«Suffering city, you have been beaten by storms. You have not been comforted. I will rebuild you with turquoise stones. I will rebuild your foundations with lapis lazuli» (Isaiah 54:11, NIRV).
UP TO THEN I had known Seattle, a wonderful metropolis on the American Pacific Northwest coast, as an innovative place and the headquarters of two modern day corporations: Microsoft and Amazon. However, my view of that beautiful city changed when I read an article published by American Way, the magazine found in front of every’ seat on American Airlines flights.
The article mentioned various aspects that characterize the city, must-see places for visitors, the gastronomic diversity, and also that it’s called the Emerald City. When I began reading I thought the nickname was because the city had a large deposit of that gemstone—as does Colombia, which is the main emerald producer in the world—but it’s called that because when viewed from the air, the city looks like an emerald-colored carpet due to the abundant vegetation.
Emeralds are mentioned several times in the Bible. The precious stone was the last one on the first row of the high priest’s breastplate (see Exodus 28:17; 39:10). Speaking of the King of Tyre as Lucifer’s representative, the prophet Ezekiel describes him as dressed in emerald (see Ezekiel 28:13). The rainbow around God’s throne is also «in appearance like an emerald» (Revelation 4:3). John adds that the new Jerusalem will have a foundation partly made from emerald (see Revelation 21:19). This one will really be the Emerald City!
The origin of that image, of a city whose foundations are precious stones, goes back to the promise found in the book of Isaiah: «Suffering city, you have been beaten by storms. You have not been comforted. I will rebuild you with turquoise stones. I will rebuild your foundations with lapis lazuli» (Isaiah 54:11, NIRV). The stones of turquoise refer to stones that were green like emeralds, and in ancient times the two terms were interchangeable (in fact, in various Bible translations both terms are used to refer to the same original word).
What’s wonderful about this promise in Isaiah is that it guarantees us that if any of us feels afflicted, mistreated, comfortless … God Himself will set us on a solid, precious foundation!
Perhaps some of us won’t have the chance to visit Seattle; however, we all have the opportunity to spend the rest of eternity in the new Jerusalem, a city that will truly be the Emerald City.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2023
“I AM WITH YOU”
From: J. VLADIMIR POLANCO
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Angelica Cuate
