DAY 123

WHO’S ON FIRST, WHAT’S ON SECOND, I DON’T KNOW…

1 Kings 14 & 15 and Luke 22:21 – 46

Yesterday I mentioned a detail that is important to keep in mind: there are now two nations, the nation of Judah (2 of the 12 tribes and the city of Jerusalem and the Temple is within these borders) and the nation of Israel (10 of the 12 tribes).

What goes on in these history books is that we will read about the king of each of these nations simultaneously. It can be challenging. One of the things you will find is that the text will say, “So-and-so became king of nation ‘A’ during the 3^rd year of the king of nation’s ‘B’ reign.” The books are constantly linking when a new king came to power in relation to the king of the other country’s tenure – I hope that made sense.

It is a little like, “Who’s on first, what’s on second and I don’t know is on third.”

There is of course a point to all of this back and forth. History is important. It will show some things about human nature and about God. Before I get too far ahead of myself let’s look at the Old Testament today. We read about the end of the two kings (Rehoboam and Jeroboam) who succeeded the one king Solomon.

Both these kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord. You will get use to that phrase as we read about the kings in succession – some did evil and some did good. Now most people don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I will do evil today.” Why would these kings dishonor God? It can be hard to look back and know, but I think part of it is how they were raised – and how their value system was formed. These kings had mothers who were not Jewish and a father (Solomon) who had 700 wives – can you say “absent.” It is reasonable to think that they raised them using their gods. Their gods were idols and the practices they used go all the way back to what we read about in the early days of this adventure – fertility worship. After all, what do you think a “male cult prostitute” does? They perform the human act of fertility in a worship service while others are gathered – if you are saying yuck, then good – that is what God says. Those religions are also less about “serving God” and more about “getting god to serve you.” When you and I worship a faith system that has “us” in the center; selfishness, pride, and all the rest follow. It doesn’t turn out well and that is why God deplores it.

You will, I think, wrestle with the image of God. The text says that “God punishes” these kings in various ways. He is extremely stern with Jeroboam; cutting off his family. This is part of the challenge of the Old Testament. Many have walked away from it because it seems to paint God in a cruel light. I have suggested before that if we want to say we are “people of the Bible” then we need to wrestle with these texts. So three points:

1.      Wrestling with the text does not mean you and I will always figure it out. We may close our Bible some nights and say, “Lord I just don’t understand, help me.”

2.      In regards to “God punishing,” the Old Testament takes a very “high” view of God being in control of everything. Now we would probably say, “Yes, God is in control of everything.” If true, then how would you write about the tragedy that befalls an evil king? Would you see it as God exercising his sovereignty? If you did then what image of God did you just present?

3.      Finally, how do you deal with evil? How does God? Does God stand by and allow it with no end? The people of the World War II concentration camps have much more of a right to ask this question then me. Yet consider that Jeroboam reigned for 22 years, and Rehoboam for 17 years. I think God’s hand is always upon us, if it were not so “all hell would break loose.” Yet He seems to allow evil to run its course for awhile, and then moves more forcefully. It is hard to really know.

The point in all this is that I do not picture some tyrant God who is sitting up in heaven dashing the hopes of people. Rather it pains him to see all that He has given thrown away. For you who are parents, ever seen your children throw away things you have given them? And all of us are someone’s child; ever thrown away something your parents gave you? Ouch…yep it is personal for God.

There are “good kings;” Asa reigned for 41 years! And then there is this other king; King Jesus. Today in our New Testament we see what a good king will do for his people – it is not very self-centered – He is self-giving.

I am up to 900 words on this post, so I am going to stop, but read carefully through Luke’s description of the Garden. It is easy to skim because “we’ve read it before,” but it is rich with imagery. It is in Luke’s version that we read of Jesus sweating blood and angels there with him.

In the end, while we may have trouble keeping track of these kings in the Old Testament, let’s remember we need not be confused about Jesus – He is not running the baseball diamond – rather He resides in the hearts of those who love Him.