Unfolding God’s Plan

“God is with us.” Matthew 1:23

The study of Scripture is amazing! You can find so many parallels in the Old Testament that finds fulfilment in the New. This shows me that what we believe in is not made up by man but planned by God for thousands of years. He journeys with man. In the Anawim meditation this morning, this leapt out for me: “The plan of God gradually unfolded, despite the weaknesses and sins of men. God never thought that sin was a good reason to abandon the human family; He continued to work with us and through us, generation after generation, with our eternal salvation ever in mind.” 

One of God’s greatest gifts to us is Mary, the mother of our Savior. Today we celebrate the feast of her birth. In the Old Testament we see a foreshadowing of her role as Queen Mother of the King as an advocate and intercessor for the people. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Old Testament was hidden in a cave when the Babylonians were going to sack Jerusalem in 587 BC.  In 2 Maccabees 2:7, Jeremiah advises the people who wanted to mark the cave, “No one must know about this place until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.” It was never found again. 

But the new Ark of the Covenant did reappear in the form of Mary who gave birth to Jesus in a “cave”, a dark stable. The old Ark contained three things, a copy of the Ten Commandments, a bowl of manna, and the budding staff of Aaron which was the symbol for the high priest. Inside Mary’s womb, was the Word made flesh, the bread of heaven, and the great High Priest. 

There are so many other parallels and echoes and foreshadowing in Scripture that cannot be discounted as signs God has left to show us His amazing plan. Let us be confident that even in the midst of turmoil in the Church, God will work all things together for good for us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

Thank you to the Prisma app for all the variations of my original art!!!