Torn to Heal: A Season of Repair

I’ve been working my way through the Bible this year with the intent of marking cross-references in every book. This includes all the Old Testament verses that are quoted or referenced in the New Testament, but also going through each Old Testament book and noting which books were written around the same time period, which ones overlapped, which ones mention the same events/people, etc.

And because the Old Testament is so much bigger than the New, I’ve been parked in the Old for most of the year. I’m currently midway through Ezekiel and there are some patterns I’m beginning to see that I’ve never noticed before that align with what is happening in our country (the USA) today.

For example, when you think about Old Testament stories we think of Adam & Eve, Moses, Noah, David, Joseph, Issac, Samson, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Esther, Ruth, etc. - all those classics we learned as children. What I’m realizing now is that many of those classic stories we know about take up such a tiny amount of space in the Old Testament.

About half of the Old Testament deals with the exile into Assyria, Babylon, and eventually, Persia. 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles give us detail about all the kings that ruled in Israel, but beginning about 160 years after King Solomon died, the prophets begin warning the people and the kings that exile is on the way if they don’t change their ways.

This begins about the time King Uzziah ruled Judah and King Jeroboam 2 ruled the 10 Northern Tribes. 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah are all written during the time period between King Uzziah and King Zedekiah of Judah and most of them are warning about the coming exile. (Isaiah 1:1, Hosea 1:1, Amos 1:1, 2 Chronicles 36:15–21, Isaiah 39:5–8, Jeremiah 25:1–13, Jeremiah 38:14–28, Lamentations 1:18–19, Hosea 1:1, Amos 7:10–17, Micah 1:1, Habakkuk 1:5–6, Zephaniah 1:11)

Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, are believed to be written about this same time, but the deal with different places like Nineveh and Edom and aren’t specifically about exile.

Esther, Ezekiel, Daniel, are books that deal with the Israelites in exile. (Esther 1:1-2, Ezekiel 1:1-3, Daniel 1:1-6)

Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, are all books that deal with the Israelites after they were allowed to return to Israel with Persian authority. (Ezra 1:1–3, Nehemiah 2:1–8, Haggai 1:1, Zechariah 1:1, Malachi 1:6–14, Malachi 1:8)

So out of the 39 Old Testament books at least 19 of them talk about God sending the Israelites into exile unless they turn from their ways and follow Him.

The Northern Tribes had almost 20 years of warnings from the prophets before Assyria invaded. Judah, had the same 20 years of warnings, knew the northern tribes had been exiled by Assyria and had an extra 100+ years of warnings from God before the Babylonian exile. (Hosea 9:3, Hosea 11:5, Micah 1:6, Isaiah 8:4, 2 Kings 17:13)

So, what does any of this have to do with our country?

I think 2020 was a turning point for the US. It was the year when corruption became more visible. People knew there was corruption in our government before 2020, and while the evil and corruption were talked and theorized about, nothing was ever done about it. It was something we just had to live with.

But over the past six years a shift has taken place. Corruption and evil were everywhere, and it went from being something that seemed behind closed doors, to something we were being forced to accept in our everyday lives. Almost overwhelming so, but instead of being overwhelmed, a fire started to rise. A righteous anger.

I think for many years, I don’t know how many, probably more than 20, God has been working on hearts in our country. Instead of saying “I’m going to destroy this nation if you don’t repent” He began orchestrating events so that His people would begin to rise up and stop being complacent. Because He has people in America. A lot of people.

Like the Israelites, we’ve become comfortable in our ‘safe’ country of freedom. So comfortable that we’ve been okay living with a certain amount of corruption in our government.

But God has been working on the hearts of certain people to rise up and do something about this evil corruption. He has allowed them to not only see it but has given them the wisdom and courage to deal with it. The David’s of our time.

In the Old Testament, it was the King’s responsibility to lead the people to God. The people asked God to give them a king instead of having God rule over them. (1 Samuel 8:6-7)

The priests in the temple made sure the law was followed by both people and kings, but many priests were afraid of the king and did whatever he commanded instead of standing for what God wanted. Most kings didn’t lead the people to God. A few tried but allowed idols and temples of idols to remain in the land, and so the people continued to worship those idols. A few kings tore down the idols and the temples and followed God’s law and God was pleased with those kings and even deferred some of the coming punishment because of these kings, but as soon as the next king began to reign, it was back to idol worship. (1 Kings 12:28-33, 2 Kings 18:1-7, 2 Kings 21:1-9, 2 Kings 23:1-25, 2 Kings 23:31-37, 2 Chronicles 15:8-19, 2 Chronicles 24:17-20, 2 Chronicles 34:29-33, Malachi 2:7-8)

We currently have a leader in our own country who is doing his best to tear down the “idols, and temples,” and the corruption, and restore order to our land. It takes time, and it isn’t pretty.

When the Israelites heard the prophets of God warning of coming exile, they got so angry they began murdering the prophets. Because, of course, if they didn’t have to hear the words of the prophets, they could continue living the way they wanted to live without hearing about doom and gloom and if they didn’t have to hear about it, then, obviously, it wouldn’t happen. In some verses, the people even said God was in the wrong for bringing exile to the people, but God corrects them and reminds them of all the warnings He gave them. (2 Chronicles 36:15–16, Jeremiah 25:3–7, Jeremiah 44:16–23, Ezekiel 18:25, 29, Ezekiel 33:17–20)

And now, today, we see people enraged with wrongs being made right. That corruption is dissolving. That the systems that have allowed people to take advantage are closing down. And how dare our government take away their right to take advantage of a broken system?

People who are so angry they are willing to kill, steal, and destroy in hopes of keeping these corrupt systems in place. But God is putting things right. (By the way, the Bible mentions someone else who comes to steal, kill, and destroy and it’s not God. So, who influences them?)

In several prophesies about the exile, God tells them that He has to cleanse the land of their sin. That the people must go into exile in order to be freed from their lust for idols, so He can bring them back again, and have them worship Him. (Jeremiah 29:10-14, Ezekiel 20:33-44, Ezekiel 36:24-28, Hosea 2:14-23)

It’s easy to read the words of God’s prophets and not see or understand the war they went through. The exile did happen, over many years. Homes were destroyed, lives lost, Jerusalem was destroyed. Families were torn apart. It was ugly and heartbreaking. And God himself said he didn’t want to do this to his people, but they had not heeded his warnings and turned back to him on their own, so he had to. (2 Chronicles 36:15-16, Jeremiah 26:3, Ezekiel 18:23, 32, Ezekiel 33:11, Hosea 11:8-9)

And yet there were people in Israel who followed God’s law. Daniel, for example. These people heard God’s warnings and clung to God. They were still exiled, but because they trusted in God, they knew they were safe in His hands. (Ezekiel 9:4–6)

We live in a country that looks pretty ugly right now. What would it look like if people had chosen to put our country, our people, first years and years ago, instead of taking advantage, or finding loopholes, and doing whatever they wanted for their own gain? Much of what is happening doesn’t affect me because I’m not part of the problem. But I am more alert when I go out in public, I keep an eye on what people are angry about and where those angry people might be and avoid them if I can. I pray and listen for the Holy Spirit to guide me. Yet fear still tries to crowd my heart because the ugliness feels so big.

Our country isn’t being warned about God’s cleanup plan anymore. We’re in it. He’s working and things look ugly because people who don’t want to follow God, and who want to continue living in corruption and deceit are resisting the process at all costs.

The Israelites also resisted. King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah, the brother of King Jehoiakim and uncle of King Jehoiachin—both of whom had been taken captive to Babylon years before—as king of Israel.

Zedekiah was supposed to pay tribute to Babylon. If he’d done as he was asked, he might have reigned as king much longer than the 11 years he did reign. But he rebelled against Babylon and was not only defeated but forced to watch his family be put to death and then had his eyes gouged out. (2 Kings 24:17–20, 2 Kings 25:1–7, Jeremiah 39:1–7, Ezekiel 17:11–21)

But if you are a child of God, remember, like Daniel, the clean up process might hit home for us because of the consequences others must endure, but God’s got us. His hand is on us, and He will take care of us during this time. Trust Him, cling to Him, and don’t get caught up in the emotions of what is happening to the world.

I’m not saying that our country is in dire straits and God is punishing us like he did the Israelites. But I do think God is fixing things in our country right now. He is bringing light to the dark places and revealing things that have been hidden far too long.

I know I don’t understand or even know if I agree with all the things I hear about happening in our country right now. I also know I don’t have the brain power to try and figure it all out as things are moving so quickly. This can be overwhelming to me because I like to understand and research things. But lately I feel much more pressure to protect my peace. To press into my quiet time with God. To get off social media. To simply trust that God’s got it taken care of.