Over the last few weeks, I have been using the biblical themes of plague and exile to interpret the current season. Letting the Bible interpret our current situation is difficult because so many other voices demand our attention. We are confronted by medical science, political ideologies, and economic theories—each of which has its own interpretation of the current moment. We should learn from these sources, but their voices should be subordinate to the Bible’s voice. The Bible describes plague and exile as goads to repentance. When confronted with widespread sicknesses and political upheavals that displace people, our first instinct should be to listen honestly to God’s desires, examine ourselves and the church, seek his mercy in repentance, and only then worry about the economy, politics, or science. If we miss his voice, we will have missed everything!
The final aspect of exile that I want to mention is worship. The Jews were forced into a fast from their form of worship during the exile. What is startling is that the worship they were forced to fast from was worship God himself commanded. God had made it clear through the prophets that they were profaning his temple and his sacrifices through their presumptuous attitudes. They thought that they were justified before God because they were offering the sacrifices he commanded. But their worship and offerings did not flow from the two things that God desired: love and reverence for God and the pursuit of mercy and justice for the poor. Thus God took the worship itself from them for a season. (Read Isaiah 1:12-20, Micah 6:6-8, or Amos 5:21-24 to hear his rejection of their worship.) The exile, when they were forced to fast from worship, became a time when the nation turned back to God. After the exile, the Jews never again committed idolatry as a nation, and began to act with reverence towards God. The synagogue system, which placed incredibly high value on knowing God’s word and praying together, grew out of this time.
This story should matter to us and transform how we think about our current moment! We also have been forced to fast from worship that God himself created. The sacraments were instituted by Jesus, and yet we have had to fast from them. We have not been able to sing praises to God together, and God created singing and delights in the corporate singing of his people. What should we learn from this forced fast?
First, we need to hear that God desires the hearts of his people. We should perpetually cultivate hearts that love and revere God and worship him from the depths of our being. The second thing we need to learn is that God deeply cares how his people treat those who are suffering and vulnerable. Consistently through the prophets God rebukes the worship of his people because it is not connected to justice and mercy for the poor, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows.
This lesson shouldn’t surprise us. After all, we recite Jesus Christ’s words every Sunday. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” God loves our worship when it flows from love for him and love for our neighbors!
Finally, just as the Jews developed the synagogue system during their fast from worship, we have an opportunity before us to take seriously ways we can grow in God’s word and prayer as families and as a community. If family devotions grows in our homes because of this season, it will not be a wasted opportunity. Be creative! Be eager! Let the word of God and prayer fill your homes!
In Christ,
Steven+