Advent Day 28: Consolation of Israel | Desire of the Nations

Presentation in the Temple, Anonymous artist, Nineteenth century. Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Hochfelden, Switzerland. Public Domain.

The Adoration of the Magi, Domingos António de Sequeira, 1828. Oil on canvas, 100 × 140 cm. National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Portugal. Public Domain.

“O Come, Emmanuel” from the album Beckenhorst Choral Music Christmas 2023. Performed by Beckenhorst Singers of Beckenhorst Press, original fifteenth-century Advent hymn, arranged by Craig Courtney and Elaine Hagenberg.

Poetry:

“Wait and See (Simeon and Anna)”
by Richard Bauckham

In the drab waiting-room
the failed travellers, resigned, sleep
on the hard benches, inured
to postponement and foul coffee.
Hope has given up on them.

There are also the impatient,
pacing platforms, and the driven,
purple with frustration, abusing
their mobiles, for the hardest part
of waiting is the not doing.

Truly to wait is pure dependence.
But waiting too long the heart
grows sclerotic. Will it still
be fit to leap when the time comes?
Prayer is waiting with desire.

Two aged lives incarnate
century on century
of waiting for God, their waiting-room
his temple, waiting on his presence,
marking time by practicing

the cycle of the sacrifices,
ferial and festival,
circling onward, spiralling
towards a centre out ahead,
seasons of revolving hope.

Holding out for God who cannot
be given up for dead, holding
him to his promises – not now,
not just yet, but soon, surely,
eyes will see what hearts await.

Waiting with Desire for the Consolation of Israel

In the morning when I sat down to write this devotional, I had set aside specific time to complete the task. And wouldn’t you know it, I had to restart my computer, and in doing so I was confronted with that spinning wheel-icon that turned over…and over…and over—endlessly processing something, and preventing me from adhering to my (self-imposed) schedule. Quickly I felt my gut tighten with impatience: How long is this going to take? I don’t have time for this. Of course, the restart only took several extra minutes, but it reminded me how often I—how often we—can struggle with waiting. Whether we wait on a delayed flight, for a text reply from a loved one, for news about medical results, or for the respite of the weekend: Waiting can feel interminable, even when there is an end in sight.

For today’s entry I encourage you to slowly absorb Bauckham’s poem, which captures so well the varied human experience of waiting. From the impatient, pacing platforms, to the hardest part…the not doing. From waiting as pure dependence, to the failed travelers sleeping on hard benches, feeling that hope has given up on them. His reverie lands on the especially long wait embodied by Simeon and Anna, the two aged lives incarnate, century upon century of waiting for God. This wait extends back to a discouraged people featured in Haggai’s oracle, overwhelmed by the enormity of the temple rebuilding project:When will God come?“ In a little while,” He promises: “I will shake heaven and earth…and I will fill this temple with glory” (Hag 2:6-7).

So, Simeon and Anna [held] out for God, Bauckham continues, holding him to his promises. And sure enough, one day a young new mom shows up at the temple, cradling her tiny baby boy, and Simeon knows—the Holy Spirit confirms—that the Consolation of Israel had finally arrived.

The Presentation in the Temple visually captures this moment in time, with the significance of the Savior’s arrival amplified byThe Adoration of the Magi. How well it illustrates Psalm 86:9, the psalmist anticipating when “all nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.”

We rejoice in the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with Us. And yet our lives are still riddled with all kinds of waiting. Not everything has been fully restored…yet. He has come and he is coming. In the meantime, Bauckham reminds us that prayer is waiting with desire. Sometimes, when we wait too long the heart can grow sclerotic, to the point where we wonder if it will still be fit to leap when the time comes. If your heart is there, or if you’re wondering if God has forgotten about you, don’t give him up for dead. Wait with desire. God will show up, in time.

Prayer:
I wait for you, LORD, my whole being waits,
and in your word I put my hope.
I wait for you, LORD,
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

We wait in hope for you, LORD; you are our help and our shield.
In you our hearts rejoice, for we trust in your holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalms 130:5-6; 33:20-22

Dr. Jeannine Hanger
Assistant Professor
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, please visit our website via the link in our bio.