Today’s reading is one of the greatest prophecies in the Old Testament. If you are familiar with Handel’s Messiah you will find yourself singing it.
But don’t miss the first verse. The tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali were in the fertile farmland in the north of Israel, a multi-ethnic area where many Gentiles had settled. The description of it here extends it all the way west to the Mediterranean Sea and east to the other side of the river Jordan.
Read More light, prophecy, peace, Gentile
The church in Rome had Christians who were Jews and Christians who were Gentiles. Naturally there would have been friction between them. The relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians was a major issue in the New Testament church. (See Acts 15 for an account of how the issue was resolved.)
Read More baptism, law, Gentile, circumcision, JewWhen the Jews were rescued from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, God gave them the Law. This was much more than what we normally think of as the law. It comprised all the things that God wanted them to do to represent him as their God.
Read More law, Gentile, Jew, acceptance with God