Exhortation, November 6

We often put our minds into automatic pilot when reading the "boring bits" of the Bible. The details of sacrificial ritual in Leviticus, the rules of uncleanness, genealogies, the repetitive accounts of kings – these are not the juiciest bits of Scripture, and we tend to skim over them without much thought.

The last part of 2 Kings 8 is one such passage. After recounting the weird and wonderful ministries of Elijah and Elisha for a number of chapters, the author returns to a dry chronicle style to summarize the reigns of several kings in the Southern kingdom of Judah.

Two things stand out in these apparently trivial verses. First, Israel and Judah are indistinguishable, so much so that even the names of the kings are the same. There is a Joram in Judah and a Joram in Israel; an Ahaziah in Israel and another one in Judah. The kings of Judah, like the sons of God from Genesis, have intermarried with the idolatrous kings of Israel, and have been seduced by their idols.

Second, because of this, the Southern kingdom starts living through the history of the North. When Ahab died, Moab rebelled and gained its independence. Now that the kings of Judah are acting like Ahab, the Lord begins chipping away bits pieces of the Davidic kingdom as well. When Judah follows the ways of Israel, they are judged like Israel.

Buried in this "boring" passage, in other words, is a warning about worldliness, specifically the subtle and seductive worldliness of other Christians. Israel worshiped Baal, following the ways of the nations; Judah practiced "idolatry lite," following the ways of their Northern brothers. But Scripture condemns all worldliness, and Judah was no less in danger than Israel.

For John warns, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, November 06, 2005 at 08:01 AM

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