prepared and expectant for Christ’s return and judgement
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Atonement – Jesus blood removes our sins
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Tabernacles – Living with God’s presence while in a temporary abode; one day we will be transformed and living with God in our eternal home.
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Purim announcing Freedom, Identity, Righteousness and Eternity - F.I.R.E.
This yearly cycle also shows just how important rain is in Israel. The word of God coming through the prophets of the Old Covenant, like Daniel, to the people, and it is like the rain that saturates the ground, and leads to the harvest of the New Covenant; this starts with Jesus as the first fruit and the hot winds of Pentecost bringing in summer and more harvesting until the end when the final trumpet will blow and after that the refreshing rains begin are expected to herald a new beginning . The trumpet is also a call to repentance, recognising the hidden and deep work that the Spirit does in us just like rain soaking into the ground. There is a lot of preparing of the soil (soul) by the Spirit for us to be fruitful.
The former rains may soften the top surface of the soil, whereas latter rains penetrate and doing something much deeper,.It's the fruit that later appears as the outworking of what is within.
The festival of Purim, which celebrates an event dated about 473 BC, fits nicely with the word brought by the Angel Gabriel to Daniel through Purim to the time of Jesus. The preparing of the way for Jesus started way before John the Baptist (Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 11:11-15, Isaiah 40:3); God was preparing the way through the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus.
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Just like we have read of the word delivered by the Angel Gabriel was received by Mary, here too God is asking his people to hear and receive good news that is coming. In 522 BC some years after Cyrus, some leaders and people from Babylon went to build the temple. Others remained in the wider Persians empire in danger of being assimilated into foreign cultures.
It took time for the Jews to realise their sin was paid for, even after their return home from Exile in Babylon. The shroud of shame still darkened their countenance. The sins of their fathers did not wash easily. But when it did, they could realise their true identity as God’s holy people.
Note the similarities with the parable of the prodigal son. And we should remember the blessing the Israelites received as they emerged from Egypt in Exodus.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; he Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26
It was a definitive moment when the Jews assumed their true identity as God’s people once again, when God rescued his people from annihilation they and stood up against their enemy, all across the Persian empire, at the time of Esther. They had, then, definitely received the word.
The respite and blessing in the midst of rule of empires is reflected in the role of the rains. When there had been a drought in the land and a there is a noticeable lack of rain from the former rains of the autumn Fall to soften the ground, the ground is hard to break up, and the heavier latter rains of the Spring would likely lead to flash flooding. So, when the rains do come in their season it was a blessing. The former rains are an important signal to how the rest of the agricultural year would pan out.
“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.”
Joel 2:23
So, in the festival of Purim we have a better starting point for the Daniel's ‘seventy sevens’. The word had sunk in and seeded in the hearts of the returning Jews as the following blessing of the land in 522 BC spoken by Hosea
‘In that day I will respond,’ declares the Lord – ‘
I will respond to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called “Not my loved one”.
I will say to those called “Not my people”, “You are my people”; and they will say, “You are my God.”’
Hosea 2:21-23
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…From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes… Daniel 9:25