Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jul 30 2019 - 2 Kings 22 – The book of the law

We return for a few days to the book of Kings. King Hezekiah has died and was succeeded by his son, Manasseh. Manasseh, "did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites" (2 Kings 21:2). He reversed the good work of his father by rebuilding the high places, erecting altars to Baal and even installing altars to "the starry host" (21:3) in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and erecting an Ashterah pole there. He "led Judah into sin with idols" (21:10). God declared he would "wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a dish, wiping it and turning it upside-down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies" (21:13-14).

Manasseh was succeeded by his son, Amon who, "worshipped the idols his father had worshipped, and [bowed] down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him" (21:21-22). On his death, his son, Josiah, succeeded him as king, and this is where we pick up the story in 2 Kings 22.

Perhaps it's fortunate that Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king. He had not had time to learn from the awful example of his father and to become trained in the idolatrous worship that surrounded him from birth. Josiah, we read, "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left" (22:2).

Hezekiah had stripped gold from the temple in a vain attempt to buy off the threats of the King of Assyria. Amon turned the temple into a place of idolatry. Josiah was determined to restore the temple as a place devoted to the worship of the Lord. He commanded that carpenters, builders and masons should be entrusted with the money that had been collected in the temple and that they should set to work buying materials and repairing the house of the Lord. In a remarkable verse we read that the king said, "But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings" (v.7). Such honesty could put accountants out of business.

During the renovations, the high priest discovered the Book of the Law in the temple. The book was brought before Josiah by his secretary (someone able to read and write), who read it to the king. As the king listened he tore his robes in a sign of repentance. "Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us", he said (v.13).

The high priest went to the prophet Huldah to find out what the Lord had to say. The answer taken back to the king was this: "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says … because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people – that they would become a curse and be laid waste – and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place." (vv.18-20). God's judgment is coming on this rebellious nation, but Josiah's repentant heart over Judah's sins, his prayers to the Lord and his determination to turn the people back to single-minded devotion to the Lord, have averted judgment during his lifetime.

We have a king in the Lord Jesus who came into the world to turn the hearts of rebellious men and women back to the Lord their God. By his death in our place, he has not averted the judgment of God for a generation, but has utterly turned away God's wrath by taking it upon himself. We have the promise of living in the embrace of God's love in Jesus Christ for all eternity. Jesus our Lord and King now leads us in paths of righteousness for his own name's sake.

Thank you, heavenly Father, for our great and glorious Saviour and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us by your Spirit always to hear his voice and follow him.

Jul 30 2020 - Mark 9:30-10:12 – Greatness

As Jesus is walking with his disciples through Galilee on the way to Capernaum, he talks to them of how he will be put to death but will rise again on the third day. We are told that they do not understand what he is talking about. The extent of their failure to understand their master becomes clear in the hot debate they are having behind his back; they are arguing with one another as to who shall be the greatest.

The desire for power is natural to us. When God created human beings he gave them authority to rule over all that he had made. The problems occur when we seek to rule over one another and when we seek to reorder our world so that it serves our own ends. It becomes a recipe for conflict, destruction and disaster.

Jesus came to demonstrate a new model of Lordship; a new model of leadership. And yet those who were closest to him seem to have been very slow to understand. I am reminded of Jesus' words to Philip, recorded in John 14:9, "Don't you know me ... even after I have been among you such a long time?"

Jesus tells the disciples, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35). To be a disciple is to learn from and become like one's master. Jesus, the Lord of glory, came into this world to lay down his life for us. We follow him not as we seek power and recognition, not as we seek to dominate others and bend them to our will, but as we serve others and give ourselves to their blessing and flourishing.

But it is part of the paradox of the gospel that it not only humbles the proud, it also dignifies the humble. Jesus took a child in his arms and said, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me" (9:37).

A child is no more naturally submissive than an adult – the point is not to admire the child. Jesus is challenging his disciples concerning the way we attribute status and worth to ourselves and to others. In the first century, a child was not regarded as a significant person. They had the lowest place in the social pecking order. Jesus encourages his disciples to have time for those that society thinks unimportant or insignificant. No one was insignificant in the eyes of the Lord Jesus and none should be viewed as without worth in the eyes of his disciples. In addition, he suggests that his disciples should be happy to lack recognition by others. The humble find in Christ's embrace that they are made children of the living God. Surely this is status enough!

The kingdom of God turns the values of this world upside down.

My soul glorifies the Lord
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has been mindful
   of the humble state of his servant...
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
   he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
   but has lifted up the humble. (Luke 1:48-48, 51-52)

Heavenly Father, thank you that, through the humble sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, I have been made a child of the living God and a member of your kingdom. Help me to learn of Christ and to have no ambition beyond that of following him and serving him. Keep me from treating anyone as insignificant or not worthy of my attention. Help me to be ready to serve others in Jesus’ name and to give myself to their encouragement and blessing.

Peter Misselbrook