Bible translators usually try to keep the Bible a family friendly book, even when it gets graphic or gristly. However, you lose the no-holds-barred bluntness of the original authors sometimes. Take today’s reading from 1 Kings. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and heir to the throne has just taken power. Now Solomon, wise as he supposedly was, did a lot of unwise things. By the time he died he had forsaken a lot of the ways God had called him to live. In fact he was becoming like Pharaoh of Egypt using forced labor and slaves in order to accomplish his projects.
As the story goes when Rehoboam takes power he consults with his father’s advisors. They suggest roll back the forced labor and go softer on the people. They had good reason for their advice. Of the twelve tribes of Israel the only one that was ever really faithful to King David and King Solomon was their home territory of Judah. Jerusalem, the capitol, was in Judah’s territory. Judah was basically the southernmost of the tribes and Jerusalem being there meant it was not centrally located. Rehoboam was certainly arrogant and cocky, but he wasn’t entirely stupid. He decides to have his coronation as king not in Jerusalem, but farther north in Shechem. This was both a show of force but also a display of commitment to the tribes farther north. Lightening their forced workload would be a great sign of goodwill and win the hearts of the northern tribes.
And so the wise old advisors suggest just such a work lightening. Rehoboam’s younger advisors – and don’t take these guys as cocky teenagers; These are more like 40 year-olds – they tell him to take a tough approach and crack down even harder. Their advice is, “…say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.’” Well, that’s a euphemism at best! Rehoboam is not talking about his pinky finger!!! This is a bunch of cocky powerful guys who are full of themselves talking. You know what they mean.
Now the text doesn’t say he actually used those words when he addressed the northern tribes. If he did there’s absolutely no surprise that they rebelled! If he didn’t, his words are still pretty harsh. The already strained forced laborers are going to be pushed even harder. That may sound familiar to us. What did the Pharaoh do to the Israelites when they asked for a reduced workload? He made it harsher.
It seems that God’s chosen leaders in the family of David aren’t ruling any better than anyone else. It appears as though being chosen by God to lead does not mean extra righteousness. The northern tribes rebel. We didn’t read on enough to cover it, but Rehoboam does consider putting together an army and retaking control. Perhaps it could have worked. But Rehoboam does decide to take advice from a prophet named Shemaiah who says it is all God’s will and he shouldn’t buck against it.
We’re going to spend next week, just one week, looking at the northern kingdom. It survives a couple hundred years before being conquered by the Assyrian Empire in the year 722 B.C. On the whole the Bible describes its leaders are bad and evil. Even Jeroboam, God’s chosen person to lead the separation of the nation is quite corrupt. He has his own political agenda and he has no problem manipulating religion to suit his agenda. And even as he speaks of liberation of the people from Rehoboam his allegiance is to himself.
As we’ve looked at Kings David and Solomon I’ve said over and over again that God remains true to promises made to them despite how sinful and even disobedient they become. We’ll see that continue. This week though, raises two other issues about God.
First, and the easiest to grapple with, is that God usually chooses the underdog. God is also against oppression. Oppression can come in many forms, from literal slavery all the way to policies and programs that lead to one person rising above another. Our nation continues to grapple with such issues in racism. And just like the racism issues our country continues to struggle with, the systems of oppression are often very complex. They are also often deeply woven into the fabric of society. We who are for the most part in the dominant part of our society need to be willing to constantly examine ourselves and our assumptions. It is not easy to do. In fact it's quite hard. But it is consistently the way of God to connect most with the oppressed. And it is a good way for us to constructively and critically work for a better tomorrow for all of God’s people.
Systems of oppression are of course also beyond just race. Look at Jesus’ preaching and teaching. He was constantly pushing against systems that left the poor, widows, orphans, and anyone less than perfect, powerless.
Again, engaging any of this stuff is hard work. People being what they are, also start to exploit it. We see that in the book of Acts and in some of Paul’s later writings where people learn to exploit the generosity of Christians and the gift of God’s grace. There’s nothing new about that!
The second issue with God is more perplexing. God chooses Saul as the first king. Then God does not support Saul as Saul asks and Saul messes up. Because of that God decides to reject Saul as king and goes with David instead. For some reason God stays with David and Solomon despite their many mistakes. However again, God decides to break up the kingdom after Solomon because of Solomon’s mistakes.
Many times in the Bible we find God doing things to justify punishing people. We’ll see that in the weeks to come as we continue with the kings. The way God is portrayed in the Bible is highly inconsistent. Sometimes God seems loving and forgiving. Sometimes God seems very harsh and unfair. Sometimes God appears to be almost playing games with people.
All in all it is very unsettling. As Christians we have the New Testament which is a largely refreshing and basically consistent view of God as gracious and loving. However the Old Testament does still convey authority for our faith. We are wise to realize it.
I’ve said many times that the Old Testament authors are not afraid to be blunt and to tell ugly truths about things. They are also not afraid to say the same about God.
I think we’ve all experienced God being more silent than we’d like. We ask for guidance and feel like we hear nothing in reply. We ask for help in a struggle and that help never seems to come. We see other people who for whatever reason seem to be more successful and happier. We can even see outright greed and corruption at work yet the greedy and corrupt seem to just get away with it more and more.
Where is God’s justice? Where is this kindness and grace we hear about so much from the Bible? Why doesn’t God uphold the righteous and downcast the evil?
These are all good questions. They are all very human questions. They are all part of the reality of many people’s lives.
I do wish the life of a faithful Christian would be measurably better than a person of no faith. It would make sermons be so easy – they would be lessons in morality. Evangelism would be easy too – just tell people about Jesus and they’d feel their lives getting better. But that is not how things work.
All these things fall into what Lutherans like to call a “theology of glory.” A theology of glory is where faith makes sense and good people get good things and faith-filled actions are noticeably successful. By contrast though, reality is the theology of the cross. Here we realize the truth of how God works. The cross is the last stop for sin, death, and everything that separates us from God’s love. The theology of the cross is not about finding hardship or suffering to endure in life. The theology of the cross trusts that things are in God’s hands no matter how good or bad things go.
The Old Testament authors didn’t have Jesus and his crucifixion to go on to put together a theology of the cross. However, their writings get at it. God is faithful – always. That goes for whether we can feel it or sense it or not. The theology of the cross sometimes calls for radical trust that God is still with you when everything is falling apart around you. The theology of the cross knows that a divine rescue may not happen, but God’s love is still there.
I want to end with this prayer by Anselm of Canterbury:
O my God, teach my heart where and how to seek you,
where and how to find you…
You are my God and you are my All and I have never seen you.
You have made me and remade me.
You have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
Still I do not know you…
I have not yet done that for which I was made…
Teach me to seek you…
I cannot seek you unless you teach me
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire, let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you, let me love you when I find you.
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