Daily Devotional
Holy City, False Shepherds
The holy city is not kept by ease, but by willing sacrifice. In Nehemiah, men leave their own places and accept the burden of dwelling in Jerusalem, and the people bless them. The city of God requires inhabitants who do not cling to comfort. Even the ministers have no settled earthly portion, for, as it is written, “The priests the Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with Israel;” Their inheritance is bound to God’s service, not to accumulation.
Yet Zechariah shows what ruins a people: false shepherds, contempt for the flock, and the shameful price set upon the true Shepherd. “He was appraised by the traitor in thirty pieces of silver.” When men despise Christ, they do not remain merely mistaken; they become prey. A people that will not be gathered by the good Shepherd is handed over to hard rulers and bitter judgment.
Revelation then sets the end before our eyes. The conquerors stand before God with harps, but only after they have refused the beast and endured the fire. Mercy is not opposed to judgment; rather, those who would not repent meet at last the full recompense of their obstinacy. As Victorinus says, “For the wrath of God always strikes the obstinate people with seven plagues, that is, perfectly.”
Therefore let us choose our dwelling now. Let us dwell with the holy city by prayer, obedience, almsgiving, and steadfast confession. Let us not sell Christ for gain, nor neglect His flock, nor live as though judgment were a tale. The saints sing on the sea of glass because they first endured on the earth.
““The priests the Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with Israel;”
— Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV
“He was appraised by the traitor in thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:12”
— Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh
“"And I saw another great and wonderful sign, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the indignation of God." For the wrath of God always strikes the obstinate people with seven plagues, that is, perfectly, as it is said in Leviticus; and these shall be in the last time, when the Church shall have gone out of the midst.”
— Victorinus
For Reflection & Discussion
What comfort or possession can you surrender this week so that your life serves the household of God more plainly—by giving, hosting, or taking up some neglected duty?
Where have you priced Christ cheaply for money, approval, or convenience, and what act of repentance and restitution must you do today?
What fixed act of obedience will you keep for the next seven days—set hours of prayer, a fast, almsgiving, or reconciling with an enemy—so that you may endure with the saints rather than grow obstinate?
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