REVELATION: Thyatira and Her Jezebel (part two)

After appreciating the cultural backdrop for the letter to Thyatira, we turn our attention to appreciate the way John uses his command of the Tanakh to continue a teaching well below the surface about the struggle of the church there. A little back story in the Text will be helpful, although it may feel unrelated at first.

When King Solomon was building the Temple in the story of Kings and Chronicles, one of the grave mistakes he made was in not allowing the people of God to do the work on the Temple itself. Unlike the construction of the Tabernacle, led by Bezalel and Oholiab, Solomon outsourced the work of certain specialists — namely that of bronze smiths and stone cutters. Solomon made an arrangement with Huram, the king of Phoenicia, and in exchange for the labor of his best bronze smiths and stone cutters, Solomon gave him twenty towns in the Galilee as payment for their service. Many streams of Jewish teaching show it was this agreement that paved the way for Phoenician-Israelite relations that would eventually culminate in the treaties of Omri and Ahab, particularly the marriage of Ahab to the Phoenician high priestess of Asherah, a woman by the name of Jezebel. Many rabbis will teach that were it not for Solomon’s poor choices with Huram, there never would have been rampant idolatry in Israel.

The few ruins of Thyatira that remain today

But I digress. (Or do I?) Let’s get back to looking out for Text; keep an eye out for Old Testament references as we read through the letter to Thyatira one more time:

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

“… whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.” Daniel 10 provides the details John references here; Daniel’s main teaching point is that the people of God have to persevere through persecution. What does John say next? “Your service and perseverance …” A fitting reference.

“… that woman Jezebel … misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” This is a fitting reference for Sambathe. John mentions another “Jewish” prophetess who enticed Israel into idolatry and sexual immorality (if you remember, Asherah worship was centered around the fertility goddess and sexual promiscuity). “I will cast her on a bed suffering …” How was Jezebel killed in the Old Testament? By being cast from a window. “I will strike her children dead.” What happened to Jezebel’s children? They were all struck dead. This entire teaching is pulled perfectly from the Text.

“… I am he who searches hearts and minds …” There are a few options here. It could be a reference to Psalm 139:23. It could also be a reference to Jeremiah 17. I think it’s a reference from Jeremiah. Do you know why? More on that in a moment.

“… will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery …” Here we have an obvious and direct reference to Psalm 2, and most of your study Bibles will catch the reference. What they often don’t catch is that Psalm 2 is written about the one who God says, “you are my son.” Wait. The “son of God” Psalm being referenced in the only letter to mention the “son of God”? This is almost too much.

“… the morning star.” This idea of a rising star is pulled from Numbers 24 and the last oracle of Balaam.

But wait. We already discussed the oracle of Balaam. We talked about the Jewish understanding that Balaam was the guy who taught Balak to entice the Israelites into idolatry and sexual immorality. Aren’t idolatry and sexual immorality the very issues John is trying to warn about here? So these references are perfectly chosen: Daniel to communicate perseverance, and Balaam to communicate the struggle with sexual immorality and idolatry.

But we still aren’t done.

The other references are going to work perfectly, as well. The letter starts and ends with a direct reference to Psalm 2, a psalm we’ve seen before (linked through a beautiful gezerah shavah to Psalm 118) is linked to Solomon. Wasn’t Solomon the guy we pointed out as responsible for the mess surrounding…

Jezebel! And that was the next reference in the letter. Jezebel was the next play that would lead into the “searches the hearts and minds” reference of Jeremiah 17.

Why is Jeremiah important? Because Jeremiah starts out with these words:

“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,    inscribed with a flint point,on the tablets of their hearts    and on the horns of their altars.Even their children remember    their altars and Asherah polesbeside the spreading trees    and on the high hills.”

John quotes a Jeremiah passage that directly references the Asherah worship introduced by Jezebel, who was referenced earlier, which was the result of a bad relationship that began with Solomon, who was referenced on both ends of the letter!  It is hard to communicate the complex brilliance John is displaying here in his writing of Revelation. Not only is John brilliantly writing about the cultural setting of his day, but he’s using biblical quotations to do it. This would be impressive enough, but John is actually choosing his quotations from stories that already teach to the cultural content at hand.

It’s almost impossible to believe what the book is doing before our eyes. It’s stunning. And to quote one of my favorite teachers, “It’s almost like the author had help.”

But most of this is lost on us as we look toward the future and try to interpret the headlines of our newspapers. Trying to place the happenings of our current world and our understanding of eschatology and rapture theology, we completely miss the message that objective historical study reveals to us right in front of our noses. We want to carry this lesson with us as we continue our study of Revelation.

the Greatest

The Pharisees end up hearing that Jesus has, in fact, silenced the Sadducees with his teaching. In the gospel of Matthew, a teacher of the Law approaches Jesus to ask him about the greatest commandments. The way it reads in Matthew, it sounds as if the Pharisees are perplexed that Jesus was able to stump the Sadducees and wanted to do some follow-up. The question — “Which is the greatest commandment?” — is one that is very common in Jesus’s Jewish world. It is essentially asking the teacher what his interpretive lens is. What is his hermeneutical filter? How does he interpret the Scriptures?

“Great” commandments were really a statement about what the Jews called “weight.” Some laws carried more weight than others. If we can determine what the “weightiest” commandments are, it will help us know how to read our Text. For instance, Rahab has a dilemma when the men of Jericho come looking for the spies. In such an instance, she is going to break a law. She is either not going to protect the foreigner and allow them to be murdered, or she is going to lie. The question is one of weight. If she chooses correctly, she ends up fulfilling the law; if she chooses incorrectly, she abolishes it. Rahab chooses — intuitively, I might add (she is a pagan prostitute, after all) — that protecting the foreigner carries more weight than abstaining from lies. She decides correctly and ends up in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11).

In Jesus’s day, there were two dominant “yokes” or sets of interpretation that were held. They came from the schools of Shammai and Hillel. Shammai declared the two greatest commandments were “love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might” and “obey the Sabbath.” This made Shammai’s yoke centered on obedience. Obedience is the weightiest call in each situation. But Hillel said it was “love God…” and “love your neighbor as yourself,” making the weightiest call the call to love.

Jesus agrees with Hillel.

In Matthew, this appears to answer the question and they move on. But in Luke, this question sees a little more treatment. I personally believe we are not dealing with parallel stories in this instance, but we are dealing with the same question. Again, this is one of the most common questions a rabbi would be asked in Jesus’s world, so we would expect multiple interactions. In Luke, the questioner asks Jesus about the greatest commandment and receives the same answer.

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Desiring to justify himself? What is that all about?

Jesus, like a brilliant rabbi, has just turned the entire situation back around onto the person asking the question. Since the man is a lawyer (a person who studies the Law), Jesus asks him what his yoke is. The man replies and Jesus agrees. The whole situation would be slightly humorous to those listening in on the conversation. So in order to justify himself, he asks about the neighbor.

And justify himself, he does. Because the debate surrounding “who is my neighbor” was a fierce one. He asks a doozy of a question.

But Jesus’s response is even better. I have had more than one teacher tell me that Jesus’s parable surrounding the Good Samaritan is one of the most brilliant parables told in Jewish history. So in order to understand Jesus’s teaching, we have to set the stage.

P’SHAT

Rabbis of the first century liked to tell parables with a common template. Doing so allowed them to keep some of the variables constant for the hearers and allow them to wrestle with the content of the parable with less confusion (or should we say, it allowed them to put the confusion where they wanted it to be). One of the most common templates we have in written record is the template of the Priest, the Levite, and the Pharisee. Whatever the content of the parable was, the characters were always the same, and each played the same role.

The priest would do it wrong. The Levite would also do it wrong. But the Pharisee would do it right.

In response to the neighbor question, Jesus begins a parable following this typical template. A man is beat up and needs help. The priest refuses and the Levite refuses. (It should be noted that they have good reasons to refuse: they are trying to be obedient to their role as priests who need to stay clean — but they are using the yoke.) At this point in the conversation, everybody knows who is coming next to save the day — the Pharisee.

But Jesus changes the story. “Along came a Samaritan…”

And you could have heard a pin drop.

What we also don’t understand is the background to the “who is my neighbor” debate.

“Shammai! Who is my neighbor?” 

He would have responded, “Your fellow Jew.”

“Do I have to love the Roman?”

“No, you do not; they are our enemy.”

“Hillel! Who is my neighbor?”

“Your fellow Jew.”

“Do I have to love the Roman?”

“Yes, they are your neighbor as well.”

“Do I have to love a Samaritan?”

“Of course not! Nobody should love a Samaritan!”

In Jesus’s story, he pushes the envelope far beyond what any listener would have been comfortable with. Jesus is clearly stating that even Hillel doesn’t go far enough with his love! Not only this, but the Samaritan isn’t even the one receiving the love — he’s the one being obedient! And all of this information, which has made this parable jump off of the page, is simply p’shat.

REMEZ

Did you know Jesus wasn’t even the one who came up with this story? It took place centuries before, and it’s in your Text: 2 Chronicles 28. In the story, the king of Samaria has defeated Judah. He is celebrating his spoils and treating the prisoners poorly when the prophet comes and tells him that God is not happy. He handed the people of Judah over to him because of His discipline, but He is not happy with how they are being treated by the king. The king thoughtfully repents:

So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

This story has already happened! It’s a brilliant remez.

DRASH

As it stands, this is already an incredible teaching, but we have yet to uncover the drash. I worked for years trying to uncover the meaning. Then last year, one of my college students uncovered a chiasm in 2 Chronicles 28. Here is a depiction of the chiasm in the story of Chronicles:

Ahaz sacrifices to other gods (Baal)

The Lord humbles Ahaz with Aram and Isreal

Migration of people to Damascus

Man of Ephraim

Prophet Obed — “Restorer”

Men of Ephraim

Migration of people to Jericho

The Lord humbles Ahaz with Assyria

Ahaz sacrifices to other gods (Damascus)

The center of the chiasm ends up being Obed’s statement that they are to show mercy and love their enemies.

I don’t know if the lawyer’s mind exploded upon hearing this parable. I know he’s not even willing to say the name “Samaritan” when he answers Jesus. He apparently had a thought to ponder that night.

And again, if we are actually willing to hear the parable and not merely study it, so do we.

He who has ears, let him hear.

MICAH: the Judge

Indeed after looking now at two prophets from the Pre-Assyrian time period, perhaps we have seen the two sides of this narrative coin. While Amos was unabashedly touting a critique right in line with the Chronicler, we also saw a story of adultery (a common theological sister to idolatry) that would fit nicely with the theme of the writer of Samuel and Kings. Both of these two prophets were written to the northern country of Israel and so we now get an opportunity to turn our sights to the message that God chooses to send to their brothers in the south, the countrymen of Judah.

If prophets often had an image, then Micah’s image would be that of the LORD as the Great Judge. If Amos’s image was that of a plumb line (God has hung His plumb line and found you crooked…) and Hosea’s image was that of a harlot (you have prostituted yourselves to other gods…), then Micah’s image would be that of a gavel (pardon the western judicial image, but it communicates well here) poised and ready to come down with the judgment from God.


Let’s take a look at some of the things that God says through Micah.

After some ominous statements about what awaits the people of Judah, we hear these words to open chapter 2:

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them,
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.

It appears as though we may be back on track to see a lot of talk about injustice. The case is being made against this people that they plan wickedness as they fall asleep; they sit on their beds and plan how they might build their own empires bigger and bigger. They covet fields, assets, and property — and they seize them. They desire houses and take them. They are frauds who rob people of their rightful inheritance. Idolatry? Sure, in a sense. Idolatry that lies behind their plans? Absolutely. But that’s what idols promise, isn’t it? Don’t idols sit in all of their grandeur and make promises they can’t deliver?

You see, at the end of the day, idolatry is really about MY KINGDOM and MY NAME. God’s story is the only one that invites you to trust that you already have everything that you need and insists that you are free to lay down your life on behalf of others.

And isn’t the real tragedy of our buying into the wrong story that it ends up hurting other people? The real tragedy is that the idol encourages you to build your own kingdom and building your own kingdom comes at a price. It is too often built on the backs of those you’re having to trample in order to get to the top.

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders of Jacob,

    you rulers of Israel.

Should you not embrace justice,

    you who hate good and love evil;

who tear the skin from my people

    and the flesh from their bones;

who eat my people’s flesh,
   
 strip off their skin

    and break their bones in pieces;

who chop them up like meat for the pan,
   
 like flesh for the pot?” 

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
   
 but he will not answer them.

At that time he will hide his face from them

    because of the evil they have done. 

And later:

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;
who build Zion with bloodshed,
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.

But God invites us to trust the story — to live in something better:

Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;

    let the hills hear what you have to say. 

“Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;
   
 listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.

For the Lord has a case against his people;

    he is lodging a charge against Israel.

“My people, what have I done to you?
   
 How have I burdened you? Answer me.

I brought you up out of Egypt

    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.

I sent Moses to lead you,

    also Aaron and Miriam.

My people, remember
   
 what Balak king of Moab plotted

    and what Balaam son of Beor answered.

Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
   
 that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.” 

With what shall I come before the Lord
   
 and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

    with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
   
 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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. 

Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
   
 and to fear your name is wisdom—
   
 “Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.

Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,

    and the short ephah, which is accursed?

Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,

    with a bag of false weights?

Your rich people are violent;
   
 your inhabitants are liars
   
 and their tongues speak deceitfully.


It seems as though we’re hearing an awful lot about justice these days. The LORD has pleaded His case and His gavel is poised. The judgment is coming — and yet, we are still not left without hope. In addition to the words of Micah 5, we are also given the epilogue in chapter 7:

Do not gloat over me, my enemy!

    Though I have fallen, I will rise.

Though I sit in darkness,

    the Lord will be my light.

Because I have sinned against him,
   
 I will bear the Lord’s wrath,

until he pleads my case
 and
    upholds my cause.

He will bring me out into the light;

    I will see his righteousness.

Then my enemy will see it
   
 and will be covered with shame,

she who said to me,

    “Where is the Lord your God?”

My eyes will see her downfall;

    even now she will be trampled underfoot

    like mire in the streets. 

The day for building your walls will come,

    the day for extending your boundaries.

In that day people will come to you
   
 from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

even from Egypt to the Euphrates

    and from sea to sea
   
 and from mountain to mountain.

AMOS: the Plumb Line

The first voice to come screaming into the mess that is the divided kingdom will be the voice of Amos. This shepherd is sent to Israel (from Judah, mind you) with a very straightforward message for the people of God. Now this is important, because as I’ve suggested, the prophets will really be the place to dial in and listen to whether we hear an emphasis on the plot of Samuel/Kings and the moral failures of Israel, or whether we will hear the condemnation of empire and an overwhelming concern for justice as we hear from the Chronicler. So a good, clear-cut message from Amos ought to be a great starting place to begin our investigation. I was taught that the prophets come in with guns a-blazing, denouncing the idolatry of Israel. Let’s see if that’s the case.

Amos has what I see as a brilliant bait-and-switch in the first chapter of his prophecy. Amos starts by condemning all of Israel’s neighbors. What is interesting to note is that each of Israel’s neighbors are denounced not for their idolatry, but for the way they treat their neighbor (almost as if the whole Law and the Prophets were to hang on such a command — huh, funny).

Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab — they all are chastised for not looking out for other human beings.

Then, as chapter 2 begins, we move into a denouncement of Israel’s brother Judah. You can almost feel the glee of Israel as they hear that God is indeed on their side and against their neighbors and their way of life.

But then the thunderbolt comes. The prophecy shifts toward Israel and will stay there as the eight other chapters will begin to outline the litany of Israel’s offenses and God’s loss of patience.

So let’s see what it is.

Oh, and please read all of Amos for yourself, just to make sure I’m not cherry-picking verses out of the book; please go and find all of those references to idolatry I was told about and get back to me.

Let’s start at the beginning of Israel’s problems:

This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Israel,

    even for four, I will not relent.

They sell the innocent for silver,

    and the needy for a pair of sandals.

They trample on the heads of the poor
    
as on the dust of the ground

    and deny justice to the oppressed.

Father and son use the same girl

    and so profane my holy name.

They lie down beside every altar

    on garments taken in pledge.

In the house of their god
    
they drink wine taken as fines.

Even the few lines that appear to be about idolatry to begin with turn into judgment upon their lack of hospitality to those in need. They “lie down next to every altar on garments taken in pledge” — a direct violation of Deuteronomy’s call to take care of those in need. They drink wine in the house of their god, but it’s the fact that the wine is taken as a fine that becomes the issue. But let’s not make any hasty judgments; let’s just keep reading.

How about chapter 4?

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
    you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
    and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

Seems like a justice issue to me. But we need to make sure.

You levy a straw tax on the poor
    
and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,

    you will not live in them;

though you have planted lush vineyards,

    you will not drink their wine.

For I know how many are your offenses

    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes

    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,

    for the times are evil.

Seek good, not evil,
    
that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

    just as you say he is.

Hate evil, love good;

    maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy

    on the remnant of Joseph.

Are we preaching yet? One more, just for good measure.

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
    your assemblies are a stench to me.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

And Amos will travel around with an image that drives his message. In chapter 7, Amos will discuss a vision that God gives him of a plumb line, which is an ancient (and not-so-ancient) architectural instrument. It was used for the same things we use a level for today. A plumb line is essentially a weight on a string, which when held up and assisted by gravity, shows you a straight line — “true to plumb,” they say. It means your wall is straight and not leaning.

God says: I have hung my plumb line against my people and found them to be crooked beyond repair. My only course of action is to tear down the wall and start over.
And God has made it quite clear what’s wrong with his wall. There is a lack of justice for the poor and needy.

But in the midst of this woe is a point that we will make over and over and over again. God does not forsake His people forever. He does not abandon them. There is never a point where God leaves us without a future. Even in the midst of the greatest of disciplinary action, there is always the bright hope of tomorrow.

“In that day

“I will restore David’s fallen shelter—
    
I will repair its broken walls

    and restore its ruins—

    and will rebuild it as it used to be,

so that they may possess the remnant of Edom

    and all the nations that bear my name,”

declares the Lord, who will do these things.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman

    and the planter by the one treading grapes.

New wine will drip from the mountains
    
and flow from all the hills,

    and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.
 
“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.

    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;

    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

I will plant Israel in their own land,

    never again to be uprooted

    from the land I have given them,”
        says the Lord your God.

A Mouthpiece from the LORD

Now we’re ready to get back into the narrative. You may remember that we were discussing the two differing perspectives found in the records of Samuel/Kings and Chronicles (you may want to refresh your memory by going back here and here). I made some hefty claims as to what I believe the competing agendas (“competing” may be too harsh, but I chose it intentionally here) might be within the larger “God-breathed” (inspired) story.

I suggested that one view of God’s narrative puts the focus on our obedience. We see stories that hinge upon some great moral failure of the leadership, bad decisions leading to momentum shifts, and whole periods of history defined by the idolatry of God’s people. I also mentioned that this was the predominant view that I was given as a youth, a Bible college student, and a young pastor. But what I also suggested was that the Chronicler, writing his record much later in history, with the benefit of hindsight and the perspective that came with it, was encouraging us not to miss the story that lies behind the story — the real fundamental reason for Israel’s collapse:

The lust for empire. The forgetfulness of God’s great project to bless all nations through them.

This is a major claim to make and so as we resume our walk through God’s story and the history of His people, we want to make sure we are examining the story to find out if there are any other clues as to what the agenda of the story might be. And this is the perfect place to begin such an inquiry into the story because we find ourselves on the brink of the prophets.

This would be a great place to remind ourselves of a point that we have made in passing when referring to prophets: In a biblical sense, the term “prophet” has very little to do with “future predicting” and everything to do with being a messenger for God. We often have been given the idea that a prophet is like a Godly “fortune teller” who speaks of future things to be fulfilled; this is problematic on multiple levels, not the least of them being the belief’s inaccuracy. The prophets serve as God’s mouthpieces. God has a message for the people and the prophet is the mouthpiece that speaks the message. And the term “message” would speak of a present tense exchange of words and ideas for a present moment.

God had a message for the people of Israel for THAT DAY. He was primarily giving them a message for themselves; not a cryptic message for the future that left the readers clueless and waiting for some future people (like us!) to figure it out one day. That message had plenty of purpose for the people to whom it was sent. Any additional layers to these prophetic utterances are simply icing on the cake.

So, before we dive into Amos, let’s make sure that we draw up an outline for the historicity of the prophetic movement. What was going on when these prophets spoke to the people and who were the people they spoke to?

Just a couple quick points: When we talk about time-period, I am certainly not referring to when the prophet was written; there is far too much debate that swirls around about when these messages were heard/created/penned. What interests me is where the “voice” of the prophets is supposed to be “heard” by the reader; at what point in the story should I hear the voice of Hosea? Likewise, I am not concerned with the “who wrote this book?” conversation for the very same reasons. I will not be diving into those discussions. I do believe that the Scripture is God-breathed in the form that it was given and I can hear the voice of God speaking through the story in its many forms. This is my non-negotiable belief. Everything else is pretty fluid in my mind.

PRE-ASSYRIAN PROPHETS: These prophets are the first to show up on the scene to bring God’s message of repentance. Before the enemies begin knocking on the door of Israel and Judah, before the threat of Assyria is realized, prophets like Hosea and Amos appear bringing a message to the northern kingdom of Israel. Prophets like 1 Isaiah (I know that’s confusing, wait on an explanation) and Micah bring messages to Judah.

ASSYRIAN PROPHETS: Once Assyria begins the long, brutal process of conquest throughout the land, the prophets Jonah and Nahum will speak about God’s patience and forthcoming justice. Zephaniah and 2 Isaiah will begin preaching a message of repentance to Judah, where they warn them of the danger that awaits them if they fail to learn the lessons of their brothers to the north.

BABYLONIAN PROPHETS: After Judah’s failure to repent, God will use Babylon to cart His people back to their former days of slavery to remind them of where they come from. Prophets like Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk, Joel, and Obadiah will speak during these trying times as Babylon sweeps through the land like a locust plague.

EXILIC PROPHETS: Having now been destroyed, Israel/Judah sits in Babylonian captivity, their house left desolate, and begin to wonder if there’s any hope for the future. Prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel enter the scene, encouraging their hearers/readers to understand why they sit in captivity and casting apocalyptic visions of hope. The words of 3 Isaiah contain some of the most beautiful poetry of the ancient world, while Job uses drama to bring perspective into human suffering.

THE REMNANT: Finally, the Jews are allowed to come back home and rebuild. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of how this rebuilding period began; prophets like Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi accompany their work, encouraging the people to walk in the ways of God and recapture the mission of God in the world.

Throughout this survey of biblical prophets, my encouragement is to listen for the underlying message of God’s narrative. If the prophets serve as God’s mouthpiece, it should be very beneficial to notice what God’s message is, straight from His own mouth. I can promise you two things: You will hear talk of idolatry (and adultery, for that matter) that will remind you of the story of Samuel and Kings. I can also promise you that you will hear talk of justice and loving your neighbor as yourself. As we continue to wrestle with these two perspectives, I invite you to listen for which message begins to become dominant and overpower the story that God is inviting us to trust.

The Story Behind the Story (part one)

In order to fully understand this post, you will want to go back and read the last post, as its content will be essential to following the conversation you’ll find in this post.

So, keeping in mind the two different biblical sources we have for Davidic/Solomonic history, I want to take a look at how the two sources tell their history and what kinds of conclusions we can draw by noticing their differences. So first, let’s do a fly-by summary of what’s seen in the Samuel/Kings account.

SAMUEL/KINGS

After a seven chapter biography of Saul — his selection, his struggle, and his rejection — we are introduced to the shepherd boy David in the chapters that describe his anointing, his service of Saul, and the defeat of Goliath. Immediately following the Goliath story, Saul begins to deal with the jealously and ill-will he feels toward David. The remainder of 1 Samuel (over ten chapters) will outline the long and arduous pursuit of David by Saul, and the story goes to great lengths to display David’s humility, morality, and refusal to do anything that would not kiddush haShem.

1 Samuel ends with Saul hopelessly taking his life and 2 Samuel will begin with David mourning the death of his enemy. The first nine chapters of 2 Samuel record how David solidifies his throne in Israel, yet we cannot move past this without making two points: 1) Everything David does in establishing his throne is completely void of self-indulgence. David’s actions will continue to kiddush haShem, and we’ll even have over three chapters dedicated to David establishing the seat of God in Jerusalem, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to rest in that place, and his subsequent prayers, praise, and celebration. 2) David’s “military approach” is so counter-intuitive, that it continues to throw David’s men off their hinges. David will continue to mourn the death of his enemies and slay HIS OWN MEN when they attempt to murder the king’s enemies on their own. The story reads as a completely wacky tragedy for those trying to learn how to live in an upside-down kingdom that brings shalom to chaos.

At this point, the story turns to David’s defeat of the Ammonites and the famous story of his relationship with Bathsheba. After the story of Bathsheba, David’s life will take a turn for the worse. His family becomes a heaping pile of dysfunction, his own children begin raping and killing each other, and Absalom will chase his father through the kingdom (echoes of Saul?) and David will run from a son who eventually dies at the hands of his leading general, who will pay for that protection with his life. David will count his fighting men — a move that will get him in trouble — and the book of 2 Samuel comes to an end.

The book of 1 Kings begins with the throne of Solomon being established and his many building projects. Queen Sheba visits Solomon in chapter 10, where we are told about Solomon’s incredible splendor. Now, while there are some possible hints that things aren’t as great as they appear in the preceding chapters, the first indication that the author of Kings give us in in the middle of chapter 10 where we are told that Sheba’s gift (probably a treaty tax of good faith) weighs 666 talents — a deliberate attempt by the author to tell us we’ve reached a turning point in the story. In fact, it’s going to be this long list of treaties that gets Solomon in trouble, as each treaty is signed by the marriage of Solomon to a daughter of the opposing king/queen. The very next chapter tells us about Solomon’s 700 wives and how they lead him astray to idolatry; it is at this point where Solomon’s kingdom falls apart.

So, if we were to step back and ask what the author is saying about this story, I think we would see a definite point. The Samuel/Kings agenda is to say that the Kingdom falls because of immorality. The definite, undeniable turning point in the David story is his sin with Bathsheba; it’s David’s immorality that leads to his downfall. In a very similar fashion, it is Solomon’s immorality that leads to his downfall and the definitive shift in his story, as well. His wives will lead him into idolatry. From the perspective of the first source, the problem is clear. These men have a problem holding true to God’s path (we haven’t mentioned “trusting the story” in a while, but it certainly fits here).

CHRONICLES

However, the story of Chronicles tells a completely different story, and it’s not because the author is trying to save space. Let’s look at the differences between the two sources.

After a lengthy section of genealogies, the Chronicler spends his time introducing you to the reign of David. There is no effort spent in trying to put David’s morality on display, only his pedigree. There’s no discussion about his exclusion of Saul or how he goes about his warfare. Even more surprising is the absolute exclusion of the Bathsheba debacle. The telling of Chronicles is void of a morality parade. For the author of Chronicles, David’s kingdom consisted of something other than a high moral ethic and it fell for a far broader reason than the moral failure of a leader.

Likewise, the story of Solomon is completely void of the mention of Solomon’s many wives and his subsequent idolatry. What is so striking about this for me (your experience might be different) is that throughout my life I have been taught about the moral (particularly, sexual) failures of these two men, yet another biblically-inspired author seems to be trying to convince us not to miss the bigger point.

The author of Samuel/Kings is not incorrect in the way he tells the story at all. All the observations he makes about the moral struggle are true and the agenda that drives the story is useful and compelling for the reader to become a particular kind of individual. But remember that the Chronicler is trying to write about history with a sense of hindsight and perspective; I feel as though he is trying to tell us that we may miss the forest for the trees if we aren’t careful. To put it another way, there is a story BEHIND the story.

 

 

And this post became so long, that I've split it into two parts.  Come back on Monday to find wrestle more with the story that may lie behind the history of the Old Testament.