I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles when I demolish your cities. – Micah 5:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 25, 2014): Micah 5

On August 23, 79 C.E., life in Pompeii continued as it had for generations. The city itself was home to probably around 20,000 people, but Pompeii in 79 was not just a place where people lived and worked; it was a vacation destination. Pompeii was built on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and arm of the Mediterranean Sea just south of the current city of Naples. Pompeii was a city of trade as well as a vacation destination, and the city was also a place of worship. The city was spotted with Temples dedicated to the worship of gods like Apollo, Jupiter, Isis, and other local deities. There was even a Temple that was dedicated to the former Roman ruler – Caesar Augustus. And on August 23, 79, the Temples were filled with people making offerings to the gods so that their personal plans would be successful. Life continued, as it always had.

Temple of Jupiter with Mount Vesuvius in the background

And on the morning of August 24, the people got out of bed expecting the 24^th to be much like the 23^rd, and probably much like the day before that. But on August 24, 79 C.E., life in Pompeii was about to suddenly end. Next door to the city was a volcano named Vesuvius. Vesuvius had erupted in 62 C.E., but the city had recovered. Most of the damage in Pompeii had actually been from the earthquake that had accompanied the eruption. But on August 24, 79 C.E. at about noon, Mount Vesuvius erupted again.  And this time, before the residents and visitors to Pompeii could even figure out what to do next, the city was buried in 20 feet of ash. Life in Pompeii came to an end very suddenly. And the city of Pompeii would lay under that ash, it was like a city that had been lost in the pages of history for the next 1500 years. But when the city was uncovered, it was like looking back into time. Everything in the city looked so normal, it was as if life was expected to pick up again the next day.

Micah makes a comment that on the day that the cities are destroyed, the Asherah poles would also be uprooted. He points at the places of worship and reminds the people that they would be destroyed along with the city. But in Micah’s eyes, it was not just the places of worship that would die, but the gods symbolized by those places of worship. No god that had been created by the hands of man can ever survive the disasters that will destroy us. None.

The Prophets of Israel had long foretold of what was an almost unthinkable event. The day was coming when the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed. Not one stone would be left on top of another. According to the prophets, the Temple of Solomon was going to disappear along with the city of Jerusalem. And yet, the moment of the destruction of the temple would not be end of the God of Israel. It would be just part of the story of a God for whom heaven was the place where he sat and the earth was the place where he rested his feet – and the place where he walked. But in the midst of every disaster this world has known, when the dust has cleared, the God of Israel has been the one that was still standing. He is not a God of our creation, but rather, he is the creator of all that we know – and he cannot be destroyed, even by the events that destroy the things most precious to us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Micah 6

Note: Last Week's message from VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) "Real Comfort" from the Series "The Upside Down Kingdom" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.