Concerning Kings

I don't know that I have any particularly impressive things to say in this post (of course, I don't know that I EVER have any particularly impressive things to say, and would worry deeply about any of you who might think I do), but I wanted to add a few things to the sermon from a couple of weeks ago that Tim simply did not have time to mention. First, let me applaud Tim for adequately summarizing the history of the human race up until the time of Daniel -- I have seen a few others attempt such a thing, and it usually comes out a complete mess. By contrast, I think Tim did an excellent job of hitting the high points and painting a general picture in broad strokes.

Allow me to make a couple of points that I think are in consonance with what Tim said. As to the kingship of Israel itself, notice the contrast between what the people desire and get, and the God whom they reject as their king. As Tim pointed out, there are a precious few kings in Israel and Judah who merit a description as good. The people wanted a king like the nations around them, and generally speaking that is exactly what they got. Their kings were most often vicious and cruel, pursuing their own desires rather than the good of the people or the glory of God. Contrast these kings with the Lord himself, who had brought the people out of a bondage in Egypt which they had endured for 430 years. From the late 1300s BC until 586 BC, when the final deportation to Babylon takes place, God cared for the people in his patience and longsuffering, and endured their unfaithfulness and complaining. Earlier in our Core Seminars, Jay Caballero did an excellent job of pointing out the failure of the people during the time of the judges, and all too often, the failure of the judges themselves. The times of the kings were certainly not any better, and at times were perhaps worse. And yet the Lord remained faithful to his promises, patient, and loving. For 800 years (about 3 1/2 times longer than the United States has existed as a nation) God endured the people's unfaithfulness and lovingly disciplined and called them back to him, demonstrating throughout that he was the good king that they refused to accept. Choosing the kings they did over God himself would be like my going to the grocery store and purposely buying rotten produce instead of "perfect" produce. It makes no sense, and yet we know that the human heart is wicked and that we can't understand it. I doubt we would have acted differently.

But the Lord's patience was not infinite (and he continually told them as much) -- continued disobedience and sin has its consequence, and judgment and reckoning eventually came. But even then, the time of the people's deportation pales in comparison to the length and extent of their sinfulness -- in God's mercy, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Tim talked about the judgment proclaimed against Judah and the foolish act of Hezekiah in inviting the Babylonians into his kingdom. Ironically, Hezekiah's father Ahaz had done something similar -- when Judah was besieged by Israel and Syria, Ahaz, instead of relying on the Lord, called upon Assyria for help despite Isaiah's warning and urging to depend upon God alone (this situation provides the historical locale for the Immanuel prophecy in Isaiah 7). Ahaz's lack of faith in God is why Hezekiah had such a big problem with the Assyrians in the first place -- and had Hezekiah not repented and depended upon the Lord for his salvation, perhaps Assyria would have destroyed both Israel and Judah. But as we saw, it was during Hezekiah's reign that God began to tell the people that the doom which was coming upon them was decided -- it could no longer be avoided -- and that the correct response of the people wass to SUBMIT to the judgment. Hezekiah is not the last good king of Judah -- Josiah institutes numerous reforms, and turns the people back to the Lord. But even this response and repentance doesn't change what God has decided -- that Babylon will be the instrument he uses to punish Judah. And when Nebuchadnezzer comes, the clear word from the Lord is that the people should submit to him -- that is, submit to God's judgment. This is something in particular I don't think we like to hear. We want to think that things are always for us like they were for Assyria -- after all, the reason Jonah ran from God is because he knew God was merciful and compassionate, and that if the Assyrians repented God would spare them -- and Jonah didn't WANT God to spare them. Sometimes when we repent, God still judges us, still disciplines us -- but never in such a way as to destroy us. Even in as severe a judgment as the deportations, the remnant was always preserved -- and that God would honor his covenant by preserving a remnant was always part of the prophesy of the judgment itself. God's discipline (given that we are his) is always for our ultimate good, whether we recognize it or not.