1. Message of the Books of Kings
We keep reading the Books of Kings. Though they tell about reigns of the kings of Israel, the contents don¡Çt represent a secular chronology. It is said that the texts were lectured in religious purpose. They were written in Babylonia where many Israelites lived as captures, isolated far from the homeland.*1 Those people naturally wondered why God made Israel perish and abandoned them. Their faith in God wasn¡Çt firm anymore. The Books were compiled as an encouragement by telling those people that the Lord was alive. The people were also taught that the captivity was a punishment to them who had fallen from God. But the writers concluded that God should forgive them if they repented. Following the teachings, they began to look back their past sincerely to repent and be forgiven. Therefore the contents of the Books seem to be lectures on the religions history of Israel. Writers focused on the problem of the righteousness of Israelites before God, instead of secular policies of the kings, internally or internationally.

After the prosperous reigns of David and Solomon, the Jewish country split up in two: the North Kingdom of Israel and South Kingdom of Judah. Then Israel was invaded and defeated by Assyria in 721 BC. 2 The Kings 17 described how the incident took place. ; - All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt, but the Israelites had honored other gods. They lived like the nations the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of them. They lived as their evil kings had shown them,(2 Kings 17:7-8)

The verses above tell that they were broken apart from the faith in God. They were worshipping local deities. That idolatry caused Israel to perish. But we, people of today¡Çs world, might wonder if an idolatry can still destroy a nation. However idolatry, in a figurative sense, practically dominates this modern society too. Because people have the tendency to glorify the powerful. Israelites who had been defeated by Assyria worshiped Assyrian deities. And when Babylonia gat hegemony, they honored Babylonian idols. In the similar way, numerous Japanese people converted to Christianity after the World War II because the majority of Americans were Christians. Nonetheless, once Japan prospered in economy, many of them left the church. They became again confident of Japanese power.

Until 1945, Japanese people thought they were ruled by the divine Emperor. Due to that belief, majority of them followed without hesitation belligerent Imperial policies. As a result, Japan rushed into the catastrophe. In short, Japan perished because of that idolatry. After the War, the new law-makers abolished the Japanese old foundation day, which had commemorated the enthronement of the first Emperor Jinmu*1. Nonetheless, they voted again in 1967 to establish the new foundation day on the same date, the 11the February. After all, they simply changed names. I think we should commemorate the very day to reflect on the past and reinforce agains the faith in God.

In 1960, Japan singed the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with the United States. But I don¡Çt think US army will take any risk to defend Japan. Because, throughout the human history, no country protected friend-nations in exchange of its own security. The Treaty might be a sort of idol for Japanese who believe that US will fight against Japanese enemy countries regardless of risks. That gullible belief is dangerous. On that account, taking lessons from the Kings should be very instructive for us.

*1 Books of kings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_kings
*2 Emperor of Japan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan#Origin

2. Disgrace of Israel and Elisha¡Çs death
Today¡Çs lecturing text tells us how Jehoash, the king of Israel, reacted to the upcoming death of his prophet Elisha. The depression of the king seems extreme. ; - ¡ÈMy father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!¡É

After the separation from Judah, the North Kingdom of Israel was on the way of decline. It was unceasingly menaced by surrounding superpowers with their military forces. The writer of the passage revealed the cause. ; - But Jehu was not careful to follow the teachings of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam had done, by which he had led Israel to sin. At that time the Lord began to make Israel smaller. Hazael defeated the Israelites in all the land of Israel, taking all the land of the Jordan known as the land of Gilead. (It was the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh.) He took land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine through Gilead to Bashan.(2 Kings 10:31-33)

¡ÈThe same sins Jeroboam had done¡É was idolatry. Even after the death of Jehu, his successor Jehoahaz won¡Çt show the righteousness by worshipping God. Therefore God made the army of Aram (Assyria) invade and abuse the land of Israel. The writer also painted Jehoahaz¡Çs reign this way. ; - Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years, and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. So the Lord was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.(2 Kings 13:1-3 )
Furthermore, the successor of Jehoahaz too led Israel to sin. ; - Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria during Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled sixteen years, and he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoash continued to do the same thing.(2 Kings 13:10-11)
Hoever, to that Jehoash, God gave the chance to repent through Elisha. Today¡Çs reading passage presents the conversation between the king and the dying prophet. ; - At this time Elisha became sick. Before he died, Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!¡É(2 Kings 13:14-21)
Elisha was the very prophet who supported the king of Israel Jehoash. It was also Elisha who had appointed Jehu, a grand father of Jehoash, as the king over Israel by pouring the oil on his head. (see 2 Kings 9:1-10)

Since then for 40 years, Elisha kept helping kings of Israel as the political adviser. Therefore Jehoash cried, ¡ÈThe chariots of Israel and their horsemen!¡É Without Elisha, Jehoash should feel lost facing the future of Israel. He didn¡Çt know how to rule correctly the nation. In the reign of Jehoash, the most aggressive superpower was Aram to the north of Israel.

And Elish had to teach Jehoash how to fight against Aram. ; - Elisha said to Jehoash, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. Then Elisha said to him, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them.¡É(2 Kings 13:15-17)

Elisha tried to ecourage the king by saying, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram!¡É Only thanks to God, the young king would be able to preserve the nation in security against the enemy.

The prophet continued. ;- Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, “Strike the ground.” So Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck five or six times!” Elisha said. “Then you would have struck Aram until you had completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.¡É(2 Kings 13:18-19 )

“Strike the ground” means to destroy totally the force of enemy after overcome and scattered it. But Jehoash wasn¡Çt as determined as Elisha wished. The young king stopped striking the ground after three times. The uncompleted act of the king suggest the future of Israel. Therefore Elisha predicted that Aram would remain the most powerful and menacing enemy of Israel. Elisha died after giving the prediction. The scripture implies that, if Israel had kept banning the idolatry in accordance with God¡Çs teaching, the nation could have survived. Kings of Israel should have done so to avoid the crucial moment. But they didn¡Çt understand. And the nation had nothing to do but wait for the disaster. That is the very message of the Books.

3. Life in the eyes of the Lord
Today¡Çs invocation verse is Isaiah 49:4; - But I said, ¡ÈI have worked hard for nothing; I have used all my power, but I did nothing useful. But the Lord will decide what my work is worth; God will decide my reward.¡É

As I said previously, the books of Kings don¡Çt focus on social achievements nor external explorations by kings. The exclusive theme of writers is the righteousness of the kings. And it is for God to judge. For example, according to the Scripture, ¡ÈAhab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.¡É (1 Kings 16:30)

Nevertheless certain modern historians estimate him rather highly as an excellent ruler. In the recent time, several monuments which were built under Ahab¡Çs reign. And specialists says that they show technical levels more advanced than other monuments of the era. Besides, Israel exceeded arm forces thanks to tributes from other countries. He should be a successful king in secular sense. But the Bible accuses him for being more evil than his predecessors. ; - More than any king before him, Ahab son of Omri did many things the Lord said were wrong.(1 Kings 16:30 )

Judgement of God must be totally different from humans¡Ç one. It means that our excellent performances on the earthy can be worthless after death. All things we accomplish in this secular world will be temporary. So much so, we as christians must ask how righteous can be in the eyes of God, not from human point of view. Our righteousness must be in accordance with God¡Çs measurement. Our conducts evaluated by other humans have no importance. The Books of Kings teach us that we have to seek how our way of living should be before God. We must ask to ourselves, ¡ÈAren¡Çt we blinded by material successes or secular praises which are equivalent to idols.

Uchimura Kanzo*1, a Japanese Christian of the Meiji period, wrote the essay, ¡ÈThe greatest legacy for the following generations.¡É It was redacted from his speech and he said in it:
— Before my death, I want to contribute something to this planet, country, society, mountains and rivers which raised me in a wonderful world for 50 years . —

And many of us might share his wish. It is natural that we want to leave something to the following generations as a reminder of our life. But what and how should we do as ordinal persons? Uchimura thought of a huge wealth to leave to the society. With that contribution, people could carry out certain construction works to prevent flood or drought. Thus they would have better agricultural environments. Then he thought of a great theory in a certain domain for academic progress. He also considered the possibility of becoming a very competent teacher to educate excellent students and scholars. However, he understood that those achievements are too difficult for ordinary humans to reach. Besides, it wasn¡Çt clear which one was ¡Èthe greatest.¡É So he wondered again what can be ¡Èthe greatest legacy¡É of our own.

All things considered, he arrived at his solution:
— The greatest legacy, still attainable for all of us is ¡Èa very courageous and faithful way of living.¡É That life-style might be feasible if we believe that this world is ruled by God, not by the evil. We must believe that this world is made with hope, not with despair. Then we will show with our conducts, not merely with words, that the very belief is true. —

Now I invite all of you to make effort to realize such a lifestyle as a gift to hand down to the following generation.

*1 Uchimura Kanzo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchimura_Kanzo