Finding A Man After God’s Own Heart

We’ve repeatedly emphasized several key ideas in this blog series. First, God made human beings as his image bearers so that they might exercise his rule and reign over the created order. Tragically, humans rejected the wisdom of God, bringing about misery and death rather than life and flourishing. God then called Israel into covenant relationship so that Israel might assume the role for which God had made humans in the first place. Faithful Israel would bring blessing upon themselves. God would exalt Israel so that she might become a model for all the nations to follow.

Israel’s key role in bringing blessing to the nations is clearly depicted in Isaiah 2. “This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah here envisions the temple mount in Jerusalem being (metaphorically) “raised”; that is, the worship which Israel offers to the one true God becomes a model for all the nations to embrace. We note also the strong element of obedience: people look to Israel so that they might learn God’s ways and walk in his paths. The law “will go out from Zion” to all the world so that all people might be instructed in the proper conduct God requires.

But if Israel is going to accomplish her crucial task, she must have the right king. This is the key idea we will explore in this blog. So let’s dig in! The story of Israel and her leadership is long and messy. It was, of course, Joshua, the great warrior, who brought Israel into the promised land. The book of Joshua ends on a high note: “Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.” (Joshua 24:31) Unfortunately, Israel quickly goes astray. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.” (Judges 2:10-13)

Thus begins the long, disheartening period of Israel’s history when she is led by a series of “judges.” The book of Judges describes it in this way: “Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for [Israel], he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.” (2:18-19)

The time of the judges produces some of the most fascinating characters in the Bible: Deborah, Gideon, and Sampson. To be sure, God brings about some memorable victories and (at least temporarily) delivers Israel from her enemies. But, as the passage above indicates, these moments of salvation are inevitably followed by backsliding and failure. The judges themselves are quite checkered leaders. Yes, they certainly have admirable moments, but the scriptures mostly portray them as deeply flawed individuals. The book of Judges is really a long downward spiral. The longer the story goes on, the more troublesome Israel’s leaders become, and the more shameful Israel’s conduct becomes. The book ends with an appalling story of a woman’s rape and murder which subsequently leads to internecine warfare between the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of Israel. It’s basically three full chapters of the most loathsome and repulsive behavior you can imagine. This is precisely the opposite of covenant faithfulness; it’s a disaster.

The book of Judges ends with a telling phrase: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” The writer is essentially reflecting on Israel’s dreadful behavior, and ascribing it to deficient leadership in general, and more specifically, to the lack of a righteous king. Again, if Israel is going to fulfill her covenant obligations, she needs a king who will lead her in righteousness. Of course, Israel would go on to have kings, beginning with Saul. Saul’s reign was unfortunately marked by disobedience and consequent rejection by God. But Israel’s second king was her greatest: David the son of Jesse. David (despite notable exceptions) was “a man after God’s own heart,” and became the paradigm of a faithful, righteous king throughout Israel’s subsequent history. God promises David “that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and your rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.” (2 Samuel 7:11-14) In giving these promises to David, God is basically re-committing himself to his original covenant rescue plan. He has called Israel to be the light to the nations. If Israel is to fulfill her purpose, she needs a king who will lead her in righteousness. And so God pledges to David that one of his offspring will be this chosen king. And we note a striking title for this king: the son of God. (“I will be his father, and he will be my son.”)

A quick survey of Israel’s history shows the tight link between Israel’s covenant behavior, and the quality of her king. During the latter years of Solomon’s reign, he became unfaithful to God. “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” (I Kings 11:9-13) These events indeed came to pass during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Incited by the king’s foolishness, the ten northern tribes rebel from Rehoboam. These ten northern tribes, now collectively (and confusingly) called “Israel,” set a man named Jeroboam as king over them. Rehoboam is left with only the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, now referred to as “Judah.” Thus begins the time of the divided kingdom.

Jeroboam however, quickly perverts the worship of Israel by leading them into idolatry. “The king made two golden calves. He said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin.” (1 Kings 12:28-30) Throughout the remainder of Israel’s history (both kingdoms), the kings of Israel (northern kingdom) and Judah (southern kingdom) are measured against the positive benchmark of David, or the negative benchmark of Jeroboam. For example, “[Hezekiah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his forefather David had done.” (2 Kings 18:3) On the other hand, Jeroboam’s son Abijah: “He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been...For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life – except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” (I Kings 15:3,5) Another example, Israel’s infamous king Ahab: “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.” In this case, wicked Ahab even exceeds the negative benchmark Jeroboam had set, and lowers the bar even further.

Sadly, not a single king of the northern kingdom did what was right. The following refrain is repeated over and over again: “[Insert name of king] did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.” The main point here is that the history of Israel as a whole is firmly tied to the quality of her kings. From this we can derive the following principle: in Biblical thought, the kings of Israel represent the nation of Israel before God. What is true of the king is true of the people. When the king goes astray and does evil in the sight of the LORD, then the people are led astray as well. But when the king’s heart is fully committed to the LORD, then the hearts of the people are turned back to the LORD as well. So, just as the nation of Israel represents all humanity before God, so also the king of Israel represents the nation of Israel before God. This logic will be key as we move forward. Therefore, when God puts the right king upon the throne of Israel, Israel will be redeemed, and all humanity with her. And that will be good news.