Eucharistic Meditation, January 9

1 Kings 12:15: So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a twist from Yahweh, that He might establish His word.

A �twist from Yahweh.�EThat�s what the writer of Kings calls the division of the kingdom. Yes, Rehoboam acted stupidly, brazenly, with foolish bravado. But the division was not ultimately Rehoboam�s doing. It was God�s doing. Yahweh sovereignly rules even in the midst of human stupidity, ensuring that His promise to Jeroboam is coming to pass. But the idea of a �twist�Enot only points to Yahweh�s sovereign control of these events, but to the shrewdness and cunning He displays in these events. Yahweh turns Rehoboam�s power-play against him. Instead of intimidating the northern tribes into submission, he drives them away. Instead of gaining greater authority over Israel, he loses all authority over Israel. To the king, David wrote, Yahweh shows Himself kind. To the blameless, he shows Himself blameless. But to the crooked, He shows Himself twisted (Ps 18:25-26).

But there�s a larger divine intent here as well, an even bigger twist. The whole book of Kings is overshadowed by Yahweh�s fixed intent to fulfill the promise to David. David�s son will rule forever, and David�s son is the Abrahamic seed who will bring blessing to the Gentiles, to the world, restoring the creation. But the path toward this universal blessing is not a wide and easy one. Narrow is the gate and hard the way that leads to the Davidic promise. The way lies through death and division.

When God called Abraham, he selected out one nation from among the nations to be the priestly people, to be the agent of salvation for the world. Life comes to the human race when Yahweh tears the human race into Jew and Gentile. And in Kings Israel is reliving the history of the human race in her own history, recapitulating the division and reunion of humanity in her own division and ultimate reunion.

Ultimately, this is the wise and cunning plan, the �twist from God�Ethat we celebrate at this table. For Jesus, the True Israel, reunites the nations in Himself, by offering Himself to be torn and by entrusting Himself to His Father who raises the dead. God�s strange plan for salvation has been fulfilled in Jesus, and we are caught up in that plan as the new human race, the true Israel, gathered at this table to break and share bread.

�Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!�E

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, January 09, 2005 at 08:54 AM

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