You will never lack a man on the throne of Israel.

 

Friday, September 15, 2023


Psalm 37:1-17

1 Kings 9:1-14

Acts 28:1-16


Observance: John Oliver Feetham, bishop and bush brother (d. 1947)


You will never lack a man on the throne of Israel.


Christianity is the revelation that God does not make us choose between matter and spirit, but rather has created and blessed both. The promise of the hope we have is that one day, in the new creation, matter and spirit will be reunited perfectly. Gone are the days of trying to escape from our bodies to that higher plane, or rejecting a higher plane altogether and embracing the lusts of the body to the extreme. Matter and spirit, in perfect union, perfectly displayed by the incarnate Word made flesh, Jesus of Nazareth.


It follows, then, that every aspect of human life, the natural universe, and our society all rest in this reality: that God cares about it. The Lord has returned to Solomon in a dream, giving His king a restatement of the covenant of love. Should God’s people stick by God’s side, God will bless. If God’s people leave God’s side, then God will honour their decision, and allow them to return to non-existence. All aspects of civil society are related to the ultimate human pursuit of following God. Should the people leave God, and follow other false gods, then the temple will fall into ruin, the people will be dispersed, and the throne will sit empty. Politics, religion, even the nation itself: all relies on obedience to God. Everything is connected to that central point, the covenant of love between God and His people.


We know what happened after Solomon laid to rest with his ancestors. The steady decline of Israel into apostasy; the exile and the dispersion; the destruction of the Temple – it all serves as a warning, and a particularly terrifying warning considering the distance between the nation we live in from God’s covenant of love. But we live in the post-Easter period. There is a King on the throne of Israel right now, and His kingdom will have no end. The Lord Jesus is our King; the King of kings and the Lord of lords rules our nation, just as He does every other nation. And just as He forgave us when He was nailed to the cross, He will forgive us (and our nation) when we turn to Him.

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