Advent Week Two PEACE on Earth

​We are living in much troubled times so the message of peace is a little late but necessary. This Week in Advent we discuss the peace that the Lord will bring us. We know that Micha and Isaiah spoke of the future king who would bring peace (the everlasting part was misunderstood), but did you know that Ezekiel was given the Word saying that God Himself would come.
11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
17 “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22 I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. Ezekiel 33:11-24
Let’s focus for a minute on two verses here Ezekiel 33:15-16 states, 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Did you hear the strength in what God was telling Ezekiel here? God will come Himself and bring comfort and peace to those who are weary and lost. He would come down and defeat sin. WOW! And He is a God of His Word. He came as He said He would and brought those who desperately needed Him what they desired most, a Savior, Comforter, and Peacemaker. In this, Ezekiel records that God will bring a ruler from David’s line in later days. We know this man, Jesus.  
Before He could wage the war on sin against the Adversary, Jesus had to show the world what it is to be a righteous, loving person. He brought peace through instruction.  
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Matthew 9:11 (NKJV)
We are all waiting for the future peace that is awaiting us when Jesus returns. Isaiah and Ezekiel both talk of this peace:
 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:1-5
God will bring peace to the earth
25 “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. 27 And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 And I will provide for them, renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. 30 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. 31 And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 33:25-31
They (at the time) desired a mortal peace and the end of the captivity of Rome. But what they did not understand that in order to have physical peace we must first be at peace in the Spirit and be restored to God before lasting peace could ever be lived. The peace on earth that Jesus showed was a peace in the Spirit. This is the peace we need to desire, a peace where all will be held in the loving arms of God.
Jesus came to us in a humble, peaceful manner in a time when the Jews were enduring pain and suffering under the captive rule of Rome. He showed peace. It is up to us to show the world His peace. Are you willing to do that?