Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31,
2014): Jeremiah 44
The future
is unexpected. Even predictions and prophecies that come true often come
through in unexpected ways. The future is a mystery. That is what makes trying
to unwind the prophecies of the Bible such a hard task. And those that think
they see prophecies unwinding before their eyes throughout history, most of the
time, have been deluding themselves.
When I was
growing up I remember predictions that Henry Kissinger was the antichrist –
that Kissinger was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The argument was strong
and multifaceted. I know that for many people in the 1970’s, it must have
seemed so obvious. And the prediction has been persistent. Even though Henry
Kissinger is 90 years old and there has been no hint of the prediction coming
true, every once in a while I run into somebody that has bought into the expectation.
And these are hard people to convince that they might have been wrong – that the
way that they saw the future was not how the future had to turn out.
Jeremiah
speaks of the fall of Judah and the subsequent fall of Egypt because of the
presence of the people of Judah in Egypt – and according to Jeremiah all of
this is supposed to happen at the hands of the Babylonians. And so as Jeremiah
draws his prophecy to a close, his final prophecy concerns the death of Hophra,
the Pharaoh of Egypt. It would be really easy to read this prophecy and assume
that Hophra died valiantly at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. But Jeremiah doesn’t
actually say that. His actual statement is that Hophra will be delivered into
hands of his enemy, just as Zedekiah of Judah was handed over the Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon – Nebuchadnezzar was Zedekiah’s enemy
History
records Hophra under a different name – Apries. Apries was Pharaoh over Egypt
during this tense moment of world history. But, unfortunately, Apries was a man
out of his time. While Egypt needed a warrior in order to survive in a world
dominated by the Babylonian Empire and with the rise of the Greek Empire on the
horizon, Apries was more of a builder – his great intellect was more geared
toward being the producer of great buildings than the fighting of great wars.
Apries’ attempt to help Judah was an ill-considered move. Apries was not only
unable to come to the aid of his Northern neighbour, but in the process he lost
the confidence of his army which resulted in mass defections. Later, Apries
attempted to come to the aid of his Libyan neighbours against the Greeks. But
Apries did not fare any better in Libya than he did in Judah. It was at this
moment that Egypt turned to a successful general of the army for help, a man
who had led the Egyptian army it success in Nubia during the reign of Apries
father – his name was Amasis. And in 570 B.C.E., Amasis declared himself
Pharaoh.
And it turns
out that Jeremiah was speaking of Amasis as the enemy of Hophra, not
Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, Apries (Hophra) was killed in battle by Amasis in an
attempt to regain his kingdom – and as unexpected as this idea might have been
when Jeremiah wrote the prophecy, Apries died with the Babylonian army at his
side. Nebuchadnezzar, instead of being the enemy that would kill Apries was the
ally that was attempting to help him regain his throne at the time of his
death.
The future
often seems to work that way. Even when it is expected, it is unexpected. And
to limit our future according to our expectations is to limit the way that we
allow God to move. And the moves of God are always unexpected – and undeserved.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Lamentations 1
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