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Writer of Fancy: The Playful Piety of Jane Austen
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
Pauline Viviano has a bit of fun at my expense over on the America website(www.americamagazine.org/blogs/client). She’s “reviewing” my commentary on 1 & 2 Kings, but instead of actually discussing my book, she mocks typological interpretation and my use of it in particular. She knew what I was up to without reading more than a few pages: “It was clear after the first few pages of this commentary that every number ‘3′ in the books of Kings was going to be taken as a foreshadowing of the Resurrection; every body of water, a reference to Baptism; and every anointing, messianic.” Saves time for a reviewer to know what the book is about without having to read it.
I’d certainly be more worried by a favorable review from America, and at least I made Prof Vivano giggle. That’s what the commentary was about, of course - spreading glee and good cheer to every corner of Christendom.
A few of Viviano’s points are worth responding to.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 11:22 am
The Shunammite woman sets Elisha up with a small sanctuary in an upper room, complete with menorah, table, throne-chair, and bed (= altar). When the woman’s son dies, Elisha lays him on the bed/altar, and he revives. He is another Isaac, Elisha a new Abraham. Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac was followed by a promise of an abundant seed and then by the negotiations for a plot of land (Gen 22-23). Elisha raises the boy, and then goes to feed a hundred men and to restore the land to fruitfulness.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 at 7:52 am
David’s house dies and rises again several times in 1-2 Kings: After Athaliah kills the royal seed, Joash rises from the temple; after Samaria falls, the Lord saves Judah from Assyria through Hezekiah’s prayer; after Nebuchadnezzar takes Judah into exile, Jehoiachin is taken from prison and set at the king’s table.
Each time the house of David goes through a death and resurrection, David’s house matures, and each death and resurrection takes the house of David a step further than before. Joash is the first king to give serious attention to the disrepair of the temple; after a long period where the temple is ignored, the temple becomes so important that by the time of Jeremiah Judah is idolizing the temple. Hezekiah goes further, taking down the high places, and Josiah follows his example. These two events foreshadow the maturation that takes place after the exile, when a restored Israel rebuilds the temple and never returns to high places or overt idolatry.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, July 31, 2006 at 5:12 am
2 Kings 24:4: also for the innocent blood which Manasseh shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Yahweh would not forgive.
Manasseh’s reign, as we saw some weeks ago, was the turning point for Judah. After Manasseh’s idolatries and violence, Yahweh determined to destroy Judah, and no amount of reformation and repentance would change His mind. Here we have that same thing stated with frightening simplicity: “Yahweh would not forgive.”
The particular sin mentioned here is the shedding of innocent blood. As Ahab killed Naboth and the prophets, Manasseh persecuted and killed the innocent, and the Lord rose up as an avenger of blood to destroy Judah. But the violence of Manasseh has a deeper root in the history of Israel.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, July 2, 2006 at 7:45 am
Zedekiah was the last Davidic king in Judah, and like many of his predecessors he “did evil in the sight of Yahweh.” We might imagine he oppressed the people, promoted idolatry, persecuted prophets, ignored God’s commandments and His prophets. We know from the book of Jeremiah Jehoiakim did all this, and Zedekiah did evil “according to all that Jehoiakim had done.”
But the portrait of Zedekiah in Jeremiah is not what we expect. Jehoiakim scornfully burns Jeremiah’s scroll (Jeremiah 36). Zedekiah doesn’t do anything so brash. Instead of a viciously wicked king, Zedekiah is a waffling king, a weak king, a king influenced in equal measure by the prophetic word and by public opinion.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, July 2, 2006 at 7:38 am
INTRODUCTION
After Josiah, Judah unravels rapidly. Josiah’s son is imprisoned by Pharaoh Neco (23:33), and before long Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonians are invading, destroying the temple and the city (24:1). It is Good Friday for Israel.
THE TEXT
“Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah. . . .” (2 Kings 23:31-25:30).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, June 26, 2006 at 9:09 am
In the account of Josiah’s reform in 2 Kings 23, there is frequent reference to “defiling” (vv 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20). Josiah defiles by scattering the ashes from a destroyed Asherah pole, by filling holy places with bones, by burning bones on altars. It’s not enough just to destroy the shrines and vessels of idolatrous worship. That would interrupt the worship, but it doesn’t remove the holiness and sanctity of the place or the things.
Sanctity or holiness is a condition, a status, and that can be reversed only by some act that transfers the sacred to the profane. Sacredness has to do with cleanness, but also with life. Bones, ashes, and death defile, and so to bring a definitive end to these shrines and altars Josiah not only has to destroy but to defile. Jeroboam’s altar was split in two; but because it wasn’t defiled, Jeroboam just rebuilt it and carried on. Josiah makes that impossible.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 9:19 am
2 Kings 23:12: The altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, the king broke down; and he smashed them there, and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.
Josiah was one of the great heroes of the faith, providing an example not only for leaders of the church but for every believer. All leaders of the church are to imitate his zeal in destroying anything idolatrous in the church, but every believer is responsible to do the same – making war against the flesh and the idols of his own heart. We are made of dust; we are each a land to ourselves; and God calls us to keep that land free from altars to Baal and shrines to Molech.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 8:39 am
2 Kings 23:21-23: Then the king commanded all the people, saying, Celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God as it is written inn this book of the covenant. Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to Yahweh in Jerusalem.
As we have seen in the sermon, Josiah is not only a new Moses, who delivers the law to the people and renews the covenant, but a new Joshua, carrying out a purging conquest of the land. Like Joshua, he destroys shrines; like Joshua, he drives out Canaanite gods and their worshipers; like Joshua, he destroys idolatrous priests.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 8:14 am
The reform of King Josiah is one of the high points of the history of Judah, and Josiah one of the great heroes of the faith. But we should also consider what this story reveals about the condition of Judah. As we consider the virtues of Josiah, don’t lose sight of what made his reform necessary – the idolatry of Judah.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 8:05 am
Hezekiah is the greatest; 2 Kings 18:5 says so: “He trusted Yahweh, the God of Israel; so tyhat after him there was no like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.”
Josiah is the greatest; 2 Kings 23:25 says so: “before him there was no king like him who turned to Yahweh with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.”
Russell Dilday suggests resolving this by noting the specifics of what is said about each:
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 7:21 am
INTRODUCTION
After Hilkiah finds the book of the law in the temple, Josiah embarks on a thorough reform of Judah’s worship. But his reformation extends beyond the borders of Judah; Josiah not only reverses the sins of the kinds of the South but the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel sin.
THE TEXT
“And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. . . .” (2 Kings 23:4-30).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 11:38 am
INTRODUCTION
Hezekiah is a new David, Manasseh an idolatrous Solomon. Josiah reverses the sins of Jeroboam by bringing an end to Jeroboam’s liturgical experiments. Great as he is, he cannot save Judah from destruction. Huldah prophesies that Jerusalem, Judah, and the temple are doomed (22:16-20), and the narrator confirms that all his reforming efforts have not turned away Yahweh’s wrath against Manasseh (23:26ff.). From a Pauline perspective, this story shows that there is no redemption for Israel through the law, no matter how faithfully obeyed or enforced (Romans 8:1-4). As Habakkuk said, the law has “become impotent” (1:4).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 9:29 am
Manasseh filled Jerusalem with the blood of the innocent; in context, the blood appears to be the blood of prophets (2 Ki 21:10-16). This is one of the continuing charges against Manasseh after Josiah’s reign is over (24:3-4). The blood of the prophets (or, at least, of the innocent) calls up the blood avenger who comes to destroy the city.
The pattern is the same in Revelation: The blood of the saints is poured out on the city, and as a result the Lord brings vengeance against the harlot who is drunk with the blood of saints.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 4:04 pm
“Manasseh” is derived from a causative form of the verb “forget” - hence, cause to forget. Manasseh causes Judah to forget by liturgical change - rebuilding high places, erecting altars and Asherahs, and so on. Memory is nourished by liturgy; forgetfulness by liturgical perversion.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 3:58 pm
INTRODUCTION
Manasseh undergoes a demonic “repentance”: Verse 3 says “he turned, he built,” using the Hebrew verb that normally designates repentance (”turn”). He “repents” of Hezekiah’s reforms. Because of this, the Lord determines to repeat in Jerusalem what he did in Shiloh (v. 12; cf. 1 Samuel 3:11; Jeremiah 19:3). He will bring a judgment that will reverberate throughout the world.
THE TEXT
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. . . .” (2 Kings 21:1-26).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, May 15, 2006 at 7:45 am
The story of the Bible is the death and resurrection of the Christ, but often there is an important nuance to this story-line.
The house of Ahab is not destroyed during the reign of Ahab, but during the reign of his son Jehoram, the best of the Omrides (2 Kings 3:2). After the death-reign of Ahab and Jezebel, Jehoram might look like the beginning of new life. But that new life is not enough. Before Israel is restored, she must go through the deeper death of Assyrian conquest.
The house of David is destroyed not during the reign of Manasseh, but after the reign of Josiah, among the best of the Davidic kings. After the death-reign of Manasseh (and some of his predecessors - Ahaz), Josiah is definitely new life for Judah. But that new life is not enough. Before Judah can be restored, she must not only go through the death of apostasy, but the deeper death of exile.
Jesus is opposed by the Pharisees and scribes, but at the beginning of Passover week things seem to be on the upswing. Cheering crowds greet Him as He enters Jerusalem, and He silences the Pharisees in debate in the temple. One can imagine Peter musing that all that talk about the cross was greater exaggerated. But the death of rejection must be followed by the deeper death of the cross.
Resurrection is not merely an upswing after a period of decline. Resurrection is not merely improving fortunes, a kind of spiritual upsurge in the GNP. Resurrection is resurrection, new life after a death deeper than decline.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 9:28 am
INTRODUCTION
Hezekiah is one of the great heroes of Kings. His response to his sickness shows his faith in Yahweh, and Yahweh’s favor to him. But he shows his treasures to a Babylonian delegation, a prelude to Babylon’s later invasion.
THE TEXT
“In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live. . . .’” (2 Kings 20:1-21).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, May 8, 2006 at 7:21 am
In response to Hezekiah’s query, Isaiah promises that the Lord will “put a spirit” in the Assyrian king and that Sennacherib will “hear a rumor and return to his own land” (2 Kings 19:7). The following verse tells us that Sennacherib had gone from Lachish to Libnah, perhaps upon hearing the report that Tirkakah of Ethiopia was coming out to meet him along the Mediterranean coast (v. 9). But this does not lead Sennacherib to withdraw; instead, he sends the Rabshakeh back to Jerusalem with a threatening letter for Hezekiah.
So, when and how was Isaiah’s prophecy fulfilled?
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Because of Hezekiah’s prayer (2 Kings 19:14-19), the Lord delivers Jerusalem, kills 185,000 Assyrians, and sends Sennacherib packing back to Nineveh. That’s what one calls an effective prayer. What made it so effective?
Among other things, it is firmly based on the promise and word of God. He makes explicit reference to the promise of 1 Kings 8-9 when he asks the Lord to “hear” and “see” what the Rabshakeh has said in the name of Sennacherib. Hezekiah’s presence in the temple area to offer this prayer is itself based on a promise. What authorizes him to go into the Lord’s presence and say anything at all? It’s because God has promised, and because God has installed him as king. He can make this prayer because he is an authorized representative of Judah in the temple.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 11:35 am
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