If from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him. (Deuteronomy 4:29)Our premise when we began reading at the beginning of the year was that these writings came to their complete and final form sometime during the Babylonian exile. I asked you to put yourself in the place of a Jewish expatriate. Things haven't been particularly rough in Babylon; you've settled down, raised a family, and even been relatively prosperous, but something inside you is longing to go home. When your parents told you about Jerusalem they got a far away look in their eyes that made you vow to return there one day if you ever got the chance.
Now there have been rumors that your fantasy may soon become reality. A new king has decreed that whoever wants may return to Judah and settle once again in the homeland. To prepare, the priests have been reading stories from Israel's beginnings, stories of enslavement and escape, stories of a people returning to the Promised Land - the very land of your childhood bedtime tales.
The stories even explain why Judah was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and exiled to Babylon seventy years ago. It was Judah's unwillingness to obey the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). But in these more recent stories, there is a promise made: Even if you've been scattered among the nations, If from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him.
It was a reminder that Yahweh would not be trifled with, and a promise that Israel would not be forgotten. Many years ago your ancestors left Egypt and journeyed to Canaan, but because of their disobedience the Jewish people were driven out of their Promised Land. You vow that if you ever see Jerusalem you will not make the same mistakes made by your parents and grandparents.
What lessons have you learned from family mistakes?
No comments:
Post a Comment