More from Peter Leithart (paid link) on 1 and 2 Kings, this time his comment on the torn and divided kingdom as recorded in 1 Kings 12. This is rich. Enjoy.
(By the way, the reference to the ‘twist from God’ in the second paragraph comes from the literal phrasing in 1 Kings 12:15, translated by the NIV as “turn of events”. I’m not sure he knows the allusions created by the phrase “cunning plan” in the mind of Brits about my age!)
“There is a larger divine intent here as well, an even bigger twist. The whole of1-2 Kings is overshadowed by Yahweh’s fixed intent to fulfil his promise to David. David's son will rule forever,as the Abrahamic seed who will bring blessing to the Gentiles and restore the creation, but the path toward this universal blessing is not easy, nor is the gate wide. Narrow is the gate and hard the way that leads to the Davidic promise. The way lies through death and division;the way is the way of death and resurrection. With Abraham, Yahweh selects one nation from among the nations to be the priestly people, to be the agent of salvation for the world. Life begins to come to the divided human race when Yahweh tears the human race again, into Jew and Gentile. In 1-2 Kings, Israel relives the history of the human race in its own Adamically shaped history, recapitulating the division and reunion of humanity in its own division and ultimate reunion.
“The history of Israel is a history of sacrifice: the holy people is torn in two, broken into pieces, and finally immolated in the fire that burned Samaria and Jerusalem. Yet, that sacrifice is fulfilled in a new Israel, the Israel of the restoration. Ultimately, this is the cunning plan, the ‘twist from God’ that the church proclaims as gospel and celebrates as Eucharist. Jesus, the true Israel, reunites the nations in himself by offering himself to be torn and by entrusting himself to his Father, who raises the dead. God’s strange plan for salvation has been fulfilled in Jesus, and we are caught up in that plan as the new human race, the true Israel, gathered at his table to break and share bread.” (Page 95)
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