JUNE 18, 2024
“…I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 36:11)
The wise man said, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” (Eccles. 7:8) We might feel inclined to challenge such a statement with respect to many things. Is “the day of death” really better than “the day of one’s birth”? (Eccles. 7:1) These seemingly incredible statements make perfect sense when seen as pertaining to the new life in Christ. God’s dealings with His people are best at last. Godliness has the “promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (I Tim. 4:8) Even now we have life more abundant, but that which is to come hereafter will be glorious beyond description. In the context of this earthly life itself, God’s dealings are best at last. They have much kindness and mercy in the morning, but they shall have more in the evening. “I will settle you after your old estates.”
This principle held true with God’s ancient people, the Jews; they had the best wine at the last. They had milk and honey flowing, just as the Lord had before promised but the feast of fat things, full of marrow and wine on the lees well refined, were given at the latter end of their day, when Christ and the Gospel at last appeared in the New Covenant.
When other nations fall, they rise no more, but to the covenant people, a future remained. They were carried away, but their return, which had been promised beforehand, occurred. Their glorious temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, but under order of the Persian King Cyrus, whom the Lord called “Mine anointed,” the returning captives built a new one, which glory excelled the first, in that, “The Desire of All Nations,” came into it.
The true glory of Israel is seen in the latter days, when the Lion of the tribe of Judah appears: He Who is“the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,” Whose Kingdom shall know no end. It is to Him that the gathering of the people shall be, and they shall be gathered from every nation, so that the seed of Abraham shall include all who are gathered to Christ from all nations of the earth. All who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall share in the excellent glory.
What about the good of our own beginnings, and the better things that we can look for afterward? As Israel’s land, in the beginning, flowed with milk and honey, so our first estate had a singular blessedness about it. Jeremiah calls upon us to “remember the love of thine espousals.” Oftentimes in looking back, we might sing-
“Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?”
From day one, we enjoyed a vivid sense of full forgiveness, and the joy of true faith. We enjoyed victories through grace over sinful inclinations and temptations. We enjoyed new delights in prayer, the Word, and communion with the saints. Truly all things were becoming new, and the joy of the Lord was our strength. These were all new delights that before we thought impossible.
Can we really look for something better than our beginnings? The Lord will surely keep the promise of the text if we will walk more closely with Him. He will strengthen our faith and make us more steadfast. He will give us greater understanding. Surely, He will make our love more constant, practical, and enduring, so that when we remember the love of our espousal, we shall find that it has not diminished, but rather grown richer and stronger. Our usefulness will be more extended and more abiding; our whole being will be more mature. We are to shine “more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) Growth in grace brings with it many good things. May we be ever advancing in grace as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14)
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