November 1, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“’[On that Day] You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.‘” (Zechariah 14.5b)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What is the relationship between an earthquake and King Uzziah? For those who have read the Chronicles of the Kings, you will know that Uzziah was a great king who ruled Judah/Israel for nearly sixty years. Judah/Israel prospered under his leadership. He was very respected. Such respect, however, may have led to numerous favors and adulations which gave him a sense of self-importance. He became a victim of his own success. Sound familiar? It is a tragic story which has been repeated throughout the years. It may even afflict us as we worship God and grow in our own discipleship. We may come across the thought that “works grant privilege and privilege grants permission.” Indeed, we in the current culture and climate of America (probably the entire world at this point) are getting an earful of such thinking. One area in which we would hear this is that of “racism.” The accusation of “white privilege” is the battle cry against racists. Why? Because it is assumed that the color of one’s skin has granted absolute power and destiny over lives. While it is true that there are white people who have privilege and influence because they happen to be white and have been raised in the process of a white enculturation, it is not the specific domain of “whiteness.” Here is one strange aspect of such thinking, those of different color skin but who share a similar upbringing or work ethic and are equally successful, being known for their privilege and influence, are also accused of “white privilege.” Further, there is the consideration of an entitlement mentality which may rise up as being enabled by a “color privilege.” If you do not believe that, then you only need to listen to the current rhetoric today of what is “owed” to those of color who have been controlled, manipulated and enslaved by those of “white privilege.” We can include reparations for a past reality of over 150 years in the past during the middle 19th century as this country split on the issue of slavery leading to a civil war. Of course, such educational treatises such as “The 1619 Project” will trace a long course of slavery initiatives invoked by those of an even older “white privilege.” Those who are accused, and sadly the issue of slavery is real and tragically transformative to devaluing human life, of being slave owners (as buyers and sellers) were discipled by a longer ago culture and climate which certainly was not white, European and of a modern age. The Bible speaks of such illness as slavery incurs upon the human heart, mind and soul in Leviticus. Slavery was rampant in the land of Canaan and beyond from before the days of David, Moses, Jacob, Abraham and Noah. In fact, the story of Noah speaks to the enslavement of women by giants called Nephilim who were demonic and of a dark and evil world. Let me note here that “dark” is not a description of a skin color but of a spiritual realm where “light,” as moral knowledge and wisdom, did not exist. The generations of their offspring led people further away from righteousness and authentic truth until sin was as common and acceptable as water to drink and air to breathe. It even caused God to lament that He had ever created humankind in the first place. (Genesis 6.6)

This was the mindset of King Uzziah in the days of Isaiah who was prophet, priest and statesman. King Uzziah, a king from his youth, was in “the fear of the Lord” and experienced a turnaround for Judah/Israel. Then, in the atmosphere of success and praise, he got “too big for his britches” as my grandmother would say about me from time to time. I wasn’t precocious. I was smart. I was attentive. I was intuitive. I thought faster than my courtesy brain would react, so I said some things better left unsaid. I pray I have gotten better after all these years, but I still visit that pre-teen boy every once in a while. I did not, however, do the “Uzziah.” Uzziah, against wise counsel and the directives established by God, decided he would offer his own sacrifices for himself and the nation at the altar of God. He assumed the role of priest without the associated experience and “documentation.” That did not go well. As a result, there happened a tremendous earthquake in the region. Archaeologists and researchers believe they have found evidence of such an earthquake which further validates the biblical witness. It literally “rocked the house.” Scripture will tell us that in the days following, Uzziah contracted leprosy which resulted in his death. The nation was caught in the midst of controversy. They celebrated his life as a successful king and lamented his failure to be fully obedient and faithful. This where we find Isaiah’s lament and exhortation concerning Uzziah and then the vision of God which he saw “high and lifted up with His train filling the temple.” (Isaiah 6) The message was clear. Isaiah had the right and the duty of being in the temple. Isaiah was not only a prophet but a priest. He would also be a political advisor as the future of Israel wend its way through kings and nations rising against it. The long and short of it is this: our actions have consequences.

For Zechariah, those actions and consequences were under the sovereignty of God. History had provided examples and life lessons. God works, and allows humans to “freewill” their journey, for the purpose of instruction. There is no manipulation for compliance. There is forewarned in order to be forearmed. Knowledge becomes the basis on which wisdom is built. Jesus shared as much with Peter, as we have reflected upon earlier, that what Peter knew and declared about Jesus wasn’t just something he came upon. Instead, Peter/Cephas/Simon had remembered the evidence of God’s prophetic promises and was able to line them up in his own mind. The result was the declaration of the truth, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” It took a lot of faith for Peter to say that. His colleagues could only mutter their thoughts as the incomplete thoughts of others. No one dared to say what they all wanted to believe. Sometimes we need a “precocious” Peter to just “speak the truth.” What Peter needed was a few lessons in humility and love. His hardness, brashness, boldness and hard-headedness challenged that of his cousins, James and John (the Sons of Thunder.) What precedes thunder? Lightning! Peter was sometimes lagging behind in “getting it.” When he “got it,” he was lightning quick in speaking up. (I wonder if that was a part of Lightning McQueen’s character development?) So, would Judah/Israel benefit from their past experiences? Would that begin to put the pieces together themselves as to what God had done and was now declaring would be done? In the long run, it really isn’t about God’s actions but our own. God remains the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the changeless One. We, on the other hand, have to be carefully taught and thoughtfully engaged. Are we thinking? Are we intentional? Are we merely reacting instead of acting? Do we need “the earth to move under our feet and the sky come tumbling down” before we grasp it? Will we grasp it in time? Let those with eyes to see, perceive; and ears to hear, understand!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.