We started this
semester with a charge to not just learn about history, but to learn from
history. So we dove in together to
the historic books of the Old Testament, moving from king to king, trying to
absorb as much as we could. We
were a people eager to know God through His Word, to learn how to “Keep calm
and follow on.” Our journey
together began with a snapshot of God’s people as they begged for a
king, so they could “be like all the nations.” God gave them a king, and the people choice award
went to… Saul.
When we first were
introduced to the big and burly Saul, we found ourselves too easily relating to
his partial disobedience, his self-deception, and his struggles with insecurity
rooted in pride. Like Saul, we
felt the convicting burden of the way we care too much about our own agendas
and the opinions of others, and how we end up sacrificing obedience to God in the
process. Samuel tells Saul (and
us) that “to obey is better than sacrifice,” (1 Samuel 15:22) but as Saul
spirals downhill in disobedience and eventually dies in battle, there’s an
awkward discomfort we started to feel about our own lack of obedience and
sacrifice.
We were able to set
aside that slight discomfort for a bit while we happily enjoyed our weeklong
stroll with King David. Who doesn’t
enjoy revisiting the battle scene between David and Goliath? We were inspired and hopeful, until we
saw the fall of this man after God’s own heart. As we listened to David’s words from Psalm 51 “For I know my
transgressions, and my sin is ever before me,” we were soberly reminded of the
reality of sin and simultaneously overwhelmed by the grace of God as Nathan
tells David “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” There is something special about God’s
love for David, and we continue to see that throughout our study. “And
your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established
forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16) We
filed that promise God made to David away in our thoughts as we continued our
visit down the line of the kings.
As we met David’s
son, King Solomon, we were filled with hope and expectation for the
establishment of the nation. As
Solomon steps on stage, he brings with him the gift of renown wisdom,
extravagant riches, and the building of glorious temple for the Lord. The kingdom was at it’s heyday, as
political peace and global recognition gave the Israelites a tremendous sense
of national pride that future Israelites longingly would look back on all the way
to the days of Jesus (who may have shocked the people when he announced in
Matthew 12:42 that “something greater
than Solomon is here”). That
momentarily greatness of Solomon’s kingdom was washed away before our eyes as
we witnessed how Solomon’s divided heart quickly and sinfully led to a divided
kingdom.
The line of David
did continue into the divided kingdom as Solomon’s son Rehoboam reined over the
southern kingdom of Judah. In the
Northern Kingdom, we watched in horror as King Jeroboam devised from his own heart a
way to keep the people from returning to the house of David – the establishment
of “me” church. Like fingernails
scrapping down a chalkboard, we cringed as we read about the ways that Jerry
(who we non-affectionately began to call him) set up false worship out of
convenience and control. What
became even more painful in our reflection, was the reality of our own sin and
false worship (our own versions of “me” church). It burdened our hearts to recognize our own ways that we
attempt to come to God on our own terms.
The only cure to “me” church is the mercy of God, so we became even
thirstier for God’s merciful touch as we moved on to our next king.
With King Asa, we
discovered a new hope. What a
sweet moment to imagine ourselves standing next to King Asa and his army as
they watched in amazement as God defied all military logic by defeating the
Ethiopian multitude coming at them.
We found encouragement in learning about how God battles for His people,
and couldn’t imagine that Asa or the others who had witnessed such an incredible
experience of God’s victory and protection, would ever struggle to trust
again. Yet, later in life, Asa
failed to trust God, and missed God’s blessings as a result. We were really bummed out because we were really
hoping for at least one of these guys to finish well. However, we weren’t totally shocked
because of our own awareness of how often we forget about the provision and
protection God has so often given us.
It is said of King
Ahab that “there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil.” (1 Kings
21:25) Studying the evil that
happened during Ahab’s reign was depressing, and we found ourselves wondering
what hope we could have in a world so full of evil and injustice. But then we read an account of
something fascinating that caused us to raise our eyebrows, adjust our glasses
and lean in for a closer second look.
In 1 Kings 21:27-29, we saw the evil King Ahab fall down in mourning and
fasting at the prophetic proclamation of the death of his household. Although Ahab’s humble response may
have surprised us, what most captivated our attention was the wonder of God’s
response. “And the word of the
Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying “Have
you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster
in his days.” We gazed in awe
and wonder at the mercy of our God, and captured a clue into our relation with
him. It may not have been
immediate, but a continued meditation on Ahab’s humility and God’s mercy gave
us hope.
Hanging out with
King Jehoshaphat and his courageous heart for a week was delightful. We savored his beautiful prayer he lifted
to God as a multitude came against Jerusalem… “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” We wondered what joy the people must
have felt as they heard God’s response “Do
not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not
yours but God’s.” They did nothing, yet they got the spoil! Deep down, we desired to be a part of
that, to hear God tell us that we don’t have to fight the battle. No matter if we were barely keeping our
head above the tides of suffering or feeling bored in the monotony of life, we
realized that we too were craving the victory and spoils of battle.
By the time we got
to King Hezekiah, we were starting to get pretty good at laying out the lives
of these individual kings in front of us and stacking up their
performance.
Good guy – be like
him. Bad guy – don’t be like
him.
We were acquiring a
collection of to do’s and not to do’s in the process, but certain weeks the
burden began to feel too heavy to bear.
King Hezekiah encouraged us with the revival and reform that he brought
to the nation. He followed God, he
clung to God, he did so much good.
Yet, the sobering reality of his mortality touched him the way it
touches us all. Faced with the
prophesy of his own death, he fell on the floor and wept. In a beautiful scene, we saw how God
not only heard his prayers, but also saw his tears. God healed him and gave him another 15 years to live. But he was still going to die. The reality wasn't removed, just
postponed. At the end of his life,
we are saddened by his prideful response to his healing. It was sobering for us to study this
king who worked to be righteous his whole life, but still fell into sin, and
could not avoid God’s wrath. That
heavy burden of the reality of sin, the brokenness of God’s people, and their
frustrating inability to follow God in perfect obedience continued throughout
the semester to loom over us like a dark rain cloud. We saw God's wrath on one side and God's steadfast love and mercy on the other. How would it all come together?
We enjoyed moments
of sunshine in these clouds, like the week that we studied Josiah the boy king. As Bible study girls, we just loved
that way he discovered God’s Word and was completely transformed by it. We watched in awe as he led the people
through a beautiful observation of the Passover. Yet layered into the sunny scenes of that joyful revival,
was the ominous and impending judgment that God had declared on a people who we
had witnessed king after king continue to forsake God. As Josiah and the people ate of the
same Passover meal that the ancient Israelites had taken with Moses prior to
their exit from slavery in Egypt, we realized that this meal was being taken
prior to an entrance into slavery.
The time of exile had arrived.
70 years of exile
in Babylon. The time of the kings
appeared to have come to a screeching halt. As we turned the pages of our study, we encounter God: who
never stopped working, who always had a plan, and who stirred the King of
Persia to initiate the return and restoration of God’s people to their chosen
land. We watched the Jewish
remnant return to Jerusalem in three waves and with three leaders – Zerubbabel,
Ezra, and Nehemiah. In this messy
and long restoration, we smiled when the people finally made it back to
Jerusalem, we sighed deeply as we observed the people lose heart and give up in
apathy, we rejoiced when the people gathered together around God’s Word, and we
cheered when the people worked together to accomplish the seemingly impossible
task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days. But then it just ends.
When we came to the
end of the book of Nehemiah, Israel’s Old Testament history seemed to abruptly
end. The other wisdom and
prophetical books were written around the same time as what we studied in our
kings, so there is no more biblical historical record after Nehemiah – just 400
years of silence.
If we ended our
semester study here, with no lesson 12, we would have been forced to walk away
with a few good life principles coupled with the eventual discouragement we
would experience as our own efforts at life change would stall out. The mounting burden we experienced as
we stacked up king upon king, would have led to despair if Week 12 had our
names written next to it. Can you
imagine what your life would look like laid out onto the pages of this study?
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in
triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of
him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians
2:14 But thanks be to God that as
we open the last week of our study together, the name that reads beautifully
next to the lesson title is not our own, but the name of our Savior and King
Jesus Christ.
So, are you ready for Jesus? If we learn not just about this
history, but from it, we will find ourselves sitting in front of this week’s
study in eager anticipation for the story to come to its full fruition. Through the study of the lives of the
kings and the reflection on our own lives, there is recognition that like Saul,
we cannot live a life of full obedience.
Like David, we have felt the weight of our sin. Like Solomon and many other kings, we
have allowed our heart to be divided and sought after other gods. Like Asa, we have seen much but
remembered little. Like Jehoshaphat, we have nothing to offer the battle. Like Hezekiah,
death remains a sobering reality.
Just like the people, we are desperate for a Savior, for a Redeemer, for
True and Perfect King in our lives.
I don’t know about you, but I am so ready
to study Jesus. I am ready to
remember how He gave it all up to come down to earth as a baby, living a
perfectly obedient life following God, doing God’s will even to the point of
death on the Cross. And then,
through His resurrection, conquering death – not just postponing it 15 years,
but completely and utterly conquering it! And as if that weren't enough, he has gifted us with the eternal spoil of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. Just like the battle that King Jehoshaphat witnessed, we are able to stand in awe and wonder at the work of Christ on the Cross. It was not our battle to fight - God won our salvation. It's beautiful. It's life-giving. It's freeing. Yep, I’m definitely ready for this all to come together – the kings, the prophecies, the covenants, the promises.
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him [Jesus}.
That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20
May this week find us uttering our
Amen to God for his glory. May our
utters become songs. May our songs
become loud praises. May our loud
praises together be a sweet aroma that rises up to the very real and very
awesome throne room of God.
Keep calm and follow on...
