Rejoice daughter of Zion

There was a woman who was always happy. She was happy because she does not believe that she has to be someone else. She was content with whom she was and respected others for who they are. She loved to see others happy and encourages sadists to create happiness for themselves by celebrating the joys of others and enabling others to be free from misery. One day a fellow woman said to her, “My friend, I thank your husband for always making you happy. Here was her response: “It is not my husband that makes me happy. I create happiness for myself by doing what I think is right as a natural woman. The world depends on the emotions of a woman. The sorrow of a woman can put the world in distress.” Here we can learn that if you rely on human beings for happiness, you will be miserable for life”. In life, we must make a mark in all our actions. We must live in a way and manner that when we die, those who know us would not be in doubt that a good person had passed this way.

In the Old Testament, the “daughter of Zion” is mentioned in prophecy and poetry to refer to Jerusalem and Israel as the people of God. “Daughter of Zion,” does not refer to a specific person. It’s a metaphor for Israel and the loving, caring, patient relationship God has with his chosen people (https://www.gotquestions. org/daughter-of-Zion.html). “Daughter of Zion” refers to a people confident in the deliverance of their God. When Assyria threatened Jerusalem, King Hezekiah went to the Lord. In response, God sent Isaiah to reassure Hezekiah that Jerusalem would not fall to Assyria, and God considered the threatening insult to “the virgin daughter of Zion” as a personal affront to himself (2 Kings 19:21). Isaiah compares the rebellion of Judah to a sick body in a devastated land. The daughter of Zion is left as a lone remnant, a shelter hidden in the vineyard or a hut in a cucumber field that barely escaped destruction (Isaiah 1:8). After the punishment in exile, God promises the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; behold his reward is with him, and his recompense before him” (Isaiah 62:11).

God warns that the daughter of Zion will suffer as much as a woman in labour (Micah 4:10) but the weak, powerless woman will become a bull with horns of iron and hoofs of bronze that will crush its enemies (Micah 4:13). With the promise of solution to the problem of the people in exile, God said: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; he is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). This implies that God is a loving father. He cherishes and loves his people, even while they reject him. By using the metaphor “daughter of Zion,” God showed how he felt for the rebellious Israelites: frustrated, angry, but always with an eye to the future when the relationship would be restored, and he could once again return to them and welcome them into his arms (Zechariah 2:10).

These prophesy points to the coming of the Messiah. “God himself will give you a sign.

Behold, the virgin will conceive and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call Him “Emmanuel” “God is with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). This Emmanuel is Jesus Christ who was born in a very small village. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be numbered among the clans of Judah, from you I will bring forth the One who is to rule over Israel (Micah 5:2). This small village, Bethlehem was David’s city, and our Lord’s physical line. Being born in Bethlehem was a prerequisite for anyone claiming a share in the Davidic line, especially for anyone who claimed to be the Messiah. The name Bethlehem means “house of bread”. Jesus, the true Messiah, is “the Bread of Life”. By means of this bread Jesus would give us his body to have eternal life (John 6:32-58). Mary belonged to the poorest of the poor in Israel yet God gave her the mission to be the mother of the Redeemer. This mystery is not disputed. Even the Holy Qur’an testifies to the virgin birth of Jesus and the mystery of Mary (Qur’an 19: 20). The 19th Chapter of the Qur’an is named after Mary (Surat Maryam) out of the 114 suras thus becoming one out of the eight people that have the suras named after them. This is a good basis for Christians and Muslims to source for truth, love and justice in any nation. Like the people of Israel in Exile, Nigeria is externally and internally colonised such that the only Daughter of Zion that could redeem Nigeria today is the coming together of sincere Christians and Muslims who can frankly seek the reality of a united Nigeria.

The human and natural resources are not in short supply to grow a better Nigeria hence we need men and women who love God and the common good to come together to promote peaceful co-existence in Nigeria. At present, our national identity has been fractured into Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo and the other tribes that are labelled ethnic minorities. Since independence, almost every civilian and military leader thought that like a good orthopaedic surgeon, he or she could mend these broken bones to form one body. The civil war slogan, “to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” indicated that this project to build and grow one Nigeria is yet to be realised. The civil war should have taught the ruling class in Nigeria that the gun and weapons of mass destruction cannot unite a nation. Only justice, peace and love can bring out the true virtues in the hearts of human beings.

What shall we do? We cannot afford to give up on Nigeria hence the Nigeria inter-religious Council could play the role of the Daughter of Zion. The preamble to the Constitution of NIREC is a compass that points to the right direction of growing a better Nigeria. Here is the preamble. “We, the representative of the two Principal Religions - Islam and Christianity in Nigeria, having voluntarily decided by ourselves to come together to form an association on the 11th day of September, 1999, and the association having been inaugurated on the 29th day of September, 1999, guided by our divine revelations and the dictates of our CREATOR, determined, within the context of our religions, to forge Inter-Religious harmony and concord, having firmly and solemnly resolved, within the confines of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to live in unity, harmony and peace for the welfare, security and prosperity of our peoples and our Nation under God, do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution to guide and direct our collective endeavours.”

With this declaration, I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of our Religious leaders in this resolve to work with the politicians who are either Muslims or Christians to sustain a united Nigeria. I take my endorsement as Executive Secretary of NIREC as a mission given to me by God to drive this project. I believe that NIREC can reposition Nigeria if what matters to every Muslim and Christian is the common good of the nation and not the contest for supremacy between Christians and Muslims. If the Nigerian government could provide office space for NIREC inside the Federal Secretariat, then NIREC is one of the ways we can discover the capacity in every CHRISTIAN and MUSLIM to re-discover this one nation. If we succeed we can say one day. “The Lord, the King of Nigeria is in your midst (Zephaniah 3:14). May we live to sing: “Rejoice in the Lord and always, again, I say rejoice (Philippians 4:4)! Let each of us ask God, what must I do to be happy, give happiness to the people around me and make Nigeria great like the ancient city of Zion (cf. Luke 3: 10-18)!