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| Shalom |
In the Psalms and the Prophets the meaning goes beyond that. It expresses a basic and vital biblical idea of not just a condition without war, but goes further to suggest
wholeness and harmony, something that is complete and sound, prosperous and healthy, and fulfilled. Two of every three times shalom is found, it indicates a total fulfillment that comes when persons experience God’s presence.
In Isaiah 32:15-16, Isaiah portrays that inner peace and material prosperity that will mark the joyful fulfillment of all man’s hopes and dreams for world peace under the Messiah’s rule. He will be our Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). Peace is possible only where there is righteousness and righteousness only where the Holy Spirit transforms mankind (Isa. 32:15-17).
America once had an understanding of the world based on the Bible. It is called the Judeo-Christian worldview. The presence of a Judeo-Christian worldview establishes the environment Isaiah is talking about in this passage where people can go to sleep in peace at night, where personal liberty can flourish alongside personal responsibility in governments, where businesses can make money and be compassionate, where healthcare can be caring and profitable, where education can enliven the gifts and talents the Lord has placed in children and young adults, where research and development can innovate and create new and better products and medicines and approaches in various disciplines, where morality is honored and manners are present, where crime and taxes are low, where children outside the womb find themselves well cared for and babies in the womb are protected and celebrated.
Every people which has rejected the righteousness to which the Bible points has seen an increase in immorality and crime, a decrease in personal liberty, and increase in social welfare, then socialism, then totalitarianism. Our nation is in desperate need of the reviving work of Jesus Christ in the hearts of our people. We have drifted so that we are now the fourth largest mission field in the world.
Are you talking to people about your faith? Are you teaching a Judeo-Christian worldview to your children and grandchildren? Are you living a life submitted to Jesus Christ and His Word? Are you asking God to bring revival and spiritual awakening to our nation?
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