A call to see clearly.
With this in mind, we are called to see clearly. We need to adopt the proper way of looking at things:
• To distinguish what is true (“rend your heart”) (Joel 2:13) from what is false (“rend ... your garments”) (Joel 2:13).
• To distinguish spiritual reality (“the LORD thunders at the head of his army”) (Joel 2:11) from earthly manifestation (“an object of scorn, a byword among the nations”) (Joel 2:17).
• To recognise our own fault and repent (“return ... with fasting, weeping and mourning”) (Joel 2:12), not pretend that we are mere victims of a malign fate.
• To make a deliberate and settled decision to turn again to God (“Return to the LORD your God”) (Joel 2:13).
• To recognise God for who he is and give him the proper place in our lives (“Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other”) (Joel 2:27).
These things are true for us as a nation, just as they are true for us as individuals.
Conclusion.
Leadership matters. Aethelred came to the throne of a unified England[15] exactly one hundred years after Alfred the Great won the battle of Edington with the resources of Wessex alone. The hand dealt to the former was no worse than that dealt to the latter. Indeed, in many ways Alfred’s position would have seemed the more precarious at the outset of his reign. Yet Alfred survived and laid the foundations for comprehensive victory, whilst Aethelred presided over the despoiling of his kingdom and the steadily increasing misery of his people. There is more to this than mere happenstance. Aethelred’s character faults were above all a spiritual issue. Alfred’s ability to stand firm was grounded in his Christian faith. This faith sustained him, strengthened him and brought him victory. It meant, too, that during his reign there was a deepening and quickening of the spiritual life of the whole nation. The chronicler Asser describes Alfred as “enthusiastic and generous in alms-giving to fellow-countrymen and foreigners, extremely affable and pleasant to all men, and a skilful enquirer into the unknown. Many ... submitted voluntarily to his dominion, all of whom he ruled, loved, honoured and enriched as if they were his own people.” Aethelred could hardly have been more different. Under him the spiritual health of the nation declined precipitately.
In the Old Testament we see time and again such a strong identification of the country with its king that the character of the monarch determines the fate of the nation. When the ruler is godly, the Lord bestows blessing. When the ruler goes against God’s laws, blessing is withheld. In a democratic state, we share a responsibility for the spiritual condition of the nation that was previously the king’s alone. We can therefore expect God to bless or withhold blessing according to the way in which we each live our own lives. There are two aspects to this, a public and a private. It is not enough for us to be godly in our personal lives but to treat the Lord as though he had no part in the political or working life of the land. That being so, we have to ask ourselves: what leadership are we giving to England today? What are we doing to call the people to arms, to call them to repentance, to call them to recognise the joy and the future that the Almighty will bring if we turn again to him? What are we doing to call the people to see clearly, to “know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other” (Joel 2:27)?
Good leadership is not just for those at the very top of the tree. It must exist at all levels of society if a nation is to be whole and healthy. We must take up the baton handed over by earlier generations. We must lead, and lead well, if God is to bless us again.
5. Defeat
Lamentations 3:19-48.
Key word: prayer.
Harold Godwinson is one of the nearly men of English history. He came to the throne on the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066, having been nominated by the dying king on his deathbed and unanimously elected by the Witan (the high council). In the course of less than 10 months he showed talent, energy and courage worthy of the greatest monarchs. If an air of inevitable doom now hangs over his reign, it is largely the product of hindsight and Norman propaganda. Bad luck dogged his attempts to defend the realm, however. Alert to possible Norman attack, he mobilised a fleet to guard the Channel, but bad weather delayed William’s crossing. By the time the Duke of Normandy was able to move, the English ships had run out of supplies and been dispersed, whilst Harold had been called north to face a second invading army under Harald Hardrada (“hard ruler”) of Norway.
To cap it all, there was treachery: Harold’s disaffected brother Tostig, who had been exiled in 1065, raided the English coast with a fleet of sixty ships from May 1066. Although defeated by earl Edwin of Mercia at the battle of Lindsey, he escaped to Scotland and subsequently returned to make common cause with Hardrada. Together they were a fearsome army – the joint force numbered some five hundred ships – and after a bloody fight which cost both sides dear, they beat Earl Edwin and his brother Morcar, earl of Northumbria, at the battle of Fulford Gate on 20 September. Meanwhile, however, the king was hurrying to meet the threat.
The campaign that Harold fought in September and October 1066 deserves to rank alongside the finest feats of arms. He surprised the enemy at Stamford Bridge a few miles east of York on 25 September, winning a tremendous victory in which both Tostig and the Norwegian king were killed. So great was the slaughter that the survivors needed just twenty ships to make their escape. Scarce was the battle over before news came that William had landed at Pevensey Bay in Sussex. Straight away Harold led his best troops south by forced marches. They covered 400 miles in just over a fortnight, having destroyed the Norwegian army on the way. The king allowed them a week’s respite in London whilst he gathered men from the southern counties to face William, though most of the new recruits were village levies, many armed with little more than clubs or billhooks. Yet still the battle of Hastings was so hard-fought that its outcome was in the balance almost to the end.
Harold fell on Saturday 16 October 1066 on Caldbeck Hill, which the Normans called Senlac (lake of blood). His brothers Gyrth and Leofwin, together with almost all the nobility and gentry of the southern shires, fell with him. In a single afternoon, England lost her finest soldiers and practically her whole leadership. She was at the mercy of the Conqueror.
Ruin and captivity.
The book of Lamentations is written in the context of the conquest of the southern Israelite kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Jewish and early Christian tradition ascribes authorship to Jeremiah, the prophet who had warned for years beforehand that God’s judgment was coming. Like the Anglo-Saxons in 1066, the people of Judah suffered not just defeat but also the effective decapitation of their state: those of the leading citizens who survived were marched to captivity in Babylon, where they and their descendants were held for seventy years. Terrible privations were suffered during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem, but even when the siege ended there was no respite.
Lamentations records the litany of suffering: there is affliction, bitterness and gall (Lamentations 3:19); many have become refugees, “wandering” (Lamentations 3:19); the people “have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.” (Lamentations 3:47). Worse still, they are now under Babylonian rule. The author says that: “It is good for a man to bear the yoke when he is young” (Lamentations 3:27), but it is a harsh yoke indeed. The Babylonians were noted for their cruelty. They “crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High” (Lamentations 3:34).
There is a terrible irony in the Israelites now finding themselves under the brutal yoke of man for consistently rejecting the gentle yoke of God. Jesus says: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30). The conquerors, Babylonian and Norman, could not have been more different.
Grounds for hope.
Incredibly, amid
st the awfulness that surrounds him, the author finds reason to hope. On the face of it, his hope is against all human reason. He writes that “Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed” (Lamentations 3:48), yet at the same time: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed” (Lamentations 3:22). That this should be so is the more remarkable given that “All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.” (Lamentations 3:46).
Hope is grounded in God: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope ... for [The LORD’s] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness ... The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him ... Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope.” (Lamentations 3:21, 22, 25 and 29). The picture of burying one’s face in the dust is of heartfelt and sincere prostration before God in prayer and submission to his will, just as did the prophet Daniel when he “three times a day got down on his knees and prayed” (Daniel 6:10) and “turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3).
The result of well-founded hope is that, although the outward circumstances are dire and “my soul is downcast within me” (Lamentations 3:20), the author still looks for good things from the Almighty. This is the most astonishing expression of trust in the mercy of God, for the author recognises that what his nation has suffered has come about because God has allowed it: “Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.” (Lamentations 3:28). Indeed, “You [God] have covered yourself with anger and have pursued; you have slain without pity. You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.” (Lamentations 3:43-45). The Babylonians have been the mere instruments of God’s judgment against the Israelites.
To us, this might sound harsh, but the author is in no doubt that God’s actions are completely justified: “Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: ‘We have sinned and rebelled’” (Lamentations 3:41-42). He states quite explicitly that there is no cause to question the rightness of what God has done: “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?” (Lamentations 3:38-39). The reality is that prophets had been warning of impending disaster for decades and urging the people to turn back to God, but to no avail. At last, the Lord will delay punishment no longer, but we are reminded that “he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” (Lamentations 3:33). The prophet Ezekiel records the same sentiment: “’Do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ declares the Sovereign LORD. ‘Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?’” (Ezekiel 18:23). Likewise, St Paul writes that “God our Saviour ... wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
The author recognises that God has punished their Israelites for their sinfulness, since he is a god of righteousness and justice. Yet he expects God to show compassion (Lamentations 3:22 and 32) and bring salvation to his people (Lamentations 3:26) because he is also a god of “unfailing love” (Lamentations 3:32) and mercy. “Men are not cast off by the Lord for ever.” (Lamentations 3:31).
Waiting.
This expectation is not the product of mere daydreaming. It is realistic. The author knows that we often have to wait for deliverance from hardship and for the blessings that God wishes to give us: “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:24) and “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:26). He knows that we have to be patient and make sure that we use the time of waiting wisely: to learn from our mistakes (“let us examine our ways and test them”) and to confess to God the things that we have done wrong (“Let us say... we have sinned and rebelled”).
Whilst waiting, we need to have the right attitude: “Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.” (Lamentations 3:30). The words directly mirror the teaching of Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount: “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”(Matthew 5:39). This is difficult. It does not come easily or naturally to us, but it is the way to ensure that we come as close as we can to a holy God. So often, it is in times of waiting and of trial that God takes his people and refines them, teaches them and makes them ready for the tasks ahead.
Coming back to God.
All is within the power and timing of God: “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” (Lamentations 3:37). That, however, does not mean that we have no part to play or that we can lapse into fatalism or apathy. We need to turn to God in order to receive the good that he wishes to bestow on us.
Moreover, we need to recognise that our actions have consequences. Our sinfulness creates a barrier between ourselves and God: “You [God] have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.” (Lamentations 3:44). This is not because God wishes there to be separation between him and man. It is merely that separation is an inevitable result of his holiness and justice, for “[God’s] eyes are too pure to look on evil.” (Habbakuk 1:13). If we wish our prayers to be effective, we must do what we can to remove the barrier between us and God. This involves repentance, turning from what is wrong and resolving henceforth to follow what is right. What is needed is an honest appraisal of what we have done and failed to do: “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD ... We have sinned and rebelled” (Lamentations 3:40-42). Turning from what is wrong, however, is only part. We need also to lay hold of the salvation that God offers. We do this by placing our faith (trust) in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion.
In 1066 it must indeed have seemed to the English that “all our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us” (Lamentations 3:46). Worse was to come. In the aftermath of defeat at Hastings, they might have been forgiven for thinking that “you have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity.” (Lamentations 3:43). Many fled overseas, “wandering” (Lamentations 3:19) just like the author of Lamentations. A large contingent of exiled Englishmen joined the Varangian Guard, crack household troops of the Byzantine Emperor. Others sought refuge elsewhere. No doubt in foreign lands they would oft “remember [their] affliction ... the bitterness and the gall” (Lamentations 3:19).They would not have been human had they not thought, too, about why such things should have happened to England.
We need to go through the same process of examination today. We need to do it both personally and as a nation. We have first of all to “examine our ways and test them” (Lamentations 3:40). We must shine the light of truth on the dark corners of our own attitudes and behaviour, on the things that are rotten and unjust in our society. Truth can be painful. It means having to lay aside prejudices and preconceptions, taboos and shibboleths. Unless we correctly appraise what is wrong, however, the chances of our ever being able to put it right are slim.
We need not just to analyse the facts correctly, but to draw the proper conclusions from them. The author of Lamentations was in no doubt: “We have sinned and rebelled” (Lamentations 3:42). At present, we still give the impression of denying what the root cause of our malaise is. One thing is sure. It has nothing to do with a lack of resources. It is not even a matter of how we choose to employ our resources. It is instead a question of the spiritual health of the nation. Our problems would be over in an instant if we truly put into practice two of the central teachings of Jesus: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31) and “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
Analysing and drawing conclusions is the start, but then we need to act. We need to resolve to put things right: “let us return to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). We act upon our resolve by confessing what we have done wrong, by putting our fai
th in God, by doing our utmost to live pure and holy lives. From where we stand at the moment, this is a tall order. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we might imagine ourselves “in blood stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” The amazing thing about God, however, is that whatever we have done or failed to do, there is always a way back to him.
We need only to ask for his help. We have gone so far astray and the task is so great that it is not something that we can do alone. Like Daniel, like the author of Lamentations, we need to turn to God in prayer, to “bury [our] face in the dust” (Lamentations 3:29). This is the urgent task that each of us needs to undertake. There is no time for delay.
6. Resistance
James 4:1-12.
Key word: combat.
Defeat at Hastings dealt a grievous blow to England, but her spirit was not altogether broken. For two hundred years and more she had borne the assaults of Vikings from Denmark and Norway. She roused herself for a further effort against the Northmen from Normandy. On news of Harold’s death, the youngster Edgar the Atheling,[16] the only surviving prince of the house of Wessex, was elected king. Yet as William slowly advanced through Kent and Surrey to encircle London, one by one the remaining English leaders (most prominent amongst them Edwin and Morcar, respectively earls of Mercia and Northumbria) began to submit to him. They were influenced no doubt by William’s claim that the throne was his by right, by his promise to uphold English laws and by the fact that the boy-king Edgar was of no age to exercise real leadership. They could not then have envisaged what the reality of Norman rule would be.
Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching) Page 4