Studying the Old Testament is nothing short of an adventure. It's like a
movie with a loooong, slow beginning, and when you're about to adopt
the fact that nothing ever happens, it starts unraveling before your
eyes and all those boring descriptions make sense.
I have just finished reading a segment in biblical history, in the time
from the splitting of the kingdom of Israel in 930 B.C. to the fall of
Jerusalem in 585 B.C., backwards. King by king, I made my way through
the time and geography of constant tension between God and his people.
Why backwards? I dunno, maybe because I'm dyslexic and backwards makes
more sense. But it gave me a new perspective on God's love. A new
perspective on consequences of sin.
It was also helpful to follow a timeline, because 1, I'm a visual
learning type, 2, those names all sound the same to me, so it's
confusing when I don't know who killed whom and became king of that, and
3, so I can understand the time relations better. I made the timeline
myself; taped together some print paper sheets, drew a line and decided
that 20 cm would represent 100 years. Inserting all the kings, prophets
and enemies took time, and I have done it gradually over the passed 2
years or so. It's not perfect, I just wanted a timeline that works for
me, ready to use for the study of old testament. When I read a prophet, I
would like to know who the king was at that time, and what the
political situation was in the time of his ministry.
It has proved very helpful in my most recent study, as I have said,
backwards, from the end of the kingdom of Juda, to Solomon's death. In
fact, I'm quite proud of my timeline.
Today I read 1 Kings 14 and it shook me profoundly to find that
immediately after the splitting of the kingdom to North (Israel) and
South (Juda), God rejects Israel and says terrible and frightening
things about the King Jeroboam and his kingdom.
And the Lord
will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the
water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their
ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they
aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles. 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.
1 Kings 14:15-16
How deeply was God's heart broken to say that of his beloved people? At
the first glance, it sounded too harsh for the God as I know Him to be,
merciful, loving and forgiving. It is especially difficult to swallow
keeping in mind all that the people of Israel had thus far witnessed of
God's glory and power.
But since I've just read all about the kings who followed, I assume God
knew that the damage that Jeroboam imposed on the heart of faith was
beyond repair. The evidence is there; the sins of the following kings
all reference the severity of Jeroboam's fall. Well, there was one who
did even worse, Ahab, but that's another story. In late 9th century B.C.
one king, Jehu, reformed religion, and brought the people of Israel
back to monotheism, but not for long. Baals and asherahs kept coming
back. Eventually, God brings and end to both kingdoms.
And then it hit me. Maybe God let them go because that was the only way
to possibly have them back. Maybe he left them over to the mute and
rigid gods they wanted to worship, so that they would see how empty life
is without one true God, and they they would return willingly. Refined.
Humbled. Maybe. If I think of Hosea, probably.
(Interesting, I just checked, and Hosea served around the time of Assyrian conquest of Israel.)
What a powerful, dramatic, tragic moment in time. My mind is reaching
for the moment back in time when a different decision should have been
made. God told them that a king was not a good idea, they didn't listen.
God told them to kick out all the indications of other peoples and
religions from Canaan in the time of conquest, they didn't listen. Maybe
if they had, there would be no problems with the neighbors in the time
of judges, and they would never have requested a king .Maybe if they had
faith after crossing the red sea, and got to Canaan in a few weeks
instead of 40 years, it would have been easier to obey, because Moses
would still be alive. Maybe ... if they had read the Bible... =) If they
had known that their idolatry would lead to their destruction... If
they had believed the prophets that their sin would ruin them...
Great. I've managed to depress myself with a wonderful Bible study.
But maybe... God scattered them so that they would be on their own a
little. Into the desert, like Hosea's wife. In the middle of nowhere
where they are not distracted by each other's ramblings, but a little
lonely and miserable, with memories of the glory days. Maybe they would
come back to Him not as a nation, but as individuals with free will, and
in Him find unity with each other.
