October 18, 2010

• Ending Well!

     
      Earlier this summer going through the Old Testament, I spent some time reading and researching the books of Kings and Chronicles (there are two of each). History doesn’t usually ‘stir the juices’ for me, but I came to some intriguing conclusions never-the-less. I had never been aware that the focus of the books of Chronicles is primarily on the reigns of the kings of the Southern nation of Judah, whereas the books of Kings provide a running account of both the Southern kingdom and the rulers of Israel to the North. In giving a general overview of those who ruled these two nations, these books include their names, the kings’
  fathers (sometimes mothers and/or grandmothers), how long they reigned and a description of what Yahweh God thought of them. Of the forty or so monarchs
  of these tiny kingdoms, from God’s perspective, none from the North were any good and only seven or eight from the South were.

      My research has helped me come to one of four general conclusions regarding all of the kings of both Judah and Israel:
                                
  

      Every time-line chart I have consulted tags Manasseh as among the "worst" of all the heads of the divided kingdoms. Both II Kings and II Chronicles agree
  that his fifty five year reign was terrible. In an uncharacteristically long description, the writer of Kings detailed the excesses of Manasseh as Judah’s king:
  
                  
  

      Were it not for the description found in II Chronicles (which follows closely the account of II Kings), that would be the end of it--an extremely bad ending
  to an equally bad beginning. However, the writer of Chronicles injected details that faintly lift the stark edges of the black veil of evil and wickedness that
  indelibly punctuated the life of Manasseh. His extreme wickedness compelled Yahweh God to commission the Assyrians to capture him and unceremoniously haul
  him off to Babylon in shackles. Which is precisely what they did. While there, Manasseh humbled himself before the God of his fathers. In "total repentance" he
  prayed to God and God was so effected by his repentance and prayer, that He restored Manasseh to his throne in Jerusalem. At that moment in his life, Manasseh
  " . . . knew that the Lord is God" (II Chronicles 33:13 [NIV]). In addition to strengthening the city’s defenses, Manasseh;
  
                   
  

      Despite Manasseh’s best efforts to turn them around toward serving Yahweh God, the people of Jerusalem and Judah, for the most part, ignored him in
  refusing both his advice and example. Instead, they continued in the ungodly ways that he had originally encouraged them to travel. Finally, though Manasseh
  ended well, he had paid a horrendous price along the way. His career of evil had a devastating effect not only upon himself, but upon his people as well. He had
  horribly misled them so that they too suffered the humiliation of captivity in Babylon--being evicted from the land and separated from everything they held near
  and dear to themselves.

      Like Manasseh, we have begun badly. Whether we subscribe to the prevalent notion that we have entered this world as sinners--or were created by God
  like our original parents, innocent with natures profoundly susceptible to evil, we still find ourselves along with everyone else, to be sinners (see Romans 3:23).
  The deck has been stacked against us. We are born into a world that "lieth in wickedness" (I John 5:19 [KJV]). We are raised by sinful parents. We are
  surrounded by rank sinners. We are no match for satan, who is a foe possessing thousands of years experience misleading people into sin and alienation from our Creator.  He deftly assaults us daily. And regardless of our view of basic human nature, we have begun badly.

      But this is not the focus of this piece! Though often it is, this is not to be our fixation--the focus of all that is deep within us. We must break the vicious
  cycle of our lives in which every waking moment is filled with how horribly we have failed (even though we have). This was the challenge that the Apostle Paul placed before the Philippian believers. In acknowledging his profound failure by obsessing over his extreme success at being a good Jew, Paul confessed;
  "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize
  of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14 [KJV]).

      This too, is our primary work: to end well --To fight the fight and to finish our course (cf. II Timothy 4:6-8). Several places in the Message translation, the phrase "to live wisely and well" is highlighted and it is ‘spot on’ in describing our primary responsibility before God:
  
                                       
  

  I have been reluctant to offer the advice that I give in this post. Why? Because I have not yet come to the end of my life here, and it would cause me deep shame and regret to so strongly urge these things upon others and then in the end to find that I have failed to take my own advice. It is so very simple and noble sounding to talk about living wisely and well, but as others have said, "the proof is in the pudding". Living wisely and well--to end well is no easy task especially since we
  have begun so badly! In the final analysis, it comes down to depending less and less on ourselves and depending more and more on our Lord and that is so very
  hard to do!
  
                   
                                                                                                                                                               
                        
  

  • 5:09 am
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