1. Finding Deuteronomy and Josiah’s repentance
We keep reading the Book of Kings and previously learned about the reigns of kings of Judah since Manasseh. And we wondered if all humans, like those kings, cannot live out of the stream of fate. Manasseh, the king of Judah, accepted Assyrian religious rites. For that reason, he and considered to be evil. However, when we look back the history, we see that his alternative was inevitable to maintain the country in peace. Facing the expansion of the superpower Assyria, a small and weak nation like Judah had no choice to survive but becoming a satellite state of Assyria.
However Josiah, the successor of Manasseh, abolished the idolatry introduced by his father. Such a religious reformation was possible only at the decline of Assyrian power. He demolished idols and repaired the Temple of God. It was the discovery of the Book of the Teaching that triggered directly the movements. The event took place when Josiah was 26 years old. The found book is now called ‘Deuteronomy.’ It was written by priests who opposed the idolatry. They intended to restore the nation based on the faith in God, as Josiah did afterwards. But it was impossible under the rule of Manasseh. So they hid the Book in the Temple. Hilkiah the hight priest found at the beginning of the restoration. He handed it to the king and, ; - When the king heard the words of the Book of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.(2 Kings 22:11)
“Tearing ones clothes” is a symbolic act of repentance. Reading the contents of the Book, Josiah understood that the sinful people were at the critical point. ; - “You must completely obey the Lord your God, and you must carefully follow all his commands I am giving you today. … Obey the Lord your God so that all these blessings will come and stay with you” 
Deuteronomy 28:1-2) …; - But if you do not obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands and laws I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and stay:(Deuteronomy 28:15)
Israel, the brother country of Judah, had been already devastated by Assyria because it was unfaithful to God. And if Judah remained sinful, God must destruct Judah too. So ; - When the king heard the words of the Book of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, … , Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant. These were the orders: “Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me, for all the people, and for all Judah. The Lord’s anger is burning against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book; they did not do all the things written for us to do.”(2 Kings 22:11-13)
After seeing the fact, Josiah took action to avoid the crisis. He sent Hilkia and others to ask Huldah the prophetess for the words of the Lord. Josiah still had hope for the mercy of God. Huldah understood the circumstances and said, ; - ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here, as it is written in the book which the king of Judah has read. The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all that they have done. My anger burns against this place like a fire, and it will not be put out.’(2 Kings 22:16-17)
movements
“God’s anger burns against the people of Judah and it will not be put out” meant the breakdown of Judah which was too sinful to be saved. That was the judgement of God. However the Lord had been moved by the faith of Josiah. So Huldah said, ; - Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: When you heard my words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and humbled yourself before me. I said they would be cursed and would be destroyed. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. So I will let you die, and you will be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble I will bring to this place.’ “(2 Kings 22:18-20)
Hearing that God’s anger burned and Judah would collapse, Josiah must be strongly distressed. However the promise, “You won’t see all the trouble I will bring to this place,” encouraged him. Therefore he could remain willing to do what he must do in the rest of his lifetime, the religious reformation. 2 Kings describes his movements from chapter 23.
Josiah made the people witness again to the Lord alone and outlawed all other forms of worship. Then he destroyed pagan objects related to the worship of the Canaanite idol Baal*1 and Asherah*2, including their statues. Josiah defiled local pagan shrines so that they could not be used again. He also reconquered the territory occupied by Assyria, then re-instituted the Passover*3 celebrations to commemorate again the Exodus from Egypt. It had been ignored till then whereas the people observed Shavuot*4 and Shavuot*5, the other two most important celebrations of Judaism, because of their Canaanite agricultural origin.
The faith is the foundation of human life. And for Jewish people, worshipping Egyptian and Assyrian idols meant spiritual submission to those superpowers. Josiah rejected that way of living. He strode toward the righteousness, which is the aim of his reformation.
*1 Baal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal
*2 Asherah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asherah
*3 Shavuot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot
*4 Sukkot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot
*5 Passover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover
2. Failure of the reformation due to the hidden Salvation
Josiah repented sincerely and tried to lead the nation to the righteousness. Nonetheless, God didn’t change the intention of destructing Judah. ; - Even so, the Lord did not stop his strong and terrible anger. His anger burned against Judah because of all Manasseh had done to make him angry. The Lord said, “I will send Judah out of my sight, as I have sent Israel away. I will reject Jerusalem, which I chose. And I will take away the Temple about which I said, ‘I will be worshiped there.’ “(2 Kings 23:26-27)
Indeed, the reformation of Josiah fell short and he was killed in the war against Egypt. He was 39 years old, 13 years after the discovery of Deuteronomy. ; - While Josiah was king, Neco king of Egypt went to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched out to fight against Neco, but at Megiddo, Neco faced him and killed him. Josiah’s servants carried his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own grave. Then the people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on him to make him king in his father’s place.(2 Kings 23:29-30)
According to the New International Version, Huldah said, “I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace.” Normally “to be buried in peace” means to die at a very advanced age, not to be killed in a war at 39. But the massacre of Jewish people, which took place after Josiah’s death, was extremely cruel. Therefore, the writers considered adequate burial rites to be “in peace.” In contrast, his successor died in horrible ways. Jehoahaz was taken as a prisoner and killed by the king of Egypt. (see 2 Kings 23:33) And Babylonians killed Zedekiah’s sons as he watched. Then they put out Zedekiah’s eyes and put bronze chains on him and took him to Babylon.(see 2 Kings 25:7)
The writers were sure that the righteous God would necessarily punish the evil and reward the faithful. So they praised Josiah very highly. ; - There was no king like Josiah before or after him. He obeyed the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength, following all the Teachings of Moses.(2 Kings 23:25)
But, why did God let Josiah be killed in the midst way to the goal of the reformation? Regardless of his obedience to the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength! God even destroyed afterwards Judah, Josiah’s nation.
The people without faith would say, ; - ”‘It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the Lord All-Powerful that we were sorry for what we did. So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.” (Malachi 3:14-15)
Are they right? Is our faith is powerless facing the cruel fate?
3. Can we alter the fate?
Today’s invocation verses are Psalm 87:4-5; - God says, “I will put Egypt and Babylonia on the list of nations that know me. People from Philistia, Tyre, and Cush will be born there.” They will say about Jerusalem, “This one and that one were born there. God Most High will strengthen her.”
The poem is said to be written after the Babylonian captivity during which Jewish people were scattered over the world as Diasporas. However we don’t feel the rancor against Egypt (Rahab*1), or the hatred of Babylon in the verses, though the latter had destroyed Judah so painfully. Nor the poet did express any disdain toward Philistia and Tyre, neighbor countries. We might say that the poet hadn’t vindictive nationalism or racism in his mind. His heart is full of joy of worshipping God all together as the common Father. Poem continues this way, ; - The Lord will keep a list of the nations. He will note, ” This person was born there.” Selah / They will dance and sing, “All good things come from Jerusalem.”(Psalm 87:6-7)
As Israel was a physical country on the earth, the majority of the people had the tendency of ethnocentrism. They considered Egypt or Assyria to be enemies who sought to attack Israel. Then the people of Israel spread into other counties due to the defeat of the nation but they kept worshipping God in those places. And sometimes their faith led gentiles to convert to Judaism. God should destroy Israel to send the people into the world as His messengers. As a result, ; - They will say about Jerusalem, “This one and that one were born there.” God Most High will strengthen her.”(Psalm 87:5)
The poet showed in the verse his gratitude for the fact. Sufferings as losing the country, living as captives and being subordinated to Gentiles, made the Jews God’s people. We see there the Providence of God. It leads still now the History.
No humans can escape from the death as the ultimate fate. But two different ways can be possible to accept the reality. Some might say, ; - “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”(1 Corinthians 15:32)
In contrast, as Kanzo Uchimura*2 said in his speech ‘The Greatest Legacy,’ others might wish during their living time to contribute something to this beautiful planet or country which grow them up.
It’s true that we can’t alter the fate itself. But we can interpret evens in life in different ways. Then we can see the meaning of them. The people could encourage each other by reading the Kings. Because the Books told that Josiah kept making effort to achieve his task. Regardless of the terrible prophecy, “God’s anger burns against Judah and it will not be put out,” Josiah didn’t lose the hope to accomplish what he must to do. And when the Jewish people read Deuteronomy 30:1-3 they were finally empowered, though they were scared at first. ; - When all these blessings and curses I have described happen to you, and the Lord your God has sent you away to other nations, think about these things. Then you and your children will return to the Lord your God, and you will obey him with your whole being in everything I am commanding you today. Then the Lord your God will give you back your freedom. He will feel sorry for you, and he will bring you back again from the nations where he scattered you.
It was that hope which allowed the people of Judah to survive during 50 years in the place of Captivity. Thus God gave them a new life as His chosen people. Indeed, the loss of the country was the judgement. But it opened the path to the blessings. They understood that the devastation turned into the blessing through the Providence of God. The life and death of Josiah were not in vain. Numerous Jews were encourage by his way of living. The faith of Josiah received such an honor.
Generally we have a range of 60 to 80 years for life expectancy. Our time is limited. And, due to that boundary, we surely fail to learn certain truths. But at least, when we look back the History, we should see the line which leads it. Or, in other words, the Providence of God. And if we see that leading line we are empowered to live our life courageously. Isaiah 49:4 witnesses to it. ; - But I said, “I 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.”
The verse fortifies us and we arrive to face the given fate without fear. Thus we will live by doing our best. Now I present “Serenity Prayers*3” by Reinhold Niebuhr as the conclusion of today’s lecture. :
— God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.—
They are showing the essence of the verse of Isaiah!
*1 Rahab, was a name applied to Egypt after the exodus of the Israelites from that country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin_(demon)
*2 Kanzō Uchimura http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzō_Uchimura
http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/32413/1/LAFAY.pdf
*3 Serenity Prayers http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/special/serenity.html
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL : http://shinozaki-bap.jpn.org/modules/wordpress2/wp-trackback.php/186
この投稿には、まだコメントが付いていません