The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. – Isaiah 51:3

Today's Scripture Reading (September 14, 2023): Isaiah 51

Where I live, this is a strange time of year. The end of summer speaks to the conclusion of pool parties, beach days, and carefree moments and a return to school and non-summer pursuits. But, and often this is the butt of our jokes, it is also the nearing end of something else; construction. Many construction tasks are better completed before the snow flies. It is not that they can't be done in the days as winter commences, but the truth is that they are much easier and quicker to complete before the necessary reality of warm clothes and gloves to ward off hypothermia becomes a part of the task.

Maybe the best description of the seasons where I live is that this is the land of four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction. And what is impressive, maybe because of these four seasons, is that the construction job never seems to be finished. Again, speaking of the city where I live, we have a significant ring road that surrounds the city. This road bypasses the city for traffic traveling both north-south and east-west through the city, and it took years to construct. By the time it was completed, the older sections of the highway already needed repairs. And now, every construction season includes shutting down a portion of the road to rebuild or repair the roadway. The road demonstrates a construction dream that appears to be never finished.

Isaiah writes of what must have seemed a fantasy to those who first received his prophecy. How could anyone ever expect Jerusalem, which the Babylonians had destroyed, to be rebuilt? How could the deserts of Israel be made like the Garden of Eden? How could Zion ever be comforted again?

Yet, Isaiah insists that this will happen. But part of this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Isaiah's prophecy was partially fulfilled when Israel moved back into Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple during the reign of the Medes and Persians, turning the nation into a province in the empires that would follow. But Jerusalem was destroyed once again by the Romans. It was rebuilt once more but became a toy played with by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Israel returned in 1948, but the nation continues to be torn by internal conflicts between the Jews and others who lay claim to the city. Three religions claim the city to be essential to their history and belief. That conflict has made it far from the garden that Isaiah said it would one day become.

Isaiah's prophecy is partially fulfilled, but there is still more to come. More than two thousand years after the prophecy, work still needs to be done. Some, I believe, needs to be done by us. But most will be completed by God in the season that he has set apart to construct what he wants in this Holy Land.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 52