Today’s Scripture Reading (June 21,
2014): Zechariah 6
In 1644,
Beijing fell to the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan of North Eastern China. The Jurchen
were inhabitants of an area that has traditionally been known as
Manchuria. The result of the Jurchen
overthrow of Beijing was the beginning of the last imperial dynasty of China –
the Qing dynasty – which ruled over China for almost three centuries
(1644-1911). What is significant about the Qing Dynasty was that it was rule by
the minority. Manchurian Chinese are a smaller group when compared with the
much more populous Han people. As a result, there was always the problem that,
over time, the Manchurian people would be simply absorbed by the Han people.
But such an absorption
was not deemed to be acceptable to the Qing leadership. And as a result the
Qing made a series of laws that were intended to segregate the Manchurian
people from the Hans. One of the steps was that intermarriage between the
Manchurians and Hans was made illegal by Chinese law. But a more physical
change that was included in the segregation attempt was that a series of
ditches and embankments into which Willow trees were planted known as the
Willow Palisade. The sole purpose of the Palisade was to make it harder for
movement in to and out of Manchuria, and therefore limit the contact of the
Manchurian people with other ethnic people groups.
The Jewish
people seemed to major on segregation. According to Jewish tradition, there
were only two people groups on the earth – the Jews (very much a minority group
when compared to the rest of the people on the earth) and everybody else (known
as the Gentiles.) Those who dared to marry outside of the Jewish race were
ostracized. But maybe even more obvious was the effect that segregation had on
the Temple. The Temple area was divided into courts. The outermost court was
the court of the Gentiles. Unless you were a Jew, or had converted to Judaism,
you could go no further. In a male dominated culture, even Jewish woman could get
closer to the Temple than a Gentile male or female could. And then in the
innermost area was the court of men – and Jewish men only need apply for
admittance.
But
Zechariah speaks of another time. In this time, those who are far off – or those
who are not allowed to come close to the temple – will help build the temple.
The allusion is to a day when the Gentile would help to build a spiritual
temple side by side with the Jews. Taken with the rest of Zechariah, we get a
picture of a day when the Jews who refuse to fear God would be removed, and the
Gentiles who fear God would be invited to take their place. The Apostle Paul
would describe it this way – There is neither Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise (Galatians 3:28-29).
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Zechariah 7
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