Scripture Study for

Jerusalem is portrayed as a grieving mother. Her sorrow is for her children carried off and scattered both east and west. Since this meant the loss of any future,  Jerusalem faced extinction. This is why she is clothed in the traditional garments of mourning. The prophet directs the city to “Take off your robe of mourning and misery!” Transformed by the glory of God, Jerusalem is told to stand on the heights and witness a reversal of fortune: the captives will return rejoicing; led away on foot, they will be carried back on royal thrones. The splendor that God bestows upon Jerusalem will be revealed to all the earth. 

The affection that Paul has for the Philippians flows from his appreciation of their faithfulness to the righteousness that God is accomplishing in them.  Although Paul brought the good news of the gospel to these people, he acknowledges that it was really God who made it take root in their hearts, and it is God who will oversee its maturation until it is brought to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Paul prays that their mutual love will increase, and that they will be pure and blameless for the coming day of Christ. 

John the Baptist is a most fascinating figure. He comes from a priestly family (see  Luke 1:5), yet he is found in the desert, a place that calls to mind the wandering of the people in the wilderness as they moved out of Egyptian bondage. His activity occurred in the region of the Jordan, the gateway to the Promised Land, the very river crossed by the people as they entered the land. Thus crossing became a symbol of their entrance into a new life. All of this somehow marks John as an agent of momentous transformation. Just as both the Exodus and the return from exile involved a desert crossing, so the end-times renewal proclaimed by John begins in the desert.