Visions from Our Story: The Promise Begins to Drift

God's people divided themselves, north (Israel) and south (Judah). The potential for pushing forward the promise to bless all people through the descendants of Abraham appeared to be fading.

In order to insure its religious as well as political independence Israel (northern kingdom) established its own centers of worship at Bethel and Dan. King Rehoboam even created two golden calves and declared that they were the gods who had led the people out of Egypt. He continued the struggle for independence by ordaining priests who were not Levites (I Kings 12). These actions were the beginning of a long and tortured slide by the Northern Kingdom into arrogance, apostasy and finally self-destruction.

The books of First and Second Kings tell this tale with an eye not only to the failures of the people but also the faithfulness of God in the face of God's rejection by the people. The story offers a clear vision as to the wrong turns taken by Israel on their way to annihilation.

Step one: Worship - Political independence became more important than right worship. By replacing the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob first with golden calves and then the gods and goddesses of their neighbors, the people lost any sense of their calling to fulfill the Promise. This alternative worship focus led them not only to forget God but the life giving ways into which God had called them to live. Their worship ultimately involved human sacrifice and sorcery (II Kings 17:17).

Step two: Ethics – The shift to worshipping other god's allowed the people to forget God's commandments to love neighbor, care for the widow and orphan and welcome the stranger. The Northern Kingdom became a nation in which wealth and prestige were the only criterion by which people's importance was measured. Abuse and slavery, the original reasons for declaring independence, became part of the fabric of the culture.

Step three: Leadership – While the Southern Kingdom (Judah) maintained its kingship through the lineage of David (sons following fathers) the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was one in which assassination and violence were the means by which the kingship changed hands. This meant that no leader was safe and the tenure of kings tended to be short and ineffective.

Step four: Arrogance – Because of its geographical position the nation became wealthy and powerful. Trade between Africa (Egypt) and the east (Assyria, Babylon) traversed the region and Israel reaped the rewards. The wealth they accumulated led them to believe that they were invulnerable and had no need to listen to God or God's prophets.

The amazing thing about God is that God loved the people and continued to pursue them. God continued to send prophet after prophet to call the people to repentance and new life. Great Prophets like Elijah and Elisha risked their lives to call the people back to the life giving faith offered by God. Their refusal to listen to the call had both immediate and eternal consequences.

The challenge for us is to examine our communal life and ask whether or not our vision assists us in avoiding the same step by step process which led Israel away from God? Are we rightly worshipping? Are we living rightly? Are we encouraging long term leadership? Are we living humbly? By assessing our vision with these questions we can become the kind of community God would have us to be.