Lent - Day 27: All We Like Sheep

All we like sheep have gone astray,

We have turned every one to his own way,

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6 

When my husband Josh was in seminary, he spent a quarter studying in Israel.  The day the group arrived in Jerusalem, the country was celebrating Purim – when Queen Esther saved the Jews from the wicked Haman.  There were adults and children everywhere – all the little girls dressed as Queen Esther and the boys, for whatever reason, like Ninja Turtles.  There was a huge platform set up that everyone was gravitating toward.

Priests appeared at the four corners of the platform, dressed in robes such as those worn in the ancient sanctuary.  While processing this, Josh suddenly noticed that one priests in each group carried a large knife, and another was holding a lamb.  A third priest in each group prayed over the gathered masses, then placed his hand on the lamb’s head to transfer the sins of the people. The knife was used to quickly sacrifice the animals.

Josh was stunned.  Glancing around, his study group seemed to be the only ones who were shocked and awed by the ceremony.  For the Jews, it was apparently a common enough event.  For the students and teachers from America, it was a life-changing event.  For the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 

All We Like Sheep

Handel’s Messiah, Part 2, Chorus 26

Gramophone Chorus