Reflectionary XIX

"...but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations."

I'm sorry, but I just can't help myself. This famous passage of Isaiah 9 is almost always quoted from the words "The people that have been in darkness have seen a great light . . ." It has a lot of relevance to the Christmas season. And it's placement early in the Lectionary year strikes me as a Christmas "afterglow." Very nice.

But today the words above leaped out at me. I am drawn to the prophetic implications, that the prophet is describing a favored country in the latter times (the days prior to the Return of Christ and the End of Time). He talks about the way of the sea; that is, there is land that is reached only by way of the sea; and that this land will be great and prosperous in the end-times. 

Now, this could have been England. From Judea the only way to get to the British Isles, is by making some crossing over water. But any other great country in the world can be found by crossing the land. China, Russia, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, the parts of Africa . . . all of these nations are reachable by land, from Judea.

So by now you're thinking what I am. it must be describing the New World, or possibly Australia. 

The US stood alone at the end of the Second Millennium, as the one sole Great World Power. 

Granted, things are taking a turn in our times. Keep reading. Keep praying . . .