City of God: A Biblical Theology for a Big-Little Somebody (Pt. 2)

After chaos, wind made the dry land appear,
Noah and his family were blessed,
the signs of new creation like the first were clear,
but then Noah like Adam was found undressed.
Noah like Adam had three sons,
their names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
From Ham came those against the seed of the woman-
seven nations of the land of Canaan.
With one tongue, plain, and desire to be famous
all decided to build a city and tower up to heaven.
But God came down and confused the language,
and so the city of man filled out like leaven.
Out of the confusion God called a mere man,
to be the forefather of a new humanity,
what was promised is in his name Abraham
(father of a multitude) blessing, land, and family.

There is a promise made as we read,
all of man’s hope is sown in a Seed.

His people would become a great nation,
a vibrant metropolis, the city run by the King.
God repeated this promise to Isaac, and Jacob,
who stood before Pharaoh and blessed the king.
His son Joseph was sent to prepare
the way for Israel to stay for 400 years,
store up grain for when the land was bare,
and preserve Judah for a thousand years.
Israel grew too big for Egypt’s liking,
so they enslaved and killed them in the Nile,
God brought them out with plagues like lightning,
destroyed their firstborn, and took his own back exodus style-
redeemed by blood and water they crossed on dry land,
the means of their escape drowned the city of man.
At Mount Sinai God entered into a covenant,
relationship revolving around law, doing,
all points big and small under threat of punishment
with atonement for the sin that was their undoing.
The only hope for Israel was clear,
a heart with law embedded,
and a prophet like Moses to hear
the word of God and cut their hearts into repentance.
Even though the exodus is repeated,
into Canaan trampling kings like Og and Sihon,
their memory of God’s past help was easily deleted,
and they spiraled downward from Zion.
But one man God chose to be a lamp for Israel,
shepherd them with righteousness and justice,
king David the sweet singer of Israel,
and with him made the most prominent covenant:
to set on his throne one of his seed forever,
rule over Israel as Adam should have the kingdom,
His loving kindness would remain unsevered,
but one of his sons divided the kingdom.

There is a promise made as we read,
all of man’s hope is sown in a Seed.

In two now the nation that was to be the city of God
was repeatedly warned that she would get got.
They called down present covenant unfaithfulness,
but also said that the best was yet to come,
God promised a new covenant and state of bliss,
a new David to lead them to a better home.
One prophet, Isaiah, spoke the most, and most vividly,
that there would come One so full of the Spirit
to lead the remnant out of the Babylonian city
in a way through the desert with new life in it.
Though they had become an idolatrous harlot like Jezebel,
they would be called ”the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
How could these things be?
Can a leopard changes his spots?
They were like idols who couldn’t see,
like dry bones the whole lot.

There is a promise made as we read,
all of man’s hope is sown in a Seed.

First the Seed would die but then sprout and bear fruit,
spread over the whole earth with new creation.
David would be King and pour out the Spirit of truth
healing the land that lay in desolation.
Jesus the Nazarene came to us by virgin birth,
God the Son in human form so lowly,
anointed by the Spirit to do His perfect work-
the Son of Man yet so high and holy.
He preached and taught the lost sheep of Israel,
He healed the sick, and even raised the dead,
people said, ”He does all things well”,
but the seed of the serpent wanted His head.
He taught and brought the kingdom of God
showing that it had come among men,
they thought it would be like the kingdoms they saw,
yet the King was a servant among them.
This invisible new order of things was drastic,
we must be reborn or truly miss it.
Its like leaven and mustard in growth, fantastic,
and at the end we’d better be with it.
The Son prophesied of judgment upon the city
that had wrongly judged Him like their fathers
who killed Abel to Zechariah without thought of pity,
but now was the time appointed by the Father.
Jesus laid down His life as the Good Shepherd,
under the world’s request for His crucifixion,
God knew this only could change the spots of leopards,
the Father had His Son’s submission.