Today's Scripture Reading (May 25, 2020): Jeremiah 26
When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land, they stopped to place twelve stones that had been gathered from the center of the Jordan River as a monument to all that happened to the nation as they had crossed the mighty river. Joshua told those gathered on that day that "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground' (Joshua 4:21-22). As well as leaving this monument of stones, they left the Tabernacle there as well. The place was called Gilgal.
For the next few years, as Israel conquered Canaan, the Tabernacle remained at Gilgal. But, once Canaan was finally defeated, the priests came and moved the Tabernacle to a place that was a little more central among the tribes. The new home for the Tabernacle was a place called Shiloh. For the next three centuries, the Tabernacle stood proudly among the tribes of Israel at Shiloh.
But during the days of Eli, the High Priest, Israel went to war with the Philistines. The war was not going well for Israel. Eli's sons struck on the idea that maybe if they brought the Ark of the Covenant, the seat of the God of Israel, into the battle, that that might make the difference. And so, they sent for the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the frontline of the fight. But the presence of the Ark did not change the outcome of the battle. The Ark of the Covenant, the crowning jewel of the Tabernacle, was lost to the Philistines. It also appears that at the same time, Shiloh itself fell to the Philistine onslaught, even though the Tabernacle was present in that place. The year was about 1050 B.C.E.
Four hundred and fifty years later, Jeremiah begins to talk about the fall of Jerusalem. And it seems that one of the arguments against the idea that Jerusalem could fall was that the Temple was present in the city. After all, God would do whatever was necessary to protect his house. And Jeremiah's response to this argument was that the presence of the Tabernacle had not protected Shiloh during the days of Eli and Samuel.
The people were incensed. They were aware of the sins that had been committed during the days of Eli and believed that those days would never come again. Maybe they thought the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple would protect Jerusalem, when at Shiloh, the Ark had already been removed from the Tabernacle. Of course, there is little evidence that the Ark still resided in the Temple during the days of Jeremiah. Many scholars believe that the Ark had already been either moved or looted years or generations earlier. Without the Ark, the Temple was once again an empty shell of a building. While the people might want to believe that they were safe inside the Holy City, Jeremiah realized that Jerusalem and Shiloh shared much, including a similar fate.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 27
No comments:
Post a Comment