10.9.11--Great is God's Faithfulness

Steve Jobs, the creator and former CEO of Apple, passed away this last Wednesday. Jobs was the innovative genius behind such inventions as the Apple 2, which was the first marketed personal computer, the iBook, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. Within hours of his death, the news was all over the web—many of my Facebook friends changed their profile picture to the Apple logo, the Apple web page put up a tribute picture to him, President Obama himself said a few words in honor of the man, and even competitive companies like Microsoft and Google paid homage to this man’s life and work in their own special way.

This one man has left an amazing impact on the world, and even those who worked against him have to admit that one of the great minds of our time has passed too early from this world. I think the President said it best in his official statement: “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

The world will remember Steve Jobs due to the impact he has left behind him.

I’ve often wondered how it is that I will be remembered when it is my time to be called home. Will the world take a collective moment of silence at my passing? Will the President of the United States issue an official statement honoring me? Or will the opposite happen? Will I quietly pass into oblivion without anyone noticing? Will my family and friends remember me lovingly? Will I have changed a single life during my time on earth?

Have you ever wondered these things? Do you ever consider what kind of legacy you will leave behind you?

In our chapter from The Story this week, we see legacies left by the kings of split kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Starting with Jeroboam and Rehoboam to Asa and Ahab and everyone in between, our chapter gives us the summarized obituary of every king to rule from Solomon’s death to the prophet Elijah’s life. And, with only one exception, every one of them follows a path of sin and destruction.

Let us read together some of these legacies:

After seeking advice, King Jeroboam made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. (1 Kings 12:28)

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom. (14:25)

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. (15:1)

In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done… Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. (15:9)

Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit. (15:25)

In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. (15:33)

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill. But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him. (16:23)

 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. (16:29)

Jeroboam sets up the practice of idols—golden calves, even, which the Israelites have already tried doing once during Exodus—and appoints priests outside of the house of Levi, God’s priestly house. Rehoboam allows the temple and palace to be sacked and replaces the riches of Solomon with polished brass. Abijah, Nadab, Baasha, and Omri all are remembered for leading sinful lives in opposition to the Lord. Of the group, only Omri is remembered for anything else of significance—building the city of Samaria. Then comes Ahab, who is presented as the worst of them all. The sins of all of those who came before are trivial compared to the deeds of Ahab. In fact, the only one of the lot who is remembered for doing anything good, for following the Lord’s commands and leading the people in right worship of their God is Asa, who reigned over Judah. He alone left a legacy worth lifting up.

The rest left a legacy all right: one of sadness, of desolation, of darkness.

When I first read this chapter, I honestly could not get over the sadness of it. Why would the Israelites lift this up as Scripture? Why would they remember such dark times in their history and record them in their Holy Book? What part of this is consolating? What part of this story reminds of the greatness of God?

And then it hit me just how important this part of Scripture is: it shows the faithfulness and determination of the God of Israel. This might be one of the most important sections of the Bible, not because it shows how God blesses and lavishes God’s people when they listen and follow God’s commandments but because it shows how even in the face of outright opposition and hostility, God will not give up on God’s people.

The records found in 1 Kings of the different rulers of Israel and Judah are not recording the legacy of the those who occupied the thrones; they are recording the legacy of God and God’s faithfulness during a time when even the rulers themselves were unfaithful to their God.

God’s faithfulness was evident then, and it is all the more evident now, for we have the rest of the story as well. We know that God was not only faithful to the people of Israel during this time of desolation, God continued to be faithful, going even so far as to die a horrible death so that none of humanity would ever have to experience existence without God. In a show of unfathomable faithfulness, God gave God’s Son, Jesus, to save us from the depths of our sin. And the best part is this: when God did this we were still enemies of God. Jesus did not die for the faithful; He died for the unfaithful so that they might find life and faith in Him.

So may we hold on to the legacy of God as it is found in 1 Kings. May we remember the faithfulness of God in the midst of the blatant unfaithfulness of God’s people. And may we rejoice in the faithfulness of the God who saves us in spite of and in the midst of our own unfaithfulness.

Amen.