Meeting Place - The Wait
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
The entirety of the OT is framed inside this thought of waiting
If we skip past the garden of Eden, when sin separates humanity from God
Noah: when God is about to judge the world:
He tells him to build a boat
Noah builds it, and then WAITS on something that has never happened in history - rain!
Abraham: When he was first promised a son with Sarah: He WAITS for 25 years before it happens!
Israel in Egypt: They wait for centuries to be delivered
Israel in the wilderness: They wait for 40 years to enter the land God promised them
In almost every single story, we find this sense of waiting for God to show up in the lives of the people
The over-arching story of the new testament is the idea that their deliverer was coming:
Passed down through generations, they understood the prophecies of God to explain that there would be a man, coming from God who would be the savior.
They talked about it openly and knew him as: HaMashiach - "The Anointed One"
Habakkuk prophesied of Him:
Habakkuk 2:3 (ESV)
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
To understand this better, we need to understand the religious system that they lived in:
Hebrews 10:3 states that the people of Israel were "Reminded" of their sins every year
Every year, they had to come to the temple and proclaim their sins to the priest
He would then go to God on their behalf and "atone" or make a sacrifice for their sins
But it was never over: You didn't deal with the sin, you dealt with the guilt
Can you imagine having to carry the weight of sin, and having no way to be forgiven?
In their religious system, a man couldn't just go to God, He had to wait for someone to go for Him.
Israel as a people, spent their entire lives waiting on God to show up:
As you look at the OT, I find that God didn't show up terribly often in someone's lifetime!
Usually, there are specific times when God would "Show Up" in the Old Testament:
God would show up in times of transformation & transition
Abram to Abraham
Jacob to Israel
Moses's burning bush & Israel coming out of Egypt
When the temple was built
These are all examples of times when God showed up to explain and cause:
Change of season
Change of identity
God would show up in times of a battle
Moses over the amalekites
When the walls of Jericho fell
David vs Goliath
Gideons army of 300
God would show up when repentance was necessary
In the garden of Eden
Before the judgement in the days of Noah
Before the judgement of Sodom & Gomorrah
In the days of Jonah - before revival came to Ninevah
So they were all constantly in a state of WAITING on God to show up in their lives
While they waited, here's what the prophet Jeremiah said:
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (ESV)
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
He prophesied of a day when people wouldn't rely on priest or process or a religious system, but they would have a personal relationship with God
The Temple
The temple was the meeting place between God and man in those days:
The priests, once a year would enter into what they called the "Holy of Holies"
It was the place where the presence of God lived
It was separated from the rest of the temple by a huge, heavy curtain that could only be entered by the high priest
At his crucifixion:
Mark 15:37–39 (ESV)
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
The significance of the curtain splitting is that it was a symbol that no longer was there a separation between the Holy of Holies and the follower of Jesus!
We have priestly access to the presence of God!
That's what Peter said -
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
So no longer are we living in Old Testament days when I have to follow the rules and religion and just wait for a day when God shows up in my life
Waiting on:
A time of transition of transformation
A battle
A time of repentance
We are living in the moments where we are no longer waiting on Him
If anything, I would say that God is probably waiting on us!
Maybe you're in a moment of transition - Don't wait - go to Him
Maybe you're in a battle - Don't wait - go to Him
Maybe you need to repent - Don't wait - go to Him
I wonder if God is waiting on you:
To pray a bold pray
To find a promise in His Word
To spend time lost in worship
To sing to Him in your moments of
