4:30PM - O mother dear, Jerusalem
Last week I finished the Bible study series I had been doing on the Book of Revelation. We looked at Revelation 21 & 22, which I believe can be intepreted on two levels. The key is the theme of newness in 21:1-5. There we hear of a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem, and a God who makes all things new. Coupled with the twin promises "he shall be their God" and "they shall be his people", this is meant to remind us of the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Since this covenant is already here, the last two chapters of Revelation are applicable to the present time; but since the New Covenant has not yet reached its full consummation, they also refer to the future. So, at one level the picture of the Holy City with doors open on every side (and the kings of the earth bringing their glory into her) describes the Church as she now is, while the elimination of pain and sorrow is something to which we are still looking forward.
Given that it's also Mothers' Day, this hymn seems quite appropriate:
O mother dear, Jerusalem,
When shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end,
Thy joys when shall I see?
O happy harbor of the saints!
O sweet and pleasant soil!
In thee no sorrow may be found,
No grief, no care, no toil.
No murky cloud o’ershadows thee,
Nor gloom, nor darksome night;
But every soul shines as the sun,
For God Himself gives light.
There lust and lucre cannot dwell,
There envy bears no sway;
There is no hunger, heat, nor cold,
But pleasure every way.
Thy walls are made of precious stones,
Thy bulwarks diamonds square;
Thy gates are of right orient pearl,
Exceeding rich and rare.
Thy turrets and thy pinnacles
With carbuncles do shine;
Thy very streets are paved with gold,
Surpassing clear and fine.
Thy gardens and thy gallant walks
Continually are green;
There grow such sweet and pleasant flow’rs,
As nowhere else are seen;
Quite through the streets, with silver sound,
The flood of life doth flow,
Upon whose banks on every side,
The wood of life doth grow.
There trees forevermore bear fruit,
And evermore do spring,
There evermore the angels sit,
And evermore do sing.
Jerusalem, my happy home,
Would God I were in thee!
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!