Last Friday morning, I woke up very early to go to breakfast and hear a man speak who biked over 30,000 miles from Siberia to London via Australia. When I got on the bus to go to this breakfast, I wanted to read a passage from the Bible, since I knew I had a busy day ahead and it would be a while before I would have more time to do it. Wanting to keep my reading (and the process of getting stuff out of my bag) more simple, I simply grabbed my Kindle, turned it on, opened the Bible on it, and read the first thing that was on the page.
When I turned on the Kindle, it took me to 2 Kings 15. It was a random chapter. As I started to read it, I thought maybe I should have been more intentional about the passage I picked. I read about king after king who ruled Israel and Judah—good ones, bad ones, ones who inherited the throne when their fathers died, others who took the throne by force, and lots of other details about each king—and I was confused. What did this have to do with my life, with my understanding of who God is, or with my understanding of how to live a life that is defined by the gospel?
I finished reading the chapter, and I was still totally confused. I spent the rest of the bus ride thinking about what I had read. It’s in the Bible, so it had to be significant, but why? And then it hit me. Everybody in this long list of kings, whether they were good, bad, traitors, idolaters, worshipers of the true God, warriors, or wimps, died. They got a few verses in a random chapter in the middle of 2 Kings to tell about their life and the way they led their nation, and then the story moved on from them to the next guy. This is because the story in 2 Kings 15 is not about Azariah, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, or Jotham. Each of them is a small player in the story of God calling a people to Himself, purifying that people for Himself, and—ultimately—making all things new. The main character in this chapter is God. He is the One ho raised these men to power for a time to fulfill His purposes. He is the One who allows bad kings to reign (for a time) and strikes one of the good ones with leprosy. He is the One who still lives after kings and kingdoms rise and fall. His story is the one that will endure.
And then I got it. I am like one of these kings. My life, in the grand scheme of history, is no more than a few verses in the middle of some random chapter in the middle of some random book. But that’s ok. Because it’s not my story that needs to last. It’s His story that needs to be told and that will endure. And to play the most minor role in His story is much more significant than being famous, powerful, or rich.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” Romans 11:33
Great observations, Eric! These passages are also teaching about the faithfulness of God, His "chesed" longsuffering faithful love to His people. Despite their frequent disobedience, God remained faithful to His promises to Abraham (Abrahamic Covenant Gen. 12, 15, 17, etc.) and David (Davidic Covenant 2Sam.7/1Chron.17). He is a faithful God.
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