JEALOUSY's Response
I’ve set out on a course of reading through the Bible this year, and today found me wrapped, again, in the words of Moses. At times, stepping back into an age so different from my own life appears pointless...meaningless...irrelevant. Yet wading through the Law makes me so appreciative of grace. The Law ... that shadow of what was to come ... begins to reveal glimpses into Jesus and into the heart of God that He represents in the flesh. And gratitude grows as a by-product of this journey.
Today, looking at the law regarding a man’s jealousy or suspicion of his wife’s unfaithfulness, several thoughts struck me from Numbers 5. My mind immediately went to Mary and Joseph....individually. Joseph’s tremendous steps of “faith-walking” floored me anew.
How easily, as the child within Mary grew, Joseph could have lapsed, understandably into “sight-walking.” The options open to him legally were always there, dogging his steps with every whisper that met his ears, even the whispers in the dark of the night that certainly visited his dreams.
And knowing human nature, and the enemy of our soul’s ultimate goal, I know the whispers didn’t stop when Jesus was born. They lingered ... throughout the remainder of Joseph’s days ... nipping at his heels ... snarling their accusations in his moments of weakness ...
Yet Joseph remained faithful to the word spoken him by a true messenger of light.
Sometimes, it seems, we forget to remember Joseph...his journey....the seasons of his faith. Reading these words today brought him to my heart in a new way. I ached with him. I trusted with him. I walked a love with him I had not ever really visited before. And I rejoiced with him, when standing before a heavenly throne his faith became sight, at last.
And Mary. That young, innocent, teenaged girl. Today’s reading allowed me to glean an even deeper understanding of what was being asked of her. Our world was not hers. Death and barrenness scored the pages of her world ... all it took was suspicion ... a moment of jealousy. What faith rings in her declaration, “Let it be to me according to your word.” She had no assurance apart from trusting God. Yet she rested there.
Which brings me to the last thought this passage evoked in my heart. The reality of how far from Mary, how far from Joseph my faith lies. My husband (God) is a jealous husband. Jealous for me. He knows my inward ways, my inward thoughts, my wandering heart. Unfaithfulness is part of the constitution of this clay making up my being. Always wandering after other lovers ... forgetting my Beloved.
Yet His love, rather than exposing me to the enemy, embraces me with a covering of grace ... a bloodied covering. Not blood shed from my own veins, but a scarlet flow of love from His own heart that leaves me weeping at His feet, longing for His touch, bathed in His love! What love ... oh, that I would come to know it more fully, wrap myself within its folds and never again wander from its embrace.
© DeAnna L. Brooks
23 February 2005
Today, looking at the law regarding a man’s jealousy or suspicion of his wife’s unfaithfulness, several thoughts struck me from Numbers 5. My mind immediately went to Mary and Joseph....individually. Joseph’s tremendous steps of “faith-walking” floored me anew.
How easily, as the child within Mary grew, Joseph could have lapsed, understandably into “sight-walking.” The options open to him legally were always there, dogging his steps with every whisper that met his ears, even the whispers in the dark of the night that certainly visited his dreams.
And knowing human nature, and the enemy of our soul’s ultimate goal, I know the whispers didn’t stop when Jesus was born. They lingered ... throughout the remainder of Joseph’s days ... nipping at his heels ... snarling their accusations in his moments of weakness ...
Yet Joseph remained faithful to the word spoken him by a true messenger of light.
Sometimes, it seems, we forget to remember Joseph...his journey....the seasons of his faith. Reading these words today brought him to my heart in a new way. I ached with him. I trusted with him. I walked a love with him I had not ever really visited before. And I rejoiced with him, when standing before a heavenly throne his faith became sight, at last.
And Mary. That young, innocent, teenaged girl. Today’s reading allowed me to glean an even deeper understanding of what was being asked of her. Our world was not hers. Death and barrenness scored the pages of her world ... all it took was suspicion ... a moment of jealousy. What faith rings in her declaration, “Let it be to me according to your word.” She had no assurance apart from trusting God. Yet she rested there.
Which brings me to the last thought this passage evoked in my heart. The reality of how far from Mary, how far from Joseph my faith lies. My husband (God) is a jealous husband. Jealous for me. He knows my inward ways, my inward thoughts, my wandering heart. Unfaithfulness is part of the constitution of this clay making up my being. Always wandering after other lovers ... forgetting my Beloved.
Yet His love, rather than exposing me to the enemy, embraces me with a covering of grace ... a bloodied covering. Not blood shed from my own veins, but a scarlet flow of love from His own heart that leaves me weeping at His feet, longing for His touch, bathed in His love! What love ... oh, that I would come to know it more fully, wrap myself within its folds and never again wander from its embrace.
© DeAnna L. Brooks
23 February 2005
posted by brooklet | 11:33 AM
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