Tag: Stories Of Scripture

Posted on

Division and Decline – Justice and Mercy

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8          

With the Northern Kingdom destroyed, the Southern Kingdom carried on as the primary nation who worshiped the Lord God. Unsurprisingly, the southern Kingdom of Judah fell into the same traps and snares as their neighbors. The people who claimed to follow the living God were acting no better and Idol worshippers.

The Prophet Micah critiques the character of the people by reminding them that God has already shown them how they are supposed to demonstrate their faith. He points out three distinct fruits of the spirit: justice, mercy, and humility. The first two, justice and mercy, are the two ways we care for one another. Mercy is something that usually happens in the moment, and justice is something that usually takes time.

We practice mercy when we have power over someone and choose to act with compassion or forgiveness. You might show a friend mercy when she steals from you by giving her a second chance. You might show mercy to a homeless person by giving them a few dollars or a warm blanket. Justice is a little bit different. We act with justice when something in our world is wrong, and we work to make it right. You might show justice to a thieving friend by having her return what was stolen. You might show justice to a homeless person by advocating for affordable housing or by supporting an agency that helps people get back on their feet.

Author and theologian Shane Claiborne reminds us that justice was the dangerous passion of Jesus Christ. “When people begin moving beyond (mercy) and toward justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did, they get in trouble,” he says. “Once we are actually friends with the folks in struggle, we start to ask why people are poor, which is never as popular as giving to charity…People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.”

There is a place for justice and mercy in a Christian’s life. To which is God calling you today and how will you respond?

Posted on

Division and Decline – The fall of Israel

The king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria…All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them. 2 Kings 17:6-8         

On 14 April, 1912, Frederick Fleet was serving as lookout when he spotted an iceberg immediately ahead of Titanic during her first trip across the ocean. He quickly raised the alarm, and the first mate ordered the ship to change course. But it was too late. The Titanic struck the iceberg, and it soon became clear that the ship was doomed. No one on board was prepared for such an emergency. In accordance with safety practices at that time, ships were thought to be unsinkable.The Titanic only had enough lifeboats to carry about half of those on board. Nearly 1,500 lives were lost.

In a lot of ways, the fall of the Northern Kingdom was a lot like the sinking of the Titanic. For generations, the prophets had warned the people in Israel that God was unhappy with their faithlessness. They continued to worship other gods and turn away from the Lord. Eventually,  the prophets’ message shifted. They stopped asking Israel to change and started warning Israel that God’s punishment was coming. There was an iceberg on the horizon and not everyone would escape.

In 722 BC the northern kingdom was destroyed by their neighbors the Assyrians. The Assyrians broke through the walls of the capital city Samaria and killed many of its inhabitants. Then they kidnapped anyone who might be useful and took them away to work on building the Assyrian empire.

The fall of the Northern Kingdom reminds us how seriously God treats unrepentant sin. Periodically, we all should pause and take stock of our own lives. Bad decisions can lead us to a point of no return, and we will suffer the consequences of our sinfulness. Today, spend time searching your heart for any sin that could sink your faith, and ask the Lord to make you whole again.

Posted on

Division and Decline – God as Father

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the idols and they burned incense to images… they did not realize it was I who healed them. Hosea 11:1-3

Once upon a time there was a young man, a teenager, who was struggling on the inside. He spent a lot of time alone in his room, and his parents began to worry. They tried to reach out to him, but the more they tried to get him to talk the more he shut down. They started to fight a lot. One evening, his mother was gathering up the piles of dirty laundry in his room and found a stash of pills she didn’t recognize. Not knowing what to do, they decided to call the pastor. “I don’t know what to do anymore,” said the father, his heart torn within him. “The more we reach out the more he shuts down. I feel like the enemy.”

Many prophets in the Bible received their own book, and Hosea is one of them. He worked as a Prophet during the reign of the Kings of Israel. In fact, his book is the only writing we have from someone who lived in the northern Kingdom. Every other book in the Bible was written by someone who lived in the South.

Hosea offers us a unique perspective on what prophecy was like in the declining northern Kingdom. Perhaps his most wonderful contribution as a prophet comes from the 11th chapter.

Hosea records God pining after the people of Israel and he characterizes God’s love as that of a father. The entire passage is filled with rich images of a nurturing, healings, and loving God. One theologian says that when we read Hosea 11, “we penetrate deeper into the heart and mind of God than anywhere in the Old Testament.”

Hosea presents the exact description of God that Jesus has in mind when he taught his disciples to pray saying, “Our Father, who is in heaven.” Hosea and Jesus try to help us understand what God is like. Our God loves with passion and tenderness, and our God can be hurt by our actions.

Posted on

Division and Decline – Turn Back

Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 1 Kings 18:36-37

After the Kingdom split into two, the Kingdom in the North started to drift away from God. A series of rulers in the North began worshipping other gods. They set up idols and offered sacrifices and encouraged the citizens to do the same. Needless to say, God did not like this very much. As the Kings became more rebellious, God raised up prophets to speak on God’s behalf. One of the most famous was the Prophet Elijah.

In one remarkable story, Elijah challenges the prophets of a God named Baal to a competition. An altar is set up to each God , and the prophets pray to ask their God to set fire to the altar. The prophets of Baal were unsuccessful despite their frenzied attempt. When it is Elijah’s turn, he prays and asks God to light the altar so that everyone gathered would realize God’s greatness and turn their hearts back. Immediately, fire falls down from heaven, consuming the sacrifice and altar. It burned up the wood, the stone, and even the dirt on the ground.

The main goal for Elijah was to turn the people’s hearts back to God by proving that the Lord is the one who answers prayer. The God of Elijah has been with Israel since the beginning. This new god named Baal is a stranger. It is not the one that rescued their ancestors from Egypt nor is it the god who settled them in the promised land. Our God is the God of Israel. The Lord our God is eager for us to turn our hearts back to Jesus and to answer our prayers.

Posted on

Division and Decline – Generational Sin

Rehoboam said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier.” When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? 1 Kings 12:14, 16

The dedication of the temple was the highest point in the Old Testament, and things went downhill fast from there. Solomon’s son was a guy named Rehoboam, and he was a jerk. He was prideful and told the Northern people of Israel he would treat them harshly. So, they rebelled against him and split the kingdom in two. The northerners created their own country which they called Israel and built a new capital in a town called Samaria. Meanwhile, the southerners started calling their Kingdom Judah and their capital was in Jerusalem. For the rest of the kingdom period, the north and south were divided and in conflict with one another.

When the two kingdoms first split apart, those in Judah wanted to go to war against their kinfolk in the North. However, God intervened and told them not to go. God chose to allow the kingdom to be divided but doesn’t want further wars to be fought about it.

The split of the Kingdoms is a symptom of generational sin within the family of David. A generational sin is a flaw or weakness handed down from parents or members of our family. Even though sin is personal, humans can inherit patterns of thinking from family members that can keep us trapped in destructive rhythms. Rehoboam was the third member of his family to be king, and he had witnessed his father Solomon and his grandfather David abuse their power out of pride. Rehoboam followed their example in abusing his power and being cruel to the Northern people. The two kingdoms never reunited.

Maybe you are vulnerable to generational sin. Perhaps you have seen destructive habits in your own family like substance abuse, verbal or physical violence, or being a workaholic. With God’s help, we can always rise above the sins of others, but it takes humility, intentionally, and faith. Reflect on the sins to which you feel most tempted and ask God for strength to see you through.

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – Solomon and God’s Temple

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I (Solomon) have built! Yet regard the prayer of Your servant … Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive. 2 Chronicles 6:18-19; 21

King Solomon followed his father David on the throne of Israel . His mother was actually Bathsheba from yesterday’s story. Solomon is famous for being a wise king, and he was also very rich and successful. From the beginning of the Bible up to the time of Solomon, there had never been a formal building in which to worship God. For most of Israel’s history, the people had wandered in the desert as nomads. Anytime they settled down, they erected a tent for worship which they called a Tabernacle. Finally, after all the years and wandering, wars, and weariness, King Solomon organizes the people to build a temple for God in the capital city of Jerusalem.

If there was ever a high point in the story of the Old Testament, this is it. Israel was at that time a mighty nation with a celebrated king. Though a nation of many tribes, the people were united across the land. They had enough wealth and dedication to God to build a magnificent temple, and that Temple symbolizes two major themes found throughout Scripture. The first is God’s presence with God’s people. The second is that God will make a way to forgive our sin.

As the people celebrated God’s dwelling in the temple, King Solomon acknowledged the ludicrous idea that God could be contained inside the walls of a building, no matter how splendid. Moreover, hadn’t God been living with the people of Israel this whole time? When Abraham left his home to travel to an unknown land, wasn’t God with him? When Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, wasn’t God with him? When the people of Israel wandered the desert, conquered the land, and established a nation to the holy and set apart, wasn’t God with them?

God was with them just like the Holy Spirit is with us today. God is present with us and whenever we cry out God will respond freely with forgiveness and grace.

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – The Sin of David

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to David: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul… I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” 2 Samuel 12:7-9

Even though King David was a great king, he was still a human king. He ruled over Israel for forty years, and eventually he messed up, and messed up bad. While his army was away defending the country, he decided to take the wife of one of his soldiers. Her name was Bathsheba. When she became pregnant, David arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle.            

David had become greedy and prideful. He was the most powerful and privileged person in the entire country, and he decided to abuse that power and privilege to satisfy his own desires. What is crazy about this story is not just David’s greed and evil actions, but the way God responds. God says, “if everything you had was too little, I would have given you even more.” God is disgusted by the evil he has committed against Uriah and Bathsheba, but God is also offended that David was not satisfied with everything already given to him.

David’s lack of gratitude is underscored in the story by the name of the prophet sent to correct his actions. When David took Bathsheba from Uriah, God sent the Prophet Nathan to set him straight. Nathan’s name literally means “he has given.” So David is reminded of God’s generosity whenever he says the name “Nathan.”

David committed theft and murder against the people of his kingdom, and David also spurned God’s generosity and abused God’s goodness. What we learn from this story is that every sin committed against other people is also committed against God. Our Heavenly Father takes our sin personally. To be faithful disciples, we must spend time reflecting on our own sin and confessing it to our God who is eager to forgive us.

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – Humble David

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.’” Then King David said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 2 Samuel 7:8, 18           

King Saul, the first king of Israel, was kind of a dud, so God had the Prophet Samuel go out and find a new king who was named David. As a boy, David lived a rough and tumble life. He demonstrated great courage and remarkable faith. He spent his childhood protecting his father’s sheep in the wilderness, fighting off bears and lions. When Israel went to war, he volunteered to fight the giant Goliath with just his sling and a few stones, having faith that God would give him victory. Eventually, he became a general in King Saul’s army and showed great courage, wisdom, and valor.

The Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart. But what was the key to his success? Humility. A humble person is not tempted to put their needs before the needs of others. A humble person does not take any gift or responsibility for granted. When a humble person is bestowed with glory and prestige they ask “who am I that I would be honored in this way?” The beginning of David’s reign is characterized by this humility.

Humility helps us know exactly who we are. A humble woman has a clear-eyed view of her strengths and weaknesses. A humble man knows real strength comes, not from hoarding power, but extending power to others.

Poet and theologian Thomas Merton reminds us that “Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real.” Way back at the beginning of the story of the Bible, it was pride that caused Adam and Eve to choose to disobey God. Much later on in the story, it is humility which drives Jesus Christ to forsake the riches and comforts of heaven to die a sinner’s death on the cross to rescue us from sin. How can you better cultivate the attitude of holy humility needed to be a faithful servant of God?

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – The Real Superhero

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man (Saul) the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people. Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!” But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. 1 Samuel 10:24, 27     

It seems like every few months a new superhero finds its way into our culture. It used to be a Marvel movie or occasionally a DC hero that was the next blockbuster hit. However, with tons of streaming platforms, now we are being bombarded with superhero tv shows every time we sit down to watch something. As a culture, we are obsessed with the idea that an extraordinary human can save the day, can even save us.

The first king selected to rule over the people was not a very good one. God knows that all humans are sinful and flawed, so God wanted to rule over the people as King. Instead, the people requested a human king and they were given Saul. Some thought he’d be superhuman, that he would be able to save all Israel. But that is of course too much to ask of a human king. Some people immediately regretted their decision to ask for Saul to be king. “How can this fellow save us?” they asked each other. They realized that super-humans are really just fairytales.

More than 1000 years after the reign of King Saul, another guy named Saul will write a letter to a church in the town of Philippi. He will remind the church that there is still hope for God to be King, in the person of Jesus Christ. King Jesus will finally rescue God’s people, redeeming them from sin and death. God will give Jesus a name above all names so every knee should bow to Jesus, God on earth, as king and savior. Imagine Jesus on the throne of your heart as King and Savior. Allow him to rule in your life knowing that he is more powerful than any human being.

Posted on

Kings and Prophets – Living Like a Prophet

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so, he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 1 Samuel 8:6-7

In the story of Scripture, Israel is first ruled by judges, then it is ruled by kings. The kings were not part of the original plan. God intended to rule over the people of Israel as the real King, not have some human on the throne. However, the people are insistent. They see all the countries around them that have a king, and they want to be like the people around them.

In today’s passage, it is a man named Samuel who prays to God on behalf of the people to ask for a King. Samuel is a prophet. Now, some people think prophets are people who predict the future, but in the Bible a prophet is simply someone who speaks to the people on God’s behalf. Samuel is dedicated to serving God, so he is frustrated that Israel asks for a King to rule them. God tells him not to take it personally. The people haven’t rejected Samuel. Although God has been nothing but faithful, the people have rejected God.

Kings are very powerful. In ancient times, Israel’s neighbors would have worshiped their kings as gods on earth. If Israel is already rejecting God as their king, they may be tempted to reject God as God. Throughout the reign of Israel’s Kings, God also raises up prophets in each generation to speak the truth to kings and citizens alike.

The life of a prophet is very difficult. They must be wise enough to listen to God and have the courage to speak out. Many prophets are rejected, imprisoned, and even killed for speaking the truth of God to people who don’t want to hear it. Prophets are not just something we find in the Bible. There are modern day prophets who have worked and suffered for God’s cause. We are all called to speak up for what is right. Ask God for the wisdom and courage to live like a prophet in the world today.