A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family. – Proverbs 17:2

Today's Scripture Reading (November 14, 2022): Proverbs 17

In 586 B.C.E., the unthinkable happened. Jerusalem was finally defeated, and the Holy City was destroyed, including the Temple that David had dreamed of and Solomon had built as a home for the God of Israel. Until 586 B.C.E., prophets had decreed, with some notable exceptions, that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple would never happen because God would not allow it. Of course, one of the most prominent exceptions to these prophetic guarantees was the Prophet Jeremiah, often referred to as the Weeping Prophet. Jeremiah had spent time in jail because he refused to prophesy about a bright future for the city. But most people believed that God would never let the city fall and were probably quite surprised and shocked when it finally did.

Part of the reason for the belief that God would not let the city fall was that Israel believed that they were the children of God. They were God's people, each with a purpose that the God of all the earth had decreed for them. Surely, regardless of their sin, God would protect them and guard the Temple built to glorify him. But as the shock set in during the aftermath of the Holy City's destruction, they looked at the rubble and didn't even recognize their demolished former home. What they had thought was impossible now became not only possible but their reality. Israel was gone, and Babylon and its King, Nebuchadnezzar, now ruled over the area where Israel had once existed.

Israel might have played the role of God's son, but their behavior had been declared disgraceful. Solomon says that a prudent or wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son, and some have seen this piece of wisdom to be a prophetic declaration about the eventual defeat of Judah at the hands of the Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar might have been considered to be just a servant, but God saw in him someone who had acted in a prudent matter. And so, just as Solomon had written, the servant was given authority over the son.

Historically, the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar did not last long. Nebuchadnezzar did great things, but those who ruled after his death did not hold to Nebuchadnezzar's prudent ways. So, Israel became the disgraceful son who would be ruled over by a servant named Nebuchadnezzar.

In the eyes of God, there is no guarantee in just being the heir to his kingdom. We have to be willing to follow after His wisdom, or what we should have inherited will be passed on to prudent servants. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Proverbs 18