God prepares his people for "the fullness of time"
You are Catholic - you are proud of it. You go to church on Sunday. You pray in the morning and in the evening. In everyone
on the first Friday you receive Holy Communion. You wear the medal. A cross or a holy image hangs in your home. Is that enough ?
God guides the People of God in His own ways
God entrusted his promises to a people of his choosing. He brought him to the ground, that he had promised him, and made him a great nation. He made a covenant with him. He demanded of him, that he may worship his God and Lord by offering sacrifices, that he may keep God's commandments and thus show other nations the way to the true God.
The Israelites, however, cared above all for the earthly power of their kingdom. Admittedly, they offered sacrifices according to the regulations, but at the same time they hurt their fellow men. They were proud of the temple and judged, that God, who lives in this temple, he will always save them from misfortune.
But God looked into the heart of His chosen people and rebuked them through the prophet Isaiah : ,,What about the multitude of your sacrifices ?… Wash yourselves, be clean ! Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes ! Stop doing evil ! Train yourselves in good !” (From 1, 11.16-17a).
But because the Israelites did not turn away from evil, God allowed, that the temple was destroyed by the Chaldeans. God wanted to instruct them through this, that he did not bind his promises to the temple, nor with the kingdom, they formed for themselves in the Promised Land. The Israelites then understood it, what God told them through the prophet Isaiah : ,,My thoughts are not your thoughts nor your ways my ways " (From 55, 8).
The "rest of Israel" waits for the New Covenant
The Israelites lost their kingdom and temple. They found themselves in captivity. Many of them have forsaken the true God and forgot the covenant, that God once made with their fathers. Not all did. A small group of Israelites remained faithful to God and therefore God chose them, to fulfill your plan of salvation. He speaks through Isaiah: ,,The rest of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob… they will truly depend on God, Saint of Israel. The rest will come back. The rest from Jacob to the Mighty God " (From 10, 20-21). Ta ,,The rest "is to fulfill a great task in God's plans. The prophet Ezekiel writes about it :
„…the rest will stay there, who will save sons and daughters. Behold, they will come to you and you will see what they do and what they do, so that you are comforted after calamities, which I brought to Jerusalem, after all this, what I brought on her. They will console you, when you will see their actions and deeds and know them, that all this was not without reason, what I did to her " (This 14, 22-23).
Through the prophets, God explains, why the Israelites lost their temple and kingdom. God has also revealed, that he has forgiven their guilt and is still with his people, although there was no temple.
The Israelites returned to their country. They rebuilt the temple, they made sacrifices to God anew. But that was not God's ultimate goal either. Through this ,,The rest, "He wanted to prepare the people for the moment of making the New Covenant, which will not be related to any nation, nor with any country on earth. It is announced through Jeremiah :
,,Here come the days… when I make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Not like a covenant, which I made with their ancestors, when I took their hand, to bring him out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, even though I was their ruler… But this will be the covenant, which I will make with the house of Israel after these days… I will place my law in the depths of their being and write it on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be for me
the nation " (Jr 31, 31-33). The foretold New Covenant was accomplished through Jesus Christ. His advent is called St.. Paweł "full of time" (Ga 4, 4). It was to this "Holy Remnant" that Jesus Christ addressed his word and from it gathered the new People of God. In his death and resurrection, he made a new and eternal covenant.
How will I answer God ?
You belong to the new People of God. So you are a member of the Church. How "The Remnant of Israel" are to love God and neighbor and bear witness of living faith. You speak, that you are Catholic. Do you serve God and people ? You attend Holy Mass. Are you making an offering with your life ? You are praying. Is this really a conversation with God ? You receive Holy Communion every first Friday. Are you getting better ? You wear the medal. Do you testify of God with your life? ?
Create, Oh my God, a pure heart in me, and renew in my breast an invincible spirit " (Ps 50, 12).
■ Think :
1. Dlaczego naród wybrany spotkały kary Boże ?
2. Jakie kary Bóg zesłał na naród wybrany ?
3. Jak nazywano wiernych Bogu Izraelitów w czasach niewoli ?
4. Jakie obietnice Bóg dał swojemu ludowi w czasie niewoli ?
5. Przez kogo Bóg zapowiedział zawarcie Nowego Przymierza ?
■ Remember:
63. Do czego słowami proroka wzywa Bóg naród wybrany Starego i Nowego Przymierza ?
In the words of the prophet, God calls the chosen people of the Old and New Covenants to living faith and true love.
64. Kiedy dokonała się „pełnia czasów” ? The "fullness of times" is complete, when Jesus Christ came into the world.
■ Task :
How will you be faithful to God in your family home… at school… ?
■ Compare:
St.: …..Behold, I am sending you prophets, wise men and scholars " (Mt 23, 34) - The parable of transfer tenants (Mt 21, 33-35; Mk 12, 1-12; Luke 20, 9-19).
“And beginning with Moses through all the prophets, he interpreted to them, which in all the Scriptures referred to Him " (Luke 24, 27).
“The other prophets also announced these days, who have spoken since the time of Samuel and his successors " (Dz 3,24).
The teaching of the Church : “It pleased God to sanctify and save people not individually… but make them a people, who would know him truthfully and serve him godly. Therefore God chose for himself the people of Israel, with whom he made a covenant… all of this, however, happened as a preparation… of this new and perfect covenant, which was to be contained in Christ…” (KK 9).