📖 Utangulizi wa Agano la Kale — Sehemu ya 5: Ufalme Ulioungana na Ufalme Uliogawanyika📖 Old Testament Survey — Unit 5: The United and Divided Kingdoms

Israeli waliomba mfalme. Mungu alijibu kwa vitabu sita na miaka elfu moja — na jibu halikuwa jina juu ya kiti cha enzi huko Yerusalemu. Lilikuwa jina juu ya msalaba nje ya mji huo.Israel asked for a king. God answered with six books and a thousand years — and the answer wasn't a name on a throne in Jerusalem. It was a name on a cross outside it.

Huo ndio mwelekeo mzima wa Sehemu ya 5 kwa sentensi moja. Vitabu sita — Samweli, Wafalme, na Mambo ya Nyakati, kila kimoja hapo awali kikiwa gombo moja kisha kikagawanywa mara mbili. Takriban 1050 K.K. hadi 538 K.K. Samweli na Wafalme vinasimulia hadithi kwa mtazamo wa kinabii; Mambo ya Nyakati kinaisimulia upya kwa mtazamo wa kikuhani kwa ajili ya waliohamishwa waliokuwa wakirudi nyumbani. Sauli, Daudi, Sulemani, wafalme kumi na tisa wa kaskazini, wafalme kumi na tisa na malkia mmoja wa kusini, manabii wakipaza sauti kutoka pembeni, uhamisho ulioonekana kama mwisho wa kila kitu — na kisha mfalme wa Uajemi aitwaye Koreshi akiufungua mlango wazi na kuwaambia watu wa Mungu warudi nyumbani. Hebu tuende hatua kwa hatua.That's the whole arc of Unit 5 in one sentence. Six books — Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, each originally one scroll then split in two. Roughly 1050 BC to 538 BC. Samuel and Kings tell the story from a prophetic angle; Chronicles retells it from a priestly angle for the exiles coming home. Saul, David, Solomon, nineteen kings of the north, nineteen kings and one queen of the south, prophets shouting from the margins, an exile that looked like the end of everything — and then a Persian king named Cyrus throwing the door open and telling God's people to go home. Let's take it step by step.

I. Kiti cha Enzi Kinaanza — Hana, Samweli, na Mfalme Ambaye Israeli WalimdaiI. The Throne Begins — Hannah, Samuel, and the King Israel Demanded

1 Samweli 1–151 Samuel 1–15

Huwezi kuuelewa ufalme usipoanza na mwanamke tasa anayelia katika maskani. Mungu hauanzishi ufalme katika chumba cha mipango ya vita. Anauanzisha na mwanamke mwenye maumivu anayeahidi kwamba Yeye akimpa mwana, atamrudisha kwake. Karne nyingi baadaye Mariamu ataimba wimbo ambao kimsingi ni wimbo wa Hana ulioboreshwa — soma 1 Samweli 2:1–10 na Luka 1:46–55 sambamba. Ni nadra Mungu kuanzisha harakati ya ukombozi mahali popote isipokuwa katika maombi ya mwanamke mwenye maumivu.You cannot understand the kingdom unless you start with a barren woman crying in the tabernacle. God doesn't begin the monarchy with a war room. He begins it with a hurting woman who promises that if He gives her a son, she'll give him back. Centuries later Mary will sing a song that is essentially Hannah's song with an upgrade — read 1 Samuel 2:1–10 and Luke 1:46–55 side by side. God rarely begins a movement of redemption anywhere except in the prayer of a hurting woman.

Samweli anakua katika maskani na kuwa daraja: mwamuzi wa mwisho, mtiaji mafuta wa kwanza wa wafalme, nabii NA kuhani NA mwamuzi. Mtu anayeunganisha huduma nyingi kuliko wote katika Agano la Kale. Lakini kufikia uzee wake, wana wake ni waovu — tatizo lile lile alilokuwa nalo Eli, na inaonekana Samweli hakusoma historia yake mwenyewe kwa makini vya kutosha. Wazee wanamjia katika 1 Samweli 8 wakiwa na ombi linaloumiza moyo wa Mungu: "tuwekee mfalme atuamue kama mataifa yote" (1 Samweli 8:5). Jibu la Mungu: "hawakukukataa wewe, bali wamenikataa mimi, nisiwe mfalme juu yao" (1 Samweli 8:7).Samuel grows up in the tabernacle and becomes the bridge: last judge, first kingmaker, prophet AND priest AND judge. The most ecumenical figure in the Old Testament. But by the time he is old, his sons are corrupt — same problem Eli had, and apparently Samuel didn't read his own backstory carefully enough. The elders come to him in 1 Samuel 8 with the request that breaks God's heart: "Make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). God's response: "they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (1 Samuel 8:7).

Kuna aina ya maombi ambayo hatari yake si kwamba Mungu hatajibu — hatari ni kwamba atajibu. Israeli walimtaka mfalme kuliko walivyomtaka Yeye, kwa hiyo akawapa walichotaka. Ombi lililojibiwa lenye hatari kuliko yote ni lile linalotoka katika moyo ambao tayari umeasi. Ikiwa umewahi kumwambia Mungu nakitaka kitu hiki kuliko ninavyokutaka Wewe, hesabu miaka iliyopita kabla hujaanza kutamani kwamba asingalisema ndiyo.There is a kind of prayer where the danger isn't that God won't answer — the danger is that He will. Israel wanted a king more than they wanted Him, so He gave them what they wanted. The most dangerous answered prayer is the one that comes from a heart already in rebellion. If you have ever told God I want this thing more than I want You, count the years before you started wishing He hadn't said yes.

Sauli: Mrefu kwa Nje, Mtupu kwa NdaniSaul: Tall on the Outside, Hollow on the Inside

Anaingia Sauli. Mrefu. Mzuri wa sura. Alionekana kama mfalme hasa. Nje yake ilikuwa kila kitu ambacho Israeli waliomba; ndani yake palikuwa patupu. Matukio mawili yanamvunja. Katika 1 Samweli 13, Samweli anachelewa, jeshi linaingiwa na wasiwasi, na Sauli anatoa dhabihu yeye mwenyewe — haikuwa kazi yake, lakini wakati ulionekana wa dharura naye akapita njia ya mkato kuukwepa utii. Katika 1 Samweli 15, Mungu anamwambia awaangamize Waamaleki kabisa. Sauli anamwacha hai Mfalme Agagi pamoja na mifugo iliyo bora — kisha anajaribu kulieleza kama ibada. Jibu la Samweli lingepaswa kuchorwa kwenye mkono wa kila mchungaji: "Kutii ni bora kuliko dhabihu" (1 Samweli 15:22). Huwezi kujiondoa katika uasi kwa njia ya ibada.Enter Saul. Tall. Handsome. Looked the part. The outside of him was everything Israel had asked for; the inside of him was hollow. Two scenes break him. In 1 Samuel 13, Samuel is delayed, the army gets nervous, and Saul offers the sacrifice himself — not his job, but the timing felt urgent and he took a shortcut around obedience. In 1 Samuel 15, God tells him to wipe out Amalek completely. Saul keeps King Agag alive and the best livestock — and tries to spin it as worship. Samuel's response should be tattooed on every pastor's forearm: "to obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). You cannot worship your way out of disobedience.

Roy Riegels. Rose Bowl, Januari 1, 1929. Cal dhidi ya Georgia Tech. Riegels anaokota mpira ulioanguka, anageuka kimakosa, na kukimbia yadi sitini na tano kuelekea upande usio sahihi. Mchezaji mwenzake wa timu yake mwenyewe analazimika kumkimbiza na kumkamata kwenye mstari wa yadi moja — mstari wa yadi moja wa timu yao wenyewe. Cal wanaupiga mpira mbali kutoka hapo, Tech wanauzuia, wanapata pointi mbili, na kushinda mchezo kwa pointi mbili. Uwanja mzima ulisimama ukakodoa macho. Huyo ndiye Sauli juu ya Mlima Gilboa. Anakimbia kwa nguvu. Upande usio sahihi. Msiba wa Sauli si kwamba alikuwa dhaifu; ni kwamba nguvu zake zote zilielekezwa mbali na Mtu yule mmoja ambaye zingepaswa kuelekezwa kwake. Kuna watu mimbarini leo wanaokimbia yadi sitini na tano kuelekea goli lao wenyewe. Nguvu hazitoshi. Mwelekeo una maana zaidi.Roy Riegels. Rose Bowl, January 1, 1929. Cal versus Georgia Tech. Riegels picks up a fumble, gets turned around, and runs sixty-five yards in the wrong direction. His own teammate has to chase him down and tackle him at the one-yard line — his own one-yard line. Cal punts from there, Tech blocks the punt, scores the safety, and wins the game by two points. The whole stadium stood and stared. That's Saul on Mount Gilboa. Running hard. Wrong way. The tragedy of Saul is not that he was weak; it's that all his strength was aimed away from the one Person it should have been aimed toward. There are people in pulpits today running sixty-five yards toward their own goal line. Strength is not enough. Direction matters more.

II. Kiti cha Enzi Kinaahidiwa — Daudi na Agano LisilokomaII. The Throne Promised — David and the Covenant That Wouldn't Quit

1 Samweli 16 — 2 Samweli 241 Samuel 16 — 2 Samuel 24

Wakati Sauli anaporomoka, Mungu tayari anatenda. 1 Samweli 16: Samweli anakwenda Bethlehemu kumtia mafuta mfalme mpya kutoka miongoni mwa wana wa Yese, na mstari unaogeuza mwelekeo wa Agano la Kale lote unajitokeza: "kwa kuwa BWANA haangalii kama mwanadamu aangaliavyo; maana mwanadamu huitazama sura ya nje, bali BWANA huutazama moyo" (1 Samweli 16:7). Sentensi hiyo ndiyo mbegu ambayo Kristo ataivuna katika Mahubiri ya Mlimani.While Saul is unraveling, God is already moving. 1 Samuel 16: Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint a new king from Jesse's sons, and the verse that pivots the entire Old Testament shows up: "the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). That sentence is the seed Christ will harvest in the Sermon on the Mount.

Kijana huyo ni Daudi. Kaka zake saba wakubwa wanapitishwa mbele ya Samweli; hakuna hata mmoja wao aliye mtu huyo. Kijana mchungaji — na'ar, mdogo kuliko wote, yule ambaye hakuna aliyejisumbua kumwalika karamuni — ndiye. Sura moja baadaye anashuka bondeni akiwa na mawe matano laini na kukutana na Mfilisti mwenye urefu wa futi tisa na nusu. Hadithi ambayo kila mtu anaijua. Hoja ambayo kila mtu anaikosa: Daudi hakushinda kwa sababu kombeo lake lilikuwa bora. Daudi alishinda kwa sababu "vita ni vya BWANA" (1 Samweli 17:47).The kid is David. Seven older brothers paraded by Samuel; not one of them is the man. The shepherd boy — the na'ar, the youngest, the one nobody bothered to invite to the feast — is. One chapter later he walks down into a valley with five smooth stones and meets a nine-and-a-half-foot Philistine. The story everybody knows. The point everybody misses: David didn't win because his slingshot was better. David won because "the battle is the LORD's" (1 Samuel 17:47).

Zamani wahandisi walidai kwamba nyuki-bambu (bumblebee) hapaswi kuweza kuruka. Mwili wake ni mzito mno, mabawa ni mafupi mno, hesabu hazikubaliani. Nyuki huyo, kwa kuwa hajasoma hesabu hizo, anaruka hata hivyo. Mchungaji kijana hamshindi jitu. Hesabu zile zile zinazosema jiwe la kombeo halipaswi kumwangusha jitu ndizo zinazosema seremala wa Galilaya hapaswi kulifungua kaburi. Mungu ni mtaalamu wa hesabu ambazo ulimwengu tayari umezikatia tamaa. Ikiwa wewe ni Mkristo leo, wewe ni nyuki-bambu — kila sheria ya kustahili na ya uwezekano inasema hupaswi kusamehewa, hupaswi kukaribishwa, hupaswi kuruka — na neema ya Mungu inakuinua hata hivyo.Engineers used to claim the bumblebee shouldn't fly. The body is too heavy, the wings too short, the math doesn't work. The bumblebee, not having read the math, flies anyway. A teenage shepherd doesn't beat a giant. The same arithmetic that says a slingstone shouldn't drop a giant says a Galilean carpenter shouldn't unmake a grave. God specializes in the math the world has already given up on. If you are a Christian today, you are a bumblebee — every law of merit and probability says you shouldn't be forgiven, shouldn't be welcomed, shouldn't be flying — and the grace of God lifts you anyway.

Kisha inakuja miaka ya jangwani. Sauli anajaribu kumpiga Daudi kwa mkuki ili amgongomee ukutani. Daudi anakimbia. Mara mbili anampata Sauli mahali pasipo na njia ya kutoroka — mara moja huko Engedi, mara nyingine huko Hakila — na mara zote mbili anakataa kuinua mkono dhidi ya "masihi wa BWANA." Ameahidiwa kiti cha enzi; anawindwa na mtu aliyeketi juu yake; ufalme uko umbali wa pigo moja tu la kisu — naye hataki kuuchukua. Kiti cha enzi ambacho Mungu hutoa kamwe si kiti cha enzi tunachokinyakua. Ukijikuta ukifanya hila ili kupata kile ambacho Mungu ameshakuahidi, umeacha kumwamini Yule Aliyeahidi.Then come the wilderness years. Saul tries to spear David to a wall. David flees. Twice he has Saul cornered — once at Engedi, once at Hachilah — and twice he refuses to lift a hand against "the Lord's anointed." He has been promised the throne; he is being hunted by the man on it; the kingdom is one knife-stroke away — and he will not take it. The throne God gives is never the throne we steal. If you find yourself maneuvering for what God already promised, you have stopped trusting the Promiser.

Agano la Daudi: Uzi Unaofunga Kila Kitu hadi BethlehemuThe Davidic Covenant: The Thread That Ties Everything to Bethlehem

Sauli anakufa huko Gilboa. Daudi anatawazwa juu ya Yuda, kisha juu ya Israeli wote. Anauteka Yerusalemu, analipandisha sanduku, anacheza mbele yake kama mtu asiye na heshima yoyote iliyobaki ya kupoteza. Na katika 2 Samweli 7, Daudi anapopendekeza kumjengea Mungu nyumba, Mungu anaupindua pendekezo hilo: Mimi nitakujengea WEWE nyumba. Agano la Daudi: nyumba, ufalme, kiti cha enzi, milele, mwana. Maneno matano ya msingi. Soma 2 Samweli 7:12–16 polepole. Kila ahadi katika aya hiyo inapita kwa Sulemani, inapasuliwa na ufalme uliogawanyika, inaporomoka wakati wa uhamisho, na kutua Bethlehemu. Gabrieli anapomwambia Mariamu kwamba Mungu atampa mwana wake "kiti cha enzi cha Daudi baba yake, atamiliki nyumba ya Yakobo hata milele, wala ufalme wake hautakuwa na mwisho" — Gabrieli anasoma 2 Samweli 7 kwa sauti.Saul dies at Gilboa. David is crowned over Judah, then over all Israel. He takes Jerusalem, brings the ark up, dances before it like a man with no dignity left to lose. And in 2 Samuel 7, when David proposes to build God a house, God turns the proposal upside down: I will build YOU a house. The Davidic Covenant: house, kingdom, throne, forever, son. Five anchor words. Read 2 Samuel 7:12–16 slowly. Every promise in that paragraph passes through Solomon, gets cracked by the divided kingdom, collapses at the exile, and lands at Bethlehem. When Gabriel tells Mary that God will give her son "the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" — Gabriel is reading 2 Samuel 7 out loud.

Lakini Daudi si asiye na dhambi. 2 Samweli 11. Darini. Bath-sheba. Uria. Mauaji yaliyofichwa. Na maneno ambayo kila mhubiri amelazimika kuyahubiri kwa sababu kila mhubiri amehitaji kuyasikia: "Wewe ndiwe mtu huyo!" — hukumu ya Nathani (2 Samweli 12:7). Daudi anaanguka. Zaburi 51 ndivyo toba ya kweli inavyosikika kwa sauti. Kuna matokeo ambayo hawezi kuyaepuka kamwe — upanga hautaondoka nyumbani mwake. Lakini Mungu hamtupi. Mtu aliyeupendeza moyo wa Mungu pia ni mtu mwenye damu mikononi mwake, na injili ya Daudi ni kwamba neema inakwenda ndani zaidi kuliko jambo baya kabisa alilowahi kulifanya. Ikiwa umewahi kutenda dhambi kwa namna ambayo hukudhani Mungu angeweza kuisamehe, unasoma sura isiyo sahihi. Njia ya kurudi kwenye neema si msitu wa njia zilizochanganyika; ni mlango, na Nathani ameufungua sasa hivi.But David is not sinless. 2 Samuel 11. The roof. Bathsheba. Uriah. The covered-up murder. And the line every preacher has had to preach because every preacher has needed to hear it: "You are the man!" — Nathan's verdict (2 Samuel 12:7). David collapses. Psalm 51 is what genuine repentance sounds like out loud. There are consequences he never escapes — the sword does not depart from his house. But God does not throw him away. The man after God's own heart is also a man with blood on his hands, and the gospel of David is that grace runs deeper than the worst thing he ever did. If you have ever sinned in a way you didn't think God could forgive, you are reading the wrong chapter. The way back to grace is not a maze; it is a door, and Nathan has just opened it.

III. Kiti cha Enzi Kinaathiriwa na Kugawanyika — Sulemani, Mgawanyiko, na Kuteleza kwa Muda MrefuIII. The Throne Compromised and Divided — Solomon, the Split, and the Long Slide

1 Wafalme 1 — 2 Wafalme 251 Kings 1 — 2 Kings 25

Sulemani aliingia katika kiti cha enzi akiwa na hundi tupu kutoka kwa Mungu, akaomba hekima. Mungu alimpa hekima — na akamwongezea kila kitu kingine juu yake. Hekima ya Sulemani ilienea kuanzia mwerezi wa Lebanoni hadi hisopo inayoota ukutani, kuanzia wanyama na ndege hadi wadudu watambaao na samaki (1 Wafalme 4:33). Alitunga mithali elfu tatu. Malkia wa Sheba alisafiri kuvuka jangwa kubwa ili amwone, akagundua kwamba hakuambiwa hata nusu. Naye alijenga hekalu ambalo baba yake aliliota tu.Solomon walked into the throne with a blank check from God and asked for wisdom. God gave him wisdom — and threw in everything else for good measure. Solomon's wisdom ranged from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall, from beasts and birds to reptiles and fish (1 Kings 4:33). He composed three thousand proverbs. The Queen of Sheba traveled across the Sahara to see him and found that the half had not been told. And he built the temple his father had only dreamed of.

Na hiki ndicho kituo kikuu kinachofuata katika Uzi Mwekundu. Wakati wa kuwekwa wakfu kwa hekalu hilo (1 Wafalme 8), Sulemani alitoa ng'ombe elfu ishirini na mbili na kondoo laki moja na ishirini elfu — wengi kiasi kwamba madhabahu ya shaba haikuweza kuwatosha na ua wenyewe ulilazimika kutakaswa kwa ajili ya kuchinjia. Uzi ulioanza na mnyama mmoja katika Edeni, kisha mzaliwa wa kwanza wa kundi la Habili, kisha madhabahu ya Nuhu, kisha kondoo dume juu ya Moria, kisha wana-kondoo kwenye kila mwimo wa mlango huko Misri, kisha mbuzi wa Yom Kippur, kisha nyoka wa shaba jangwani, kisha kamba nyekundu dirishani huko Yeriko — uzi huo sasa unatiririka kama mito katika nyua za hekalu la Sulemani, na utatiririka humo kila siku kwa karibu miaka mia nne. Kila mnyama aliyewahi kufa katika nyua hizo alikuwa hati ya ahadi ambayo Mungu Mwenyewe siku moja angeilipa juu ya kilima nje ya mji ule ule.And here is the next great station on the Scarlet Thread. At the dedication of that temple (1 Kings 8), Solomon offered twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep — so many that the brazen altar could not hold them and the courtyard itself had to be consecrated for the slaughter. The thread that began with one animal in Eden, then Abel's firstborn, then Noah's altar, then the ram on Moriah, then the lambs on every Egyptian doorpost, then the goats of Yom Kippur, then the bronze serpent in the wilderness, then a scarlet cord in a Jericho window — that thread now runs in rivers through the courts of Solomon's temple, and will run there every day for almost four hundred years. Every animal that ever died in those courts was a promissory note God Himself would one day cash on a hill outside the same city.

Lakini mbegu za kuanguka kwa Sulemani zilipandwa muda mrefu kabla ya wanawake wengi wa 1 Wafalme 11. Zilipandwa katika 1 Wafalme 3, katika sentensi mbili za kimya ambazo karibu hakuna anayezitambua. Alifanya ushirikiano wa kindoa na binti Farao. Na alitoa dhabihu katika mahali pa juu. Mambo mawili madogo. Ndoa ya kigeni iliyoonekana kuwa ya kisiasa; mazoea ya ibada yaliyoonekana kuwa ya uchaji. Yote mawili madogo. Yote mawili makosa. Yote mawili yakikua. Kufikia 1 Wafalme 11 mambo hayo madogo yalikuwa yameongezeka hadi wake mia saba na masuria mia tatu, na "wake zake wakamgeuza moyo wake" (1 Wafalme 11:3). Mtu mwenye hekima kuliko wote waliowahi kuishi aliwapenda wake zake kuliko alivyompenda Mungu. Elewa jambo hili: huingii katika ibada ya sanamu kwa kuteleza tu. Unaoa ndani yake. Sulemani hakuamka asubuhi moja akimchukia Yahweh. Aliamka kando ya mwanamke ambaye hakumpenda Yahweh, akamjengea mahali pa ibada ili kudumisha amani. Hekima haimlindi mtu. Ni moyo unaoabudu tu unaomlinda.But the seeds of Solomon's defeat were planted long before the harem of 1 Kings 11. They were planted in 1 Kings 3, in two quiet sentences hardly anyone notices. He made an alliance with the daughter of Pharaoh. And he sacrificed at the high places. Two little things. A foreign marriage that looked political; a worship habit that looked devotional. Both small. Both wrong. Both growing. By 1 Kings 11 the small things had multiplied into seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and "his wives turned away his heart" (1 Kings 11:3). The wisest man who ever lived out-loved God by his harem. Catch this: you don't slip into idolatry. You marry into it. Solomon didn't wake up one morning hating Yahweh. He woke up next to a woman who didn't, and built her a shrine to keep the peace. Wisdom does not keep a man. Only a heart that worships does.

Ufalme unapasuka anapokufa. Rehoboamu kusini, Yeroboamu kaskazini (1 Wafalme 12). Yeroboamu hawezi kuwaacha watu wake washuke kusini hadi Yerusalemu kuabudu — wangekumbuka ni familia ya nani Mungu aliyoiahidi kiti cha enzi — kwa hiyo anasimamisha ndama wawili wa dhahabu huko Dani na Betheli na kuwaambia Israeli, "Tazama miungu yako, Ee Israeli, iliyokupandisha kutoka nchi ya Misri." Sentensi hiyo imenakiliwa moja kwa moja kutoka kwa Haruni pale Sinai (Kutoka 32:4). Miaka mia sita baadaye watu bado wanajaribu kumwabudu Yahweh kwa kumzunguka.The kingdom cracks at his death. Rehoboam in the south, Jeroboam in the north (1 Kings 12). Jeroboam can't have his people walking south to Jerusalem to worship — they would remember whose family God promised the throne to — so he sets up two golden calves at Dan and Bethel and tells Israel, "behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." That sentence is plagiarized straight from Aaron at Sinai (Exodus 32:4). Six hundred years later and the people are still trying to worship Yahweh by getting around Him.

Ufalme wa Kaskazini unapitia wafalme kumi na tisa, kila mmoja wao mwovu. Ahabu analeta Yezebeli na ibada ya Baali — na pia analeta nabii Eliya, upanga wa Mungu katika umbo la mwanadamu. 1 Wafalme 18: Mlima Karmeli. Uchaguzi mkuu wa "hiki au kile" ambao sehemu hii yote imekuwa ikiuelekea: "Mtasita kati ya mawazo mawili hata lini?" (1 Wafalme 18:21). Ikiwa Yahweh ndiye Mungu, mfuateni; ikiwa ni Baali, mfuateni yeye. Moto unashuka juu ya madhabahu ya Eliya. Israeli wanaanguka kifudifudi. Kisha Israeli wanarudi kwa wale ndama wiki inayofuata, kwa sababu uamsho usio na toba hudumu muda mfupi kama pumzi ya kuugua.The North runs through nineteen kings, every single one evil. Ahab brings Jezebel and Baal worship — and brings the prophet Elijah, sword of God in human form. 1 Kings 18: Mount Carmel. The great either/or this whole unit has been building toward: "How long will you falter between two opinions?" (1 Kings 18:21). If Yahweh is God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him. Fire falls on Elijah's altar. Israel falls on its face. And then Israel goes back to the calves the next week, because revival without repentance has the half-life of a sigh.

Siku ya Malipo ItafikaPayday Someday

Ahabu na Yezebeli walikuwa wakiepuka adhabu kwa miaka mingi. Walilitaka shamba la mizabibu lililokuwa mali ya mtu aitwaye Nabothi, naye Nabothi hakutaka kuliuza — lilikuwa urithi wa baba zake. Yezebeli alipanga mashahidi wa uongo, kesi ya hila, na kupigwa kwa mawe. Ahabu alishuka kwenda kulimiliki shamba lake jipya la mizabibu akamkuta Eliya amesimama ndani yake. Nabii alitamka hukumu mahali pale pale ambapo damu ya Nabothi ilikuwa imelowesha ardhi: mahali pale mbwa walipoiramba damu ya Nabothi, mbwa watairamba damu yako. Mwanamke mmoja aliyehukumiwa kifo aliwahi kusema, kabla ya kupelekwa kwenye kiti cha kunyongea: "Nilijua tangu mwanzo kwamba Mungu ndiye anayeendesha mchezo wote. Nilijaribu tu kuiba onyesho moja dogo." Alikuwa na theolojia ya Ahabu sawasawa kabisa. Miaka ilipita. Ahabu alitajirika. Yezebeli alipaka uso wake rangi. Kisha siku moja ya kawaida ya vita mpiga mishale Mshami aliuvuta upinde wake kwa kubahatisha tu — na mshale ukapata ule mshono mmoja usiolindwa katika silaha za Ahabu. Watumishi walimtegemeza garini mwake, lakini damu ilimtoka hadi akafa kufikia machweo, na mbwa wakaja (1 Wafalme 22). Miaka kumi na miwili zaidi ilipita kabla siku ya Yezebeli haijafika, lakini ilifika. Yehu aliingia Yezreeli akiwa amepanda gari. Watumishi wake mwenyewe walimtupa chini. Wakati waliokwenda kumzika walipofika, mbwa walikuwa wamekula kila kitu isipokuwa fuvu la kichwa, mikono, na miguu — kichwa kilichopanga hila, mikono iliyoandika amri ya mauaji, miguu iliyotembea katika shamba la mizabibu la Nabothi (2 Wafalme 9). Ni jambo la kutisha kuanguka mikononi mwa Mungu aliye hai (Waebrania 10:31). Deni hulipwa daima.Ahab and Jezebel had been getting away with it for years. They wanted a vineyard that belonged to a man named Naboth, and Naboth would not sell — it was his ancestral land. Jezebel arranged false witnesses, a kangaroo court, and a stoning. Ahab walked down to take possession of his new vineyard and found Elijah standing in it. The prophet pronounced sentence in the exact place where Naboth's blood had soaked the ground: in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood. A woman on death row once said, before they walked her to the chair: "I knew all along that God ran the whole show. I just tried to steal one little act." She had Ahab's theology exactly. The years rolled on. Ahab got rich. Jezebel painted her face. And then one ordinary battle day a Syrian archer drew his bow at random — and the arrow found the one unprotected seam in Ahab's armor. The servants propped him up in his chariot, but he bled out by sundown, and the dogs came (1 Kings 22). Twelve more years passed before Jezebel's day came, but it came. Jehu rode into Jezreel. Her own servants threw her down. By the time burial detail arrived, the dogs had eaten everything but the skull, the hands, and the feet — the head that had plotted, the hands that had written the murder order, the feet that had walked Naboth's vineyard (2 Kings 9). It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). The bill always comes.

Ufalme wa Kusini unapata wafalme kumi na tisa na malkia mmoja — mchanganyiko wa mema na mabaya. Watu wawili wanang'aa. Hezekia, jeshi la Senakeribu likiwa langoni na Rabshake akipiga kelele za kukufuru kutoka ukutani, anaipeleka barua ya vitisho hekaluni na kuikunjua mbele za BWANA (2 Wafalme 19:14). Omba kama Hezekia alivyoomba wakati jambo baya kuliko yote liko ukutani. Malaika wa BWANA anapita katika kambi ya Waashuru usiku ule. Watu 185,000 wamekufa kufikia asubuhi. Mungu hatuokoi kila mara kutoka kwenye ukuta; wakati mwingine anatuokoa pale pale ukutani. Lakini anaokoa.The South gets nineteen kings and one queen — a mixed bag. Two bright spots stand up. Hezekiah, with Sennacherib's army at the gate and Rabshakeh shouting blasphemy from the wall, takes the threat letter into the temple and spreads it before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14). Pray the way Hezekiah prayed when the worst is at the wall. The angel of the Lord goes through the Assyrian camp that night. 185,000 dead by morning. God doesn't always save us from the wall; sometimes He saves us at the wall. But He saves.

Yosia, mwenye umri wa miaka minane alipotwaa kiti cha enzi, analipata Kitabu cha Torati kilichopotea wakati wa kusafisha hekalu (2 Wafalme 22). Anakisoma. Anararua mavazi yake. Anafanya upya agano. Anaadhimisha Pasaka kubwa kuliko zote tangu siku za Samweli. Na bado — miaka hamsini na mitano ya uovu uliojilimbikiza wa Manase inaelemea mizani, na hukumu inashuka hata hivyo. 586 K.K. Yerusalemu unateketea. Hekalu ni kifusi. Mfalme wa ukoo wa Daudi anapofuliwa macho na kuburutwa akiwa amefungwa minyororo hadi Babeli. Inaonekana kana kwamba agano limeporomoka.Josiah, eight years old when he takes the throne, finds the lost Book of the Law during a temple cleanup (2 Kings 22). Reads it. Tears his clothes. Renews the covenant. Holds the biggest Passover since Samuel. And still — Manasseh's fifty-five accumulated years of wickedness tip the scale and the judgment falls anyway. 586 BC. Jerusalem burns. The temple is rubble. The Davidic king is blinded and dragged in chains to Babylon. It looks like the covenant collapsed.

IV. Kiti cha Enzi Kinapotea — na Kiti cha Enzi Kinaahidiwa TenaIV. The Throne Lost — and the Throne Promised Again

Mambo ya Nyakati, Anguko, na Amri ya KoreshiChronicles, the Fall, and Cyrus's Decree

Halijaporomoka.It hasn't.

Mambo ya Nyakati ni masimulizi mapya ya kikuhani, yaliyoandikwa kwa ajili ya waliohamishwa waliorudi nyumbani wakaingia katika mji wa vifusi na kujiuliza kama Mungu bado alimaanisha ahadi zake. Kitabu kinaanza na sura tisa za orodha za ukoo — majina, majina, majina — na majina hayo ndiyo ujumbe: Bado ninyi ni watu WAKE. Ukoo bado umesimama. Mambo ya Nyakati karibu haugusi ufalme wa kaskazini. Kinakazia Daudi, Sulemani, hekalu, wafalme wa kusini — kwa sababu mtazamo wa kikuhani unauliza, je, bado tunaweza kuabudu? Na jibu ni ndiyo.Chronicles is a priestly retelling, written for the exiles who came home and walked into a city of rubble and wondered if God still meant it. The book opens with nine chapters of genealogy — names, names, names — and the names are the message: You are still HIS people. The line still stands. Chronicles barely mentions the northern kingdom. It focuses on David, Solomon, the temple, the southern kings — because the priestly perspective is asking, can we still worship? And the answer is yes.

Kisha Agano la Kale linafungwa kwa mojawapo ya sentensi za ajabu kabisa zinazokatika katikati katika fasihi yote. 2 Mambo ya Nyakati 36:22–23. Koreshi, mfalme wa Uajemi, anatoa tangazo: "Falme zote za dunia BWANA, Mungu wa mbinguni, amenipa; naye ameniagiza nimjengee nyumba huko Yerusalemu… Ye yote miongoni mwenu aliye wa watu wake wote, BWANA, Mungu wake, na awe pamoja naye, na apande!" Hiyo ndiyo sentensi ya mwisho ya Biblia ya Kiebrania. Apande.Then the Old Testament closes with one of the most extraordinary mid-sentences in literature. 2 Chronicles 36:22–23. Cyrus, king of Persia, makes a proclamation: "All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem… Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!" That is the last sentence of the Hebrew Bible. Go up.

Apande kwenda kufanya nini? Kujenga upya. Kungoja. Kutazama orodha ya ukoo katika Mathayo 1 ikipita katika kila jina tulilosoma sasa hivi katika 1 Mambo ya Nyakati. Kusimama chini ya nyota huko Bethlehemu. Kumfuata seremala wa Galilaya hadi kilima nje ya Yerusalemu na kumtazama akitwaa kiti cha enzi kwa njia ya msalaba. Kusimama mbele ya kaburi tupu. Kuishi, sasa hivi, chini ya amri ya Koreshi ya Agano Jipya: ye yote miongoni mwenu aliye wa watu wake — na apande.Go up to what? To rebuild. To wait. To watch the genealogy in Matthew 1 thread through every name we just read in 1 Chronicles. To stand under a star in Bethlehem. To follow a Galilean carpenter to a hill outside Jerusalem and watch Him take a throne by way of a cross. To stand at an empty tomb. To live, right now, under the Cyrus decree of the New Testament: whoever is among you of His people — let him go up.

Hadithi ya zamani ya mhubiri kuhusu nyumbu inahubiri vizuri hapa. Nyumbu mmoja alitumbukia katika kisima kikavu. Mwenyewe hakuweza kumtoa, kwa hiyo akaanza kumwagia udongo ndani ili amzike. Nyumbu aliendelea kuukung'uta udongo na kuukanyaga ili apande juu. Kile kilichokusudiwa kumzika kikawa ngazi zilizomwinua. Babeli waliwamwagia Israeli udongo kwa miaka sabini. Mungu alitumia kila koleo la udongo kama ngazi. Uhamisho haukuwa mwisho wa agano; ulikuwa shule ya agano. Na kila udongo ambao adui yako amekutupia huenda bado ukawa sakafu ambayo Mungu atakuinulia juu yake.The old preacher's mule story preaches here. A mule fell into a dry well. The owner couldn't get him out, so he started shoveling dirt down to bury him. The mule kept shaking the dirt off and stepping up. What was meant to bury him became the steps that raised him. Babylon shoveled dirt on Israel for seventy years. God used every shovelful as a step. The exile was not the end of the covenant; it was the school of the covenant. And every dirt-throw your enemy has aimed at you may yet be the floor God raises you on.

Kristo katika 1 Samweli — 2 Mambo ya NyakatiChrist in 1 Samuel — 2 Chronicles

Mambo matatu ya kusadiki ya kwenda nayo na kamwe usiyaweke chini.Three convictions to take with you and never put down.

Kwanza — Kristo ndiye Mwana Mkuu wa Daudi, Mfalme asiyeanguka kamwe. Kila kasoro katika kila mfalme katika sehemu hii ni kidole kinachoelekeza Bethlehemu. Moyo mtupu wa Sauli, moyo wa Sulemani ulioathiriwa na maridhiano, moyo mwovu wa Manase — kila kiti cha enzi kilicho tupu ni ishara mlangoni mwa hori tupu. Mtoto aliye mikononi mwa Mariamu ndiye Mfalme ambaye manabii walimtamani kwa uchungu na ambaye wafalme wa Israeli hawangeweza kamwe kuwa.First — Christ is David's greater Son, the King who never falls. Every flaw in every king in this unit is a finger pointing at Bethlehem. Saul's hollow heart, Solomon's compromised one, Manasseh's wicked one — every empty throne is a sign at the door of an empty manger. The child in Mary's arms is the King the prophets ached for and the kings of Israel could never be.

Pili — Kristo ndiye Hekalu la Kweli, na Mwana-Kondoo ambaye hekalu lilikuwa likimwelekeza siku zote. Sulemani alijenga picha; Kristo alijenga uhalisi wenyewe. "Livunjeni hekalu hili, nami katika siku tatu nitalisimamisha" (Yohana 2:19). Mito ya damu iliyotiririka katika nyua za Sulemani kwa miaka mia nne yote ilikuwa hati za ahadi. Mwana-Kondoo wa Mungu alizilipa zote pale Kalvari. Mawe aliyoyaweka Sulemani yalikuwa mazuri; mwili aliouinua Kristo ni wa milele. Wewe na mimi hatungoji hekalu lijengwe upya huko Yerusalemu — sisi ni mawe yanayotembea na kupumua katika hekalu ambalo tayari limesimama.Second — Christ is the True Temple, and the Lamb the temple was always pointing to. Solomon built the picture; Christ built the substance. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). The rivers of blood that flowed through Solomon's courts for four hundred years were all promissory notes. The Lamb of God cashed every one of them on Calvary. The stones Solomon laid were beautiful; the body Christ raised is eternal. You and I are not waiting for a temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem — we are walking, breathing stones in the temple already standing.

Tatu — Wito wa Kristo ndiyo amri ya Koreshi tunayoishi chini yake. Uhamisho umekwisha. Njia ya kurudi nyumbani iko wazi. Ye yote miongoni mwenu aliye wa watu wake — na apande.Third — Christ's call is the Cyrus decree we live under. The exile is over. The way home is open. Whoever is among you of His people — let him go up.

Israeli waliomba mfalme. Mungu alijibu kwa vitabu sita na miaka elfu moja na Msalaba nje ya Yerusalemu na kaburi tupu. Mfalme waliyemtaka, walimpata — na wakampoteza. Mfalme waliyemhitaji, Yeye alimtoa — na bado anatawala.Israel asked for a king. God answered with six books and a thousand years and a Cross outside Jerusalem and an empty tomb. The king they wanted, they got — and lost. The King they needed, He gave — and He still reigns.

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