Visions From Our Story: the Promise in Peril

Things were looking up for Judah. While their northern neighbor Israel had been annihilated by the Assyrians, Judah had escaped. Through a miraculous intervention of God (or a highly unlikely set of fortuitous events…given one's take on history) Jerusalem, Judah's capitol, was never captured and its leaders never put to death by the Assyrians.

Unfortunately as we have witnessed so often with God's people, the blessings of one generation were not appreciated by the next. The kings that followed this escape were mostly a pretty sad lot. Some were quite evil (Manasseh who erected altars to other gods and returned to child sacrifice) while others simply were inept. There was one bright spot, Josiah. Josiah reinstituted the Torah, removed foreign gods and tried his best to return the nation to a more God-centered way of life. Unfortunately he was killed while trying to defend his nation from the Babylonians (the Empire that annihilated the Assyrians).

The kings who followed Josiah seemed to have learned nothing from his efforts or the fate of Israel. The prophets had declared that Israel was destroyed because they had failed to be a nation of justice, compassion and inclusion and were instead a people of oppression and greed. One would think that Judah would, at all costs, attempt to live otherwise. Regrettably Judah believed itself to be invulnerable because God would never forsake them and could therefore live as it pleased.

Judah believed they were invulnerable for two reasons. The first reason was that the Assyrians never conquered Jerusalem. The people of Judah saw their miraculous escape as God's promise that God would always protect them. The second reason was that Jerusalem housed the Temple, the very throne of God. Surely Judah believed, God would never allow God's own house to fall. Thus Judah believed they could do as they pleased and God would look the other way.

The Prophet Jeremiah proclaimed that this was not so. He declared, "Do not trust in these words: the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:4)…Behold you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder…and burn incense to Baal..and then come and stand before me in this house (the temple) and say…we are delivered! – only to go on doing these things which are abominations?" (Jeremiah 7:8-11) In other words Jeremiah was telling Judah that if it did not get its act together it would suffer the same fate as did Israel…which is exactly what happened. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and carried the leaders of the nation into exile. The Promise (of God's worldwide restorative work) was now in peril for the people of God were scattered across the face of the earth.

For you and I this story ought to remind us that our vision needs to be one that guides us in establishing a community that reflects God's desires for justice, compassion and inclusion. If we are to be the bearers of God's promise then our church ought to reflect these virtues that were at the heart of both the Torah and the teachings of Jesus. By creating such a community we allow the promise of God's restoring work to be experienced by all those with whom we have contact. By becoming such a community we allow the promise to live in us. Though we will never be perfect, we can with God's help, lead a very different life than Judah and Israel.

Visions From Our Story: The Promise Saved

One became two and then two become one. God's people had created, under the leadership of King David, one nation; one nation capable of carrying God's promise for the world. Unfortunately as we discovered, that one nation lasted only a matter of two generations. David's son, Solomon and his grandson, Rehoboam, broke the nation in two through oppression, abusive taxation and a refusal to listen to the needs of the people.

The two nations (Israel in the north and Judah in the south) engaged in an elaborate dance for several hundred years. Sometimes they would wage war against one another. At other times they would work together for a common cause. Ultimately Israel chose to go down a road that not only led them away from God (worshipping the gods of their neighbors and engaging in economic oppression and child sacrifice) but led them to an arrogance that ignored geo-political reality. Their demise was a brutal demonstration of the power of the Assyrian Empire and the foolishness of Israel's leadership. They would no longer be a factor in bringing the promise of God to fruition.

In the face of this defeat and destruction Judah (the remaining bearer of the promise) was blessed to have a king who did all he could to be faithful to God. Hezekiah was one of the bright spots in the life of God's people. His reign began a few years after the fall of Israel. The scriptures say that "he did what was right in the sight of God." He pushed out the gods of neighboring peoples, destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had created in the wilderness (it had become an object of worship), defeated Israel's enemies, obeyed the Laws of God and then refused to pay tribute to Assyria (who by this time was elsewhere occupied). For a moment things were looking up.

Unfortunately for Hezekiah and Judah, the Assyrians returned. Hezekiah attempted to buy off the Assyrian King Sennacherib with silver and gold, but that would not suffice. The Assyrians were out to destroy Jerusalem. Hezekiah did not know what to do and so he sought the wisdom and advice of the great prophet Isaiah. Isaiah sought the wisdom and advice of God. The word that came to Isaiah was that Hezekiah should not fear. The Assyrians would never take Jerusalem.

It is at this point that the scriptures and history are in agreement with the outcome of the events, but not the cause behind the outcome. With the Assyrians encamped around Jerusalem, ready to destroy it, a miracle occured. Literally one morning the residents of Jerusalem awoke and the Assyrians had vanished, leaving behind much of their equipment and food. While the scriptures attribute this to God's hand (an angel who slew 143,000 of the Assyrians), there is speculation that either a plague broke out amongst the army, or the king of Assyria heard rumors of a rebellion at home and returned to protect what was his (he was assassinated by his sons shortly after arriving home). Regardless of the reason Jerusalem and the people of God were saved. The Promise would live for another day.

Where I believe this story helps us with our vision is to remind us that even in the most difficult of times, God is willing and able to assist us in fulfilling our vision. We can see this in the life of our church. Over the last twenty years, even with the rotating door of pastors and interim pastors and the economic meltdown in the area, First Presbyterian has made a difference in the world. By being faithful to the call of God to love neighbor and work for the reconciliation of the world you changed lives and communities. This story reminds us that even as Jerusalem could count on God so can we.

Visions From Our Story: the Promise Diminished

Scripture offers us a wide variety of images of God. God is the creating one who brings everything into being; the covenanting one who calls Abraham; the liberating one who frees God's people from captivity; the patient one who puts up with God's people in the wilderness; the seeking one who sent prophets to call God's people back to life and to faithfulness; the Promise keeping one who does whatever it takes to insure that the promise to bless the world will become a reality.

The book of Second Kings however shows us another image of God which is not quite as nice as those that had come before. This book tells the story of the Israel's relationship with Assyria. In 755BC Tiglath-Pileser III came to the Assyrian throne and began a dramatic expansion of the kingdom including sweeping into Israel and Judah. Those nations surrendered and agreed to pay tribute. Over the next 33 years Israel would have a series of kings who were at first obedient to Assyria and then would rebel. Most of the kings were ultimately assassinated either by those who wanted to rebel or those who wanted to give into Assyria. Ultimately Assyria had had enough of Israel and after a three year siege captured Israel's capital, burned it to the ground and either killed or deported 90% of its people. Those who were deported would never be heard from again.

While these events could be seen from a strictly geo-political point of view they offered a difficult theological conundrum for God's people. If Israel was part of the people of the Promise how could God allow them to be destroyed and diminish the Promise? The answer came from the writer of Second Kings who put it this way,

"Now this came about, because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they
worshipped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. (2 Kings 17:7-8).

 

In other words God had had enough of Israel and let them suffer the consequences of their greed, pride and idolatry. This new image showed that God's patience was not eternal; that ultimately God's promise did not insure the survival of all people of the Promise. If the people would not carry out their part of the mission they would be removed from the equation.

 

As we look to our own vision we need to keep this new image in mind. It is a constant reminder that we as a church have a mission…to work toward the releasing, renewing and restoring of God's world. We are not a spiritual country club but a missional agency. And if we are not faithful in our work we will fade away, and rightfully so. The good news though is that we know our calling and have the gifted, caring people to make it happen. So as we seek our vision for the future let us be mindful of our calling as God's covenant partners in God's amazing restorative work.

Visions from Our Story: The Promise Begins to Drift

God's people divided themselves, north (Israel) and south (Judah). The potential for pushing forward the promise to bless all people through the descendants of Abraham appeared to be fading.

In order to insure its religious as well as political independence Israel (northern kingdom) established its own centers of worship at Bethel and Dan. King Rehoboam even created two golden calves and declared that they were the gods who had led the people out of Egypt. He continued the struggle for independence by ordaining priests who were not Levites (I Kings 12). These actions were the beginning of a long and tortured slide by the Northern Kingdom into arrogance, apostasy and finally self-destruction.

The books of First and Second Kings tell this tale with an eye not only to the failures of the people but also the faithfulness of God in the face of God's rejection by the people. The story offers a clear vision as to the wrong turns taken by Israel on their way to annihilation.

Step one: Worship - Political independence became more important than right worship. By replacing the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob first with golden calves and then the gods and goddesses of their neighbors, the people lost any sense of their calling to fulfill the Promise. This alternative worship focus led them not only to forget God but the life giving ways into which God had called them to live. Their worship ultimately involved human sacrifice and sorcery (II Kings 17:17).

Step two: Ethics – The shift to worshipping other god's allowed the people to forget God's commandments to love neighbor, care for the widow and orphan and welcome the stranger. The Northern Kingdom became a nation in which wealth and prestige were the only criterion by which people's importance was measured. Abuse and slavery, the original reasons for declaring independence, became part of the fabric of the culture.

Step three: Leadership – While the Southern Kingdom (Judah) maintained its kingship through the lineage of David (sons following fathers) the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was one in which assassination and violence were the means by which the kingship changed hands. This meant that no leader was safe and the tenure of kings tended to be short and ineffective.

Step four: Arrogance – Because of its geographical position the nation became wealthy and powerful. Trade between Africa (Egypt) and the east (Assyria, Babylon) traversed the region and Israel reaped the rewards. The wealth they accumulated led them to believe that they were invulnerable and had no need to listen to God or God's prophets.

The amazing thing about God is that God loved the people and continued to pursue them. God continued to send prophet after prophet to call the people to repentance and new life. Great Prophets like Elijah and Elisha risked their lives to call the people back to the life giving faith offered by God. Their refusal to listen to the call had both immediate and eternal consequences.

The challenge for us is to examine our communal life and ask whether or not our vision assists us in avoiding the same step by step process which led Israel away from God? Are we rightly worshipping? Are we living rightly? Are we encouraging long term leadership? Are we living humbly? By assessing our vision with these questions we can become the kind of community God would have us to be.

Visions From Our Story: A House Divided will Fall

The Kingdom of Israel sat on the edge of a knife. Solomon "the Wise" had built his wealth and fame on the backs of the people. His oppression was not only in violation of the Law of God it was not a long term practical political strategy. The people of the north had spent too many generations as tribal units to allow any king to dominate them for an extended period of time. They were restless even before Solomon's death and a variety of opponents had arisen (I Kings 11). With Solomon's death however the opportunity arose to solidify Israel as a nation and not merely as a loose tribal confederation held together by intimidation and power. Whether or not this would happen was up to Solomon's son and heir Rehoboam.

Rehoboam began his reign with promise. He went to Shechem in order to be crowned king. Gathered at Shechem were the leaders of the Northern tribes. They were ready for change…for a king who would treat all people fairly and disband the hated forced labor which Solomon had created. They told the king-to-be that if he would release them from this service they would serve him willingly. Rehoboam was not sure what to do. Therefore he consulted his advisors. First he began by seeking the advice of the older more mature members of Solomon's household. Their counsel was to agree to the dismantling of the forced labor system. Rehoboam did not like their advice so he consulted his friends.

What we have to understand about Rehoboam's friends is that they all grew up in the palace in positions of wealth and power. They were the privileged elite of the land. Their advice was different from that of the older men. They advised Rehoboam to threaten the Northern tribes with harsher work than Solomon had ever laid on them. After all, he was going to be king. Who would dare to confront the king? Rehoboam took their advice and said to the Northern tribes, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions." (I Kings 12:11)

Chances are the response Rehoboam thought he would get, was not what he received. The Northern tribes left prior to his being made king and publically stated that they were no long under his authority. Ignoring such talk Rehoboam sent his forced labor czar to conscript more people. The Northern tribes killed the labor czar and came after the newly crowned king. Rehoboam barely escaped with his life. (I Kings 12:18-20) The Northern tribes then crowned their own king, a man named Jeroboam, who had led an earlier revolt against Solomon. Thus the nation was divided…forever. The Promise would be imperiled then by almost continual war between these two nations (Judah in the South and Israel in the North), as well as the fact that a divided nation was easier prey to outside kingdoms than a united one.

Jesus understood quite clearly that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25…later quoted by Abraham Lincoln). Any organization, church or otherwise, needs to be united if it is to accomplish the tasks for which it was created. While unity should never be the primary value that trumps all others, it is a necessary ingredient to success. This does not mean we all have to agree on everything. The issue is being able to create an environment in which there is diversity within our unity. In other words while we may not agree on everything, we are united in the essentials which define our life together (our Core Values). As we move forward in seeking our vision let's be sure to leave room for a variety of voices and views so that we insure that the one voice we may really need to hear is not silenced but is given room to speak.