“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 17. All things

Rom 8:28 we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him

Perhaps no other verse encapsulates this idea of the Hound of Heaven so much as this one. We have considered some of those in the Bible that God pursued, we have considered in Psa 23 the goals to which he seek to drive or lead us. But then we come across this giant of a verse that puts it all together.

“We know” says Paul. He speaks with a confidence that comes from experience, from years of now walking with the one he once pursued, now realizing that in reality it was the other way round; this God he had once espoused and been so zealous for was in fact working for his good. He hadn't struck him down for his ignorant unholy zeal, merely blinded him for a short while so he could contemplate the wonder of what happened to him on the Damascus road. And then a little, unknown believer came to him, sent by God, and laid hands on him and prayed for him so the Spirit came on him and filled him.

He who had been so zealous, so powerful, so full of his own certainties, had been brought to nothing, but as time went on and the revelation continued he realised that this God who he now saw in a new light, was there working for his good, had steered him off the wrong track and set him on a new life-filled, dynamically energizing life.

All the time God has been there, watching over him, never forcing him or curtailing him except at that one all-important moment when he had been stopped in his tracks and asked, “Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4) Persecute? I thought I was serving you! But then came the realization that the voice from heaven was the one who not long back had been crucified – and everything changed.

For years Saul had been taught. For years he lived off the privilege of his upbringing, never realizing there was One there in the background urging him forward, but for a goal that he himself never dreamed of. Nothing about Saul who became Paul was an accident. Eventually there came this well-educated man for God who, when his perspective was set the right way up, would work and travel and write in such a way that millions in future generations of believers would benefit from his insights and revelation. God had been working all things for good.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 18. Despite

Gen 3:24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

We said yesterday we would step back into the big picture to capture in a different way the workings of the Hound of Heaven, of our God who has not been put off by the chaotic goings on of the humanity who He created with free-will. Free-will, what a mistake. Oh no, for without it we could never be the creative, loving, developing, learning beings that we are with such richness of expression!

And yet, as the account shows so clearly, it was almost inevitable that the Fall would occur. Having previously created the angels with free-will, and allowed Satan to emerge so glorious and yet so ambitious that he rebelled and took a third of his fellow-angels with him (Rev 12:1-9), it was inevitable that he would come to the first two beings in the Garden and lead them astray. Their free-will wasn't strong enough to resist his tempting words. But that wasn't the end.

There followed a time of accounting and an exclusion from the Garden. What a disaster! How the onlooking angels must have wondered. This beautiful earth with two perfect human beings, what a potentially wonderful future, the glory of God revealed through human beings, but now it is marred, now they are tainted, distorted, twisted, now they are self-aware, aware they have the capability of making decisions on their own, determining their own destiny, but slipping into error, into self-centred godless living as every decade and century passed; the plan is ruined – isn't it?

No, for in all things God works for the good of humanity, a humanity that didn't understand love but a humanity that would bring forth those who came to realise what true love was, what it was that the Hound of Heaven was pursuing them towards. This wasn't the end. Cast out of the Garden they certainly were, but that wasn't the end. God didn't totally separate Himself off from mankind, He simply distanced Himself. In the following chapters we see Him talking to Cain (Gen 4), preserving his life when it should have been forfeited. We see Him walking with Enoch (Gen 5:24), we see Him talking to Noah (Gen 6-9) and then we see Him choosing and calling Abram (Gen 12:1-) and then the brakes are off and we learn what relationship with God can mean.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 19. A Stumbling Nation

Num 14:31: As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

As we seek to step back into the big picture we move on from yesterday to see Israel, now a nation, now delivered miraculously from slavery in Egypt, now having encountered God at Mount Sinai, now being led to take the Promised Land, now having spied out the land, now having rejected the plan and will of God by refusing to take the Land. Disaster! What a waste of time!

All that effort preserving Jacob's family using Joseph, all that effort getting Moses to go back to deliver them, all that effort dealing with Pharaoh, all that effort to get Israel to leave Egypt – only to have them grumble all the way down the path to Sinai, only to have some of them worship a golden calf at Sinai, only to have them grumble all the way to Canaan and now to refuse to go in. What a waste of time!

But, we reminded ourselves, God works all things together for good for, not only those who love Him but also those who will come to love him (Paul was only conveying part of the picture). Why? Because God is love (1 Jn 4:8,16) and all He does is an expression of His love.

Having given us free will, He knows He is going to have to pursue us all the way to eternity. Many will reject Him and fall by the way, dying in the wilderness of their own choice but there will be many who heed

the call, heed the guidance, believe the possibility and take the Land.

In the midst of the negativity that the sinfulness of mankind insists on proclaiming, He speaks the truth, the positive. This present generation, sitting just over the border outside of Canaan, may have rejected the good will of God for them, so He will give them exactly what they wanted (see Num 14:2,28,29) so they will remain in the wilderness until they die – all that is except those under the age of twenty. They – and here is where He speaks positively – contrary to what the older generation said in our starter verse – they will go in and take the Land and it will become their home for ever more, this land characterized by milk and honey (Ex 3:8,17, 13:5, 33:3, Num 13:27 etc. etc.)

Oh yes, standing there in the midst of this grumbling, rebellious people who refuse to take their inheritance, this wonderful land that could bless them so much, it does look a disaster but every time it looks a disaster, God is still working for the good of mankind. It is never the end.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 20. Repetition

Judg 2:3 they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

We are stepping back from individual lives to catch something of the activity of the Hound of Heaven in the big picture landscape that is the Bible. Yet within that big-picture landscape we focus on specific periods to see the Hound at work. We glimpsed the miscreants of the Garden of Eden being cast out but God carrying on. Yesterday the despair of the people of Israel who for a moment forgot all the wonderful things God had done for them and refused to take hold of the inheritance called the Promised Land that He held out before them.

The book of Judges is perhaps one of the best books of the Bible to watch this particular activity of our Lord. Forty years have passed and Joshua has led his army to take the Land – only partially successfully. In the beginning of Judges 2 the Lord rebukes Israel for not having cleared out the signs of pagan worship in the Land. The Plan is that the Land be cleared out of all signs of the superstitious, occult, pagan, idol worship that had been there and to turn it into another Garden of Eden where God would dwell with His people, but they were only half-hearted about. Because the remnants of the nation were still there in parts of the Land, they would be a constant irritation to Israel, and because their altars were left standing, some of Israel would start following their gods. This was not the way to establish a holy nation in a holy land with a Holy God. In fact at first sight it appears a disaster.

If you and I had been God we might have abandoned the whole project but God works with humanity and lets Israel embark on a major learning process, that is there for our education as well. After Joshua died we read, “ another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. ” (Jud 2:10,11) Read on and you'll see it gets worse. So what does the Lord do? “ the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. ” (v.14) He simply stood back, lifted off His hand of protection from them and let their neighbours plunder them. Result? “ They were in great distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.” (v.16) And if you read Judges – a somewhat depressing book! – you see that pattern followed again and again and again. The Hound of Heaven never gives up pursuing them but at times He does it by stepping back and letting the sky fall on them! Sin… oppression…. distress… repentance…. a saviour from God… joy. The book is full of it and it is a frustrating process because Israel seem so slow to learn, but the thing about our God is His loving persistence. Rejoice in it.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 21. Awful Folly

1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women

I have concluded over the years – although it is never stated like this in Scripture – that God must have had three reasons for creating Israel. The first one is explicit, for them to be a light to the world, to reveal God to the world, to bless the world. Check out Gen 12:1,2, 18:17,18, 26:2-4, 28:13,14, Ex 15:14-16, Num 14:13-17, and so it goes on and on – nations of the world being blessed by God through His work through this nation.

When we come to the reign of King Solomon the big picture reveals this very thing happening. 1 Kings 10 is the peak of this goal when the Queen of Sheba comes and declares, “ Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord 's eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” (v.9) She came and was ‘overwhelmed' (v.5) by what she saw and it resulted in her praising God. The wisdom of God given to Solomon (1 Kings 3) demonstrated the goodness of God. David, the man after God's own heart had built a secure kingdom from which Solomon could work, and the result was a nation revealing the goodness of God.

And then comes 1 Kings 11 – disaster! “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women ….. and his wives led him astray.   As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.” (v.1,3,4) Read on and you see how terrible it was.

The second reason, I have concluded, for God raising up Israel was to reveal the sin and folly of mankind. All of mankind is the same, Israel just blazed the truth into history. Even with God with them, blessing them again and again, as we saw in Judges, even as we see in the lives of David and his son Solomon, despite all this Israel get it wrong. If I were a Jew I would be ashamed of my history – but then I am ashamed of the history of my own nation and there is probably not a nation on earth for which this is not true. We get it wrong! We need a saviour; we need someone with wisdom greater than ours to show us a better way to live.

So Solomon blows it. Does God destroy him, does He destroy Israel? No, He simply splits them into two nations for there to be two chances of getting it right, but the northern nation gets it even more badly wrong and the southern nation does only marginally better.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 22. End of the Line?

2 Kings 18:11,12  The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria

We move on a little over two hundred years from where we were yesterday. God had brought about a split in the kingdom under Solomon so his son is left with two tribes in the south while God's ‘B-team' has ten tribes in the north. He calls a rebel, Jeroboam, and sends the prophet Ahijah to him, explaining why He is acting against Solomon – the implied warning is there – don't follow in his footsteps. And to make it perfectly clear , “If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.” (1 Kings 11:38) The call is clear; the standard is clear – be godly like David and obey me.

But even with a start like that, unbelief prevails and Jeroboam sets up idols at either end of his kingdom (see 1 Kings 12:26-30) but, even more, he instituted a counterfeit copy-cat religion (v.31-33). It gets worse and so we read, “Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.” (1 Kings 13:33.34) After nineteen kings over a little more than two hundred years, we read that the king of Assyria captured Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, and deported the whole northern population. Disaster! The end of the ‘B-team'. They could have learnt from the various prophetic words that God brought to them, but they didn't.

But this is about the Hound of Heaven. Roughly 6 years after the fall of Samaria, Hezekiah, king of Judah sent out a remarkable letter to every Israelite, both those in the land of Judah and those deported to come and celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem. See 2 Chron 30:1-11. “Th e couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.” (v.,10,11) Amazingly some of the deportees heard and returned.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 23. Hope from God's Heart

Jer 26:3 Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning

We come forward a little more than a hundred years. The northern kingdom as such has gone. The southern kingdom, firmly anchored on Jerusalem goes through kings like there is no tomorrow. Josiah came, did well, lasted 31 years. He was followed by Jehoahaz who lasted three months before being forcibly deposed by the king of Egypt who replaced him by his brother, Jehoiakim , who reigned for eleven years, was evil and was eventually carried off to Babylon in chains. He was followed by Jehoiachin who again only reigned for three months before being taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon who then appointed his uncle, Zedekiah , as king, yet another bad ungodly, evil king. He lasted for eleven years.

And throughout these reigns of these last five kings, Jeremiah is there in the background, brooding over the shambles which is the people of God, the people to whom God had originally said, “ if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'” (Ex 19:5,6) That had been the goal, a people who allowed themselves to be taught and led and blessed by God, a people who would stand out in the world as God's representatives between Him and the world, bringing the world to Him as priests, if you will, a holy nation, unique, unlike any other, the envy of others, for their peace and prosperity, their order and well-being.

What a fairy tale! What a hope! What a vision! What a possibility! But instead they succumbed to superstitious idolatry, preferring wooden or metal images that they could see, handle and control, to the invisible God who was supreme and demanded control. Yes, my second reason for the existence of Israel, to reveal the sinfulness of mankind is crystal clear. With all they had going for them, they threw it away in order to live self-centred, godless lives, lives of conflict, bickering, strife, intrigue, wars, murders, strife and so much more. Sin!

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 24. Restoration Goal

Jer 29:10 I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  

A disaster is about to hit Israel in a way I suspect none of them dreamed of – none that is except Jeremiah, and they mostly wrote him off as a ranting, unstable, prophet. For years he has been warning kings and people that God's tolerance will only go so far. What is incredible is that it went for so long. Yesterday we recounted the last five kings of Judah and throughout their reigns Jeremiah kept banging his drum: if you don't repent God will come and destroy you. Yes, yes, Jeremiah, one day but not this day.

And then one day during the reign of the last of those five kings, after the fourth one and a lot of others had been taken off to Babylon by the all-powerful Nebuchadnezzar, he writes a letter to the exiles from Judah who have been taken to Babylon: “Marry and have sons and daughters…. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer 29:6,7) What? That sounds rather permanent. But then he continues, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” (v.10) and even more, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (v.11-14)

What an incredible prophecy! This is the Hound of Heaven who sends His people into exile to discipline and change their hearts for whom the passing of seventy years is nothing. Israel may have given up on Him but He has not given up on them. Jeremiah's prophecies stretched out over decades and then his prophecies of hope, speak almost more than anything else in the Bible of the God who perseveres with His people, who does not give up on their waywardness.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 25. God is coming?

Isa 40:3 In the wilderness prepare   the way for the Lord

The Exile has come and gone. The Temple is rebuilt as the people return and, as more return, Jerusalem itself is rebuilt. Leaders come and teach the people and a restoration of the nation occurs, with the help of some of what we refer to as ‘the Minor Prophets', and then it goes silent. Nothing is heard from God. Has He in fact given up on this people? Has He restored them only to leave them? The years pass, a whole century, and then another and another. Over four centuries and not a word from God. Has He given up on Israel, has He given up on this world?

But perhaps some turned to the scrolls and they scan through Isaiah's writings. And there in the early scrolls a sentence leaps out: “ The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” ( Isa 7:14). What a strange word. Immanuel. What does it mean? “God with us.” God on our side? Or something more? Strange. They scan on through the scrolls and find the somewhat negatives words of judgment give way to an historical record of a period in Hezekiah's life and then it seems there is a lighter feel to the prophecies that follow, more signs of hope. What was Isaiah picking up from the Lord? Hope?

Hope is the word of the visionary who looks with God's eyes into the future, who sees beyond the bumbling faith, shallow righteousness, uncertain identity and sees the sun shining through the mist. Something is coming, there a hope of a new day. Indeed there in the ongoing scrolls, after the historical account, come the words, “In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” What? Surely this is a word of hope that speaks of a possibility of God coming, a word that says get ready for Him, make the way easy for Him to come. If He comes surely there is hope of a new day, He won't just leave us like this, for ever – will He? Surely not! But for the moment all we have is silence. We have Jerusalem again, we have our temple, we have the Law but still the squabbling goes on.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 26. The Long Silence Ends

Lk 1:11 th en an angel of the Lord appeared to him

Merely because God goes silent it doesn't mean He's not watching and waiting. He never stops pursuing His goal, it's just that sometimes it is not very obvious or simply that our spiritual sight isn't good enough to see what He's doing.

Over four hundred years have passed and nothing has been heard from heaven and then one day, without any warning a lowly priest finds an angel in his presence. It was going to be the first of a number of God interventions as heaven prepares the way for the Son of God to leave heaven and appear in the disguise of a human baby.

Back in Study 21 I suggested there were three reasons God created Israel, the first two being to reveal Himself and to reveal the sinfulness of mankind. Now we come to the third vital reason: to create a God-environment into which to place His Son, an environment where they can talk God talk, have God expectations, so when the time comes Jesus can act into this environment without many explanations. They already know.

So now we have the first of the God interventions after four hundred years of silence, to a priest, a man who will know their history and eventually see how he fits in it. The second intervention comes when his aged wife is enabled to conceive and the one we know as John the Baptist is born. The third intervention is when he is born his father bursts forth in Holy Spirit prophecy. Meanwhile there has been a fourth intervention, the same angel comes to a young girl by the name of Mary and explains God's hopes through her. The intervention follow thick and fast: she miraculously conceives without a man, her fiancé Joseph gets a dream from God, an emperor ensures they will be in Bethlehem for the birth, angels sing to shepherds, a star guides wise men from the east, the Spirit inspires an old men and woman at the temple, Joseph gets more dreams. And then it goes quiet again for thirty years. It's like a spectacular firework display seen at New Year, an amazing burst of interventions and then afterwards, silence and darkness again and you are just left with the memory.

But this has all been the work of the Hound of Heaven as He presses His plans and purposes forward, paving the way for the most spectacular three years the world has ever known, but for the moment it is silent and dark again but a few people are left wondering.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 27. The Intermediate Goal

Mt 1:21 he will save his people from their sins

We are following the works and ways of the Hound of Heaven who formulated a Plan before they created a material world, and who works quietly and persistently to bring that Plan about, a plan that would take millennia. The Hound may be persistent but He is not in a rush. This is a plan that will take eternity to work out.

But it is a plan born out of necessity because if they are to create human beings in their likeness, then those human beings must be free to communicate, to act to be creative, to choose, and in that choosing there is the danger, because they will be able to choose wrongly.

We take ‘free-will' for granted but it is at the very heart of our existence. Every choice we make – what clothes to wear, when to get up – is free will at work. Every creative act we perform is an expression of free will – what to cook, knit, paint, write, compose, plant, design, plan, invent, discover, construct etc. etc. Every time we speak it is an act of free will – to be kind, compassionate, caring, sensitive, etc. etc. but also free will can be hurtful, harming, damaging, heartless, insensitive, cutting, thoughtless. Every ‘sin' (wrong against God) is an act of free will, every ‘crime' (wrong against State) is an act of free will. We would like to erase all the negatives from these lists but the trouble is, you can't.

I think THE big question for sceptics is if YOU were God – all wise, all powerful, all knowing, WHAT would you DO to prevent it. The instant answer is do away with free-will but as you do that you simply make robots who can never love, never appreciate beauty, never go “Ahhh”! at an amazing sunrise or sunset. Isaac Asimov had (initially at least) three rules of robotics, one of which was that no robot may harm a human being and it was programmed into every robot that was made. But no robots could compose a beautiful orchestral peace, or a ‘War and Peace' or heart stirring poetry. No, God had to allow free will and so allow Israel to constantly blow it! The Old Testament is a catalogue of unbelief and rebellion, of self-centred godlessness (i.e. Sin).

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 28. An Amazing Stage

Jn 14:17 he lives with you and will be in you

We continue to ponder this theme of the Lord who pursues us and now, in the second half of this series, the Lord who has been working through history to pursue His plans and purposes formulated from before the Creation. Two studies back I referred to His ‘interventions' as He paved the way for His Son to leave heaven and appear on earth. I suggested that there appeared to be few people who were expecting this after four hundred years of silence from heaven. But person was the old man Simeon, a Spirit-alert, Spirit-led man of God who turned up at the temple just in time to welcome the baby Jesus and bless the family with prayer and prophecy.

We read that description of him, and it is accurate as we see in Luke 2 – “the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.” (v.25-27). We read it quite easily and it would only be an atheist who would query it. Now I say this because Simeon is a delightful picture of the life that the Lord urges us towards, the Spirit-alert, Spirit-led life, and I hope few of us would object to that.

The Plan was reaching its climax (for this stage of it at least) and we have moved on to Jesus' three years of ministry that culminates in his death and resurrection as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. He dies on the cross and his disciples think it is the end of the world – disaster. He is raised from the dead and they struggle to adjust their thinking to believe the impossible. For a little over a month he teaches them in seclusion in Galilee, brings them back to Jerusalem, and then ascends before their very eyes. The Plan of God moves on but again life must have felt empty for them. Not quite a disaster because he had told them this would happen and they should wait for the promise of the Father. But now they are alone and so all they can do is pray.

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 29. Be Patient

Mt 24:6 Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

So the Plan flowed through history. Israel both revealed the glory of God and the sinfulness of mankind that needed a Saviour. But then Israel provided a ‘God-environment' into which the Son of God came from heaven, for a short thirty-three years before he left and returned back to heaven – but not before revealing his Father's love and then redeeming mankind by his own death as a criminal.

But one day, while still here, he turned to his disciples and started telling them something of the nature or character of the times that would follow until eventually he would return, in the sky. So when the day came when he ascended before them, back to heaven, although there must have been a tremendous gap in their lives, when the Spirit soon came He not only empowered them but also enlightened them and they began to understand something more of what had happened and the nature of the kingdom of which they were now key players.

But our verse today, taken from that discourse about the last times in Matthew, reveals a key feature of the kingdom time, the time of the church – it is a time of waiting, a time that will need patience and perseverance.

We have, in the recent studies of this series been focusing on God as the One who pursues His goals through history, specifically through the history of Israel and at the end of each phase, it seemed, there was a crisis – and yet God kept on with the Plan, as if knowing that there would be these setbacks and, from a human standpoint, crises, and was thus not put off by them.

So Jesus warns his disciples that there would be things happening in history, deceivers coming, wars, famines, earthquakes, things that we might think were portents of the end – but in fact, they are not. They are simply things that happen in the Fallen World. They reach a crescendo or climax at some point that IS the end but they are, for the most part, just things we should expect in a world that is fallen, that goes wrong because of the influence of Sin affecting the world in a variety of ways. From time to time we may be tempted to think it is so bad this must be the end, but until Jesus actually appears in the sky, somehow seen by the whole world at the same time, we're just to get the grace of God and be patient and persevere.

This is not crisis, this is not God's failure and so again we need to remind ourselves that Jesus is ruling in the midst of his enemies (Psa 110:1,2), all wrongs, breakdowns of the world etc., and will continue to reign (1 Cor 15:25) until he comes to wind it all up and he is STILL pursuing his Father's goals to the end. Hallelujah!

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 30. God's Goal

Rev 19:7 For the wedding of the Lamb has come,   and his bride has made herself ready.

To where is ‘the Hound' pursuing us, what is His goal that He seeks to take us towards? To catch the ultimate goal we have to move into an uncertain area of Scripture that has many questions over it – the book of Revelation. Much of it is clear if not repetitive but as it nears the end it seems to vary between that which is in sharp focus and that which, although it is in focus, leaves you wondering. What about that thousand year reign of a world run by Christians but obviously with others as well? But put aside what you struggle with and take that which is more clear.

Chapter 19 starts with four Hallelujahs the last of which is for, “f or the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.)” Jesus had used bridegroom language when he was on earth (Jn 3:29, Lk 5:34,35) and clearly he was the bridegroom. He even told a parable about a wedding (Mt 25). So his bride? The Church, all believers together. So what does this picture convey, of a wedding between Christ the bridegroom and the Church his bride? Several things come to mind.

First, it is the public uniting of a couple. It is public, it is seen out in the open and everyone knows they are now a couple. When Christ returns (Rev 19:11-19) it is first to deal with his enemies and second to draw his people to himself. The word ‘public' is an understatement of his return (Lk 17:24, Mt 24:27) for “ we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess 4:17)

So second, it is the start of a new beginning, a legitimate coming together of this ‘couple' in the eyes of the world, to start a new life, a new experience together, a new closeness, intimacy, and harmony of experience together with no limitations on this experience.

But third, and the Thessalonians verse says it, it is ‘forever'! There is nothing else to be done, nothing more to be achieved, no more goals to be set, because this is the ultimate goal but, be careful, don't try to be too clever in envisaging it: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —  in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Cor 15:51-53) Perhaps all we can say is that the ultimate goal is that we will be united with Christ in a most incredible, unimaginable way. Wow!

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 31. Achievement

Rev 21:3 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.

People will quite often ask, what will it be like in heaven? Will there be heavenly choirs and will we just be worshipping God all the time? Is that it? The very questions suggest there will be something more than this, more than simply singing.

Revelation 4 and 5 are prophetic visions that convey truths. Whether they convey what is going on all the time in heaven is questionable. When we get to the end of Revelation we see various things that might convey a bigger picture. “ I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ” (Rev 21:2) That followed, “ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” (v.1)

A change has come about. The world as we know it has gone only to be replaced by a new creation and, intriguingly, there is no sea. Sea divides. But there is more. The old Jerusalem, the supposed place of God's dwelling once, has gone and is now replaced by a new city that is full of expectancy like a bride waiting to meet the bridegroom, as we saw yesterday. And in case we aren't catching the full import of what John is seeing, it is followed by our starter verse today: 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.

This is the goal to which the ‘Hound' is pursuing us – God with His people, God dwelling with them, their God. There is a sense of solidity and purpose and sureness about this statement; it is the goal that God has for us. But isn't He with us now – Immanuel? Aren't we indwelt by His Spirit so we are one with Him?

Yes all of that is true but there seems there is much more for this new earth continues as v.22-27 indicate – a new world AND a new city and the light of the city that seems to permeate the world, is the Lord Himself. I feel like I am trying to convey colour to myself and others who have only ever known grey. It is almost a concept beyond us.

Singing all day? I don't think so. Consider this world that God made with its staggering variety and complexity. In the new eternal existence it must surely be much more glorious, wonderful, complex and varied than anything we can presently comprehend. Rejoice in the wonder of today but rejoice that He has something that is so much more glorious so that the most common word the writers used was “like” as they failed to describe heavenly visions in earthly terms. Hallelujah

“Hound of Heaven” Meditations: 32. Roller-Coaster

Isa 52:13a “Beh old, my servant shall prosper.”

Easter is a peak in the pursuit of the Hound of Heaven, a peak that establishes the foundation and reality of the rest of His pursuit that we have been considering these past four weeks. Easter is awful AND glorious. The Fourth Servant Song of Isaiah that our verse comes from has some awful descriptions within it, and yet also this amazing declaration – he “shall prosper”, he will be successful.

Easter is always a roller-coaster of a weekend but nevertheless it is the climactic expression or activity of ‘the Hound', pursuing His goal of love for our lives. This ‘Song' reveals almost more than anywhere else in Scripture the awfulness of what Jesus went through on the cross – and why. And yet here is the anomaly; at the end of chapter 53 we find, “ I will give him a portion among the great,” (v.12) while at the beginning of the Song we find our starter verse, “my servant shall prosper.” It is like God is saying through Isaiah, yes, this is a terrible song and yet the end outworking is truly glorious.

The Song brings us the big picture of the terrible realities of the Cross and yet the other side of it is glory and triumph. In another reading the other day, I noted that ‘obedience trumps victory' and yet leads to it. We don't seek victory, we seek to be obedient, but when we get that order right, the victory follows. Jesus' obedience that we remember at Easter – particularly seen in his submission in Gethsemane - brings a glorious victory but to achieve that victory, total obedience to God's will is required first; indeed it is the only way to that victory.

But that weekend, with its lows and highs, brings a reality that is reflected in our own lives. So often our propensity to trip over our feet (to put it mildly) makes us feel abject failures, yet there are other times when His glory shines through us and the world is blessed by us. Humility holds failure in one hand and triumph in the other.

What Jesus achieved through these coming few days that we remember, is staggeringly wonderful as he pursued the goals of the Godhead through hell to glory, for us!