14 day plan

Glory Box: The Covenantal Chest

Day 14 of 14

NIV

Jeremiah 31:33

33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

Reflection:  God’s People with Their God

‘With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10, New International Version

‘Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth” … And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God….”’ Revelation 21:1, 3, New International Version

The Bible’s finale paints a rich glory-story come full circle. Rehearse it with me.

We began in the garden-temple paradise. Then, remember,

God inner-chambered within a tent of skins

and then a temple-house…

and then he housed within the very skin of man.

Immortal God in mortal shoes,

in shoes that circuitously took him to the temple square,

into the very house that housed him there.

Full circle: connect the dots

that glory burst the bonds of box and chest

to pave safe access to holiness.

 

The Covenantal Chest had served its time:

an ark that housed artefacts to see us through a stormy spell.

Sacramental space for signs

that story-told God’s covenantal grace.

 

That glory-box metaphorically floated through a sea of angst

till one dark afternoon it came to rest;

crashed onto a cranium-cliff where crucifix cracked covenant to its core.

 

Seismic shifts burst that sacred glory box

and glory…let…loose.

Glory with became glory within

as golden splinters pierced the population standing by

and flung God’s glory like butterflies.

 

Then, holiness inhabited a human.

Now, holiness may inhabit humanity.

The fracture Jesus bore let loose the Gloria – the staggering mystery –

the goodness and kindness of God-in-Christ.

 

Designed for glory,

time, place and people ‘holy’ (verb).

We party. We contest

and pierce the universe with daggers of goodness, splendour

and united holiness…

ever more perfectly…into eternity.

Gloria!

Prayer:  God of peace, for the eternal covenant sealed with Jesus’ sacrificed blood, thank you, thank you! For bringing our great Shepherd, back from the dead, thank you! Please, by your Spirit, now equip us to do your will. Cultivate in us what brings you pleasure and glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20 paraphrased)

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

Days

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Suggested Plans

7

Love and Compassion

14

Hebrews: Better, Best

Jeremiah 31:1-40

1“At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword

will find favor in the wilderness;

I will come to give rest to Israel.”

3The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

4I will build you up again,

and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.

Again you will take up your timbrels

and go out to dance with the joyful.

5Again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.

6There will be a day when watchmen cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”

7This is what the Lord says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8See, I will bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind and the lame,

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

9They will come with weeping;

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them beside streams of water

on a level path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

10“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:

‘He who scattered Israel will gather them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’

11For the Lord will deliver Jacob

and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.

12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—

the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,

the young of the flocks and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,

and they will sorrow no more.

13Then young women will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

14I will satisfy the priests with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,”

declares the Lord.

15This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

16This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,”

declares the Lord.

“They will return from the land of the enemy.

17So there is hope for your descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“Your children will return to their own land.

18“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,

and I have been disciplined.

Restore me, and I will return,

because you are the Lord my God.

19After I strayed,

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat my breast.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion for him,”

declares the Lord.

21“Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,

the road that you take.

Return, Virgin Israel,

return to your towns.

22How long will you wander,

unfaithful Daughter Israel?

The Lord will create a new thing on earth—

the woman will return to the man.”

23This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ 24People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

26At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

27“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. 29“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

31“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the Lord.

33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

35This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar—

the Lord Almighty is his name:

36“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”

declares the Lord,

“will Israel ever cease

being a nation before me.”

37This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured

and the foundations of the earth below be searched out

will I reject all the descendants of Israel

because of all they have done,”

declares the Lord.

38“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.