If from there you seek the
Lord your God, you will find him (Deuteronomy
4:29).
We started the year with the
premise that these writings came to their final form 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 been relatively prosperous – but inside you is a longing for home.
The faraway look in your parents’ eyes when speaking of Jerusalem has made you
vow to return there if you ever get the chance.
Now there are rumors that your
fantasy may soon become reality. Whoever wants may return to Judah with the new
king’s blessing. To prepare, the priests have been reading stories from
Israel’s beginnings – stories of enslavement and escape, temptation and
failure, desert wanderings and battles of conquest.
These stories explain why Judah
was exiled seventy years ago. It was her unwillingness to obey the first
commandment: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). But
these stories also include a promise: Even if you’ve been scattered among the
nations, …seek the Lord your God, [and] you will find him.
It was a reminder that Yahweh
would not be trifled with, and a promise that Israel would not be forgotten.
You vow that if you ever see Jerusalem you will not make the same mistakes as
did your parents and grandparents.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Are there lessons you
should be learning from your mistakes? …from the mistakes of others?
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