Readings:
2 Kings 17
Wisdom 10
John 5:30-47

2 Kings 17

Since the north rebelled against the rightful king, Solomon’s son Rehoboam, which itself was punishment from God on Solomon for his infidelity to God, the northern kingdom of Israel has been on a collision course with this moment. Jeroboam was ordained king of Israel to punish Solomon, yes that’s true, but he chose to be jealous of the temple in Jerusalem and set up two idols in his own lands as an alternative. He may have intended for them to by physical representations of Yahweh, but even that would’ve been unacceptable, and due to the law of unintended consequences, they became gods for the people.

Every king of Israel mentioned in 1 & 2 Kings says they “continued in the sin of Jeroboam that caused the nation to sin…” and this is a direct reference to the golden calf’s he had made. That national sin is what caused them to be destroyed as a kingdom, and scattered among the nations of the world.

When the Assyrians aren’t paid their usual tribute by the king of Israel, because he’d been seeking an alliance with Egypt to get out from under the thumb of the Assyrians, he invades and deports the inhabitants of the land to what’s now northeastern Syria. It’s easy to confuse Assyria with Syria, but they’re two different countries and two different peoples, and even though Assyria as a nation is long gone, the Assyrian people still exist in the Levant.

There’s about 10 verses of text here that explains all the laws, regulations, covenants and commandments that Israel broke. It reads like a court indictment and justifies what happens to them. But Judah doesn’t completely escape here unscathed, they get a dishonorable mention too, but there was a mix of good and bad kings in Judah that at least would try to reign in the infidelity while the good ones reigned.

Then we hear about the five nations that were brought in to settle the now uninhabited land. These people had some problems and worshiped God as a way to placate him, while serving the gods of their own lands. In their way of thinking, a god existed in certain lands and was tied to certain peoples, so they believed that the God of Israel existed and tried to please him, but the God of Israel isn’t one among many and isn’t pleased with being included in a pagan pantheon as a way to hedge their bets. This is where the Samaritan people come from, and why they’re so despised by the Jews from that point until Jesus’ own day.

John 5:30-47

Jesus condemns the unbelieving Jerusalem authorities. He accuses them of refusing to listen to what they know is true. He says they search the scriptures to find eternal life, but eternal life itself is standing right in front of them. It’s important to understand that Christianity isn’t a religion of the book, it’s based on a person, and that person is Christ. The scriptures lead us to Christ, but it’s in him that we set our hope. These leaders didn’t realize or didn’t care, and they set all their hope on following rules instead of using the scriptures to search out the promised redeemer and messiah. He even tells them that as great as Moses was, there’s no hope in him, but there is in the one he wrote about. That’s quite the claim to make, and it’s absolutely true.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Kings 18
Wisdom 11
John 6:1-21