The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 12  Read:  2 Kings 25 Listen: (5:24) Read: Psalms 78.38-72 Listen: (7:12)

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 25:3, 11-15

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 

11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.

Reflection: Starving People for Gold

By Erin Newton

The siege against Jerusalem by the Babylonian army lasted nearly two years. What takes us just seconds to read covers months of devastation for the people. Siege warfare, at least to our nearly isolated geography in the United States, is a strange concept to our minds.

According to Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, to lay a siege “involves the surrounding of a city until its population either surrendered or was weakened enough to be overcome.” Famine sets in, not from lack of rain but from manmade power. This type of warfare is still happening today.

In 2 Kings 25, we see the Babylonian army surrounding Jerusalem and effectively prohibiting them from normal trade or receiving crops or aid from outside their walls.

The Babylonians knew that hungry, starved people were easier to control. Not only were they easier to push over, but they were much easier to rob.

Part of 2 Kings 25 focuses heavily on the destruction of the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar burned it down. It was an affront to God as the place where he met with his people was torn apart, stripped of its beauty and sacred vessels.

But Babylon had already decimated the temples of God by isolating and starving humans. We are familiar with 1 Corinthians 3:16: “You yourselves are God’s temple.” We know that each person is the image of God. So what was done to the Temple was merely a reflection of what had already been done to the people.

And for what? To gain power. To gather gold.

Nebuchadnezzar stroked his ego by decimating God’s people. He filled his coffers for no other reason than to appear important and flaunt his power over others. To strengthen himself, he had to weaken others—by any means necessary. And that is the face of cruelty.

Many of us today are opening the gates of our pantries, behind the cabinet walls, and counting the few measly cans left on the shelf. Fellow image bearers are looking into accounts, drained by the siege of those in power. Just like the ancient tactic to starve a people in order to control them, powers are exploiting the weak.
Will another gilded ornament be placed on the wall while supplies are strategically cut off from those in need? There is nothing new under the sun, just like Qoheleth said (Eccl 1.9). Cruelty today looks an awful lot the same.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Rescue me from the hurtful sword and deliver me from the hand of foreign people,
Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth, and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.
May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner of crops; may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands and tens of thousands; may our cattle be fat and sleek.
May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile, no wailing in the public squares.
Happy are the people of whom this is so! Happy are the people whose God is the Lord! — Psalm 144.11-16

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Restoration Begins

Restoration begins with repentance. Exile and slavery are not the end for God’s people. They’re more like a restart.

Read more: The End for Summer Fruit

Starvation is one of the harshest sufferings. It is slow and debilitating…Spiritual starvation is equally slow and painful.

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 11  Read: 2 Kings 24 Listen: (3:21) Read: Psalms 78.1-37 Listen: (7:12)

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 24.20

20 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.

Reflection: Anger, Exile, and Mercy

By  John Tillman

God put his name on the people so they could “image” him to the world. He promised to bless nations through them. He put his Spirit in the mouths of their prophets, priests, kings, and poets. His presence filled their Temple with glory.

Yet, they rejected him. They chose cursing, not blessing. They blasphemed God’s name by misrepresenting him with their actions.

Instead of lifting up the poor, caring for the outcast, and welcoming the foreigner, they crushed, oppressed, and denied justice. They tortured and killed God’s messengers, preferring uncritical voices. They despised the Lord’s presence by serving other gods and idols right in the very Temple that bore God’s name. They did all this with impunity, still considering themselves righteous.

Can we see ourselves in them? How is God’s name thought of because of us? Do people call us a blessing? What would the poor, outcast, and foreigners think of God’s love for them if they based it entirely on our treatment of them? Do we represent God faithfully?

God planned good things for Israel during captivity. This is what Jeremiah 29.11 is about. In exile, God would rebuild Israel. But to be remade into God’s image they had to be stripped of all they had relied on other than God.

The beautiful walled city? Not one brick left on another.
The newly restored Temple? Stripped of valuables. Razed to the ground.
The proud kings, noble families, and wealthy leaders? Stripped. Shaved. Enslaved. Some blinded. Some maimed. Many would have been castrated and made eunuchs. 

Do we feel destroyed or stripped or exiled or shamed or humiliated? Do we see failure and unrighteousness? If so, we can still turn to God. “I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you,” says the Lord. This was not spoken to “winners.” These words are meant for those who have lost a battle, seen their Temple fall, seen their kings carried off in chains, and admitted their sinfulness and corruption.

Not all misfortunes are judgments of God for sin. But whenever we feel crushed and hopeless, God tenderly reminds us that he has not forsaken us even if we have forsaken him. Even in exile, we do not need to despair but to repent, be restored, and be a blessing where God sends us.

His anger is only for a moment. His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 30.5)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, God reveals himself in glory.
Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; for God himself is judge. —Psalm 50.2, 6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Balancing Justice and Mercy

Whether people die by neglect…malice…abuse of power…violence of crime or excessive punishment, we are responsible to provide justice.

Read more: Have Mercy

Pray this pluralized version of Psalm 51 this week, confessing not only our individual sins but the sins of our communities, churches, and nations.

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 10  Read: 2 Kings 23 Listen: (7:43) Read: Psalms 77 Listen: (2:12)

Scripture Focus: 2 Kings 23.10-14

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun. 

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

Reflection: Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

By John Tillman

Around the world, Christians, including myself, pray for a revival like Josiah’s in our countries. But there’s a problem…

Josiah forcefully and radically changed Israel and Judah’s religious landscape. He tore down the infrastructure of temples, altars, and idols. He put out of work or killed the personnel of priests, prostitutes, and workers. He restored true worship for the first time in generations.

Josiah’s reforms were a massive change for the nations of Israel and Judah. These changes would have affected the job market, the economy, housing, and agriculture. Josiah cleansed Israel and Judah from top to bottom, but the next generation went bottom up. The changes didn’t stick. Why?

Josiah tore down the altars on the hillsides, but he couldn’t touch the ones in their hearts. He burned and ground the symbols of false gods into dust, but he couldn’t grind down the people’s habitual addiction to their images. He destroyed temples of gold and silver, but he couldn’t melt from their minds people’s comfortable familiarity with idolatry.

We need revival deeper than Josiah’s. If we want lasting faith in the next generation and a revival beyond a few changes to architecture, we need to base it on something other than force and power. We don’t need a strong man enforcing showy spirituality, religious observance, and moral behaviors.

Rather than dictatorial destruction, we need grassroots growth. Rather than pharisaical enforcement, we need Christlike engagement. We also need to clean our own houses first and do so with honesty.

It’s easy to be judgmental of ancient people’s idols. They seem so simplistic, terrifying, or just weird. “Storm gods, sex gods, and chaos monsters, oh my. How could they believe this?” But these gods were normal to the culture. Engaging with these idols was practical SOP that promised financial ROI.

When we look for idols in our lives, we shouldn’t look for weird things. We should look for normal things. The idols of a culture don’t always dress up in flamboyant costumes. They often hide in normality and ubiquity.

The idols we find in our lives are unlikely to appear as mystical beings or golden statues or be found in shrines and altars on hillsides. But they might resemble institutions, brands, or revered leaders. They might hide among private shrines of belief, our pet sins, and our longings for comfort, safety, and control.

Lasting revivals start small. May one start now.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

“Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up,” says the Lord, “And give them the help they long for.” — Psalm 12.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Rumors or Repentance

When someone critiques you and calls you to repent, what will you do? Will you dismiss them with a rumor… with violence…or will you listen…?

Read more about The Cost of Repentance

Josiah is known for religious reforms…a leader who not only recognized sin but called it out, determined to live differently, and worked to get rid of it.