Peace on earth is a popular theme at Christmas time; in the Christmas cards I’m sending, I’m adding a prayer for Shalom for my family, friends and loved ones for 2019. What are we really asking for? What does Shalom mean?

Returning to the One New Man Bible Glossary page 1,785, this is what I found:

Shalom cannot be translated into English with a single word.  Shalom comes from Shalem meaning to be complete.  When there is Shalom, there is:                                                                                                   

• tranquility

• justice

• sufficient food, clothing, housing

• There is Divine health, with no sickness.       

Shalom means an absence of:

• disorder

• injustice

• bribery

• corruption

• conflict

• lack 

• hatred

• abuse

• violence

• pain

• suffering

• immorality

• and all other negative forces

A rabbi wrote that Shalom means “No good thing is withheld.”                                         

Therefore when we pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem, we are praying that there will not be any:

• injustice
• disorder
• strife
• violence
• poverty
• sickness
• abuse
• accidents
• homelessness
• pain
• hunger
• and more.

Psalm 122: I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the House of the LORD.  Our feet have stood within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, wherever the tribes go up, the tribes of Yah, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the LORD.  For there are set thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray fervently for the Shalom of Jerusalem!  They that love you will have security.  Peace be within your walls, security within your palaces.

For my brothers’ and companions’ sake, I shall now say Peace Be Within You. Because of the House of the LORD our God I shall seek your good.

When Shalom reigns there will be no immorality, no injustice.  The principles advocated in the Torah will be followed by all. Then the command to love your neighbor will be made complete.

^{Matthew 22:36} “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

There’s always a choice: surrender to the flesh and the world’s view or to Christ and God’s view.  True Shalom is only found in Him, in a heart and mind surrendered to His love.  Thanks be to God for sending His son to save us from the wrath of God we deserve; to reconcile us to the love that is found in Him. Think about it:  if Jesus chose not to do the Father’s Will – to be obedient unto death on the cross – we would have no chance to experience true Shalom!  Praise be to God who knows how to fulfill prophecies no matter how many generations come between His speaking and the fulfillment.

Have a blessed Christmas my dear readers, as you meditate on what this season portends.