of pinky fingers, thighs, and eyes for an eye

“…The heart of the sons of men
is full of evil,
and madness is in their heart
while they live…”
(Ecclesiastes 9.3)
 
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before the high God?
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?
 (Micah 6.6, 8)
​

of pinky fingers, thighs, and eyes for an eye
​1 kings 12.1-16
​

  rehoboam’s thigh in circa 900 b.c.

1 Kings 12 reports a fascinating bit of ancient Israelite history. Unfortunately, it is more than history. It has been repeated over and over and over again in human history—both in private histories and in national histories. It is being reenacted even as we speak.
 
After a long reign, king Solomon is dead. The text found in 1 Kings 1-11 portrays his reign as one of deterioration, starting out good and ending badly. Probably, this is too kind by far. There are indications a plenty in these chapters that Solomon’s reign more likely went from not great to greatly worse.[1] There is much to indicate that his reign was particularly bad for those who lived in the north—the people who would become the independent nation of Israel north of the independent nation of Judah.
 
Upon Solomon’s death, northern Israelites sent ambassadors to Judah. They agreed to pledge allegiance to the new king, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. They had only one very reasonable request.
 
“Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee” (1 Kg. 12.4).
 
They did not demand immediate concessions. They gave Rehoboam and his advisors time to consider their response. Solomon began by consulting with the experienced advisors who had advised his father, Solomon. They advised him to act more the part of a servant king than his father had done. By seeking to serve better the interest of his norther subjects, Rehoboam would win over those skeptical of the David/Solomon dynasty and find peace and unity in his kingdom (12.6-7).
 
Apparently unhappy with this counsel, Rehoboam then consulted some of the entitled young men with whom he had grown up. They advised a response to the north’s reasonable request that could not be more diametrically opposed to that of the more experienced advisors.
 
“Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, ‘Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us;’ thus shalt thou say unto them, ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke [note there is no denial of Solomon’s oppression of the north, but only justification], I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” (12.10-11).
 
The rest, as they say, is history. Rehoboam went with option two. The Kingdom of Israel split into two: the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. If Solomon ever was a wise king—an assertion that was almost certainly more political propaganda than spiritual discernment—he produced a son who turned out to be one the more stupid nation leaders among the many stupid national leaders the world has witnessed… and with which it has suffered.
 
 
 
  israel’s thigh in circa 2023 a.d.

For years, I have bit my tongue, aware that in today’s twisted environment, one cannot be critical of the modern state of Israel without being labeled an antisemite. Modern Israel has long been an apartheid state. It is surely one of the great ironies and tragedies of history that a people who were wickedly forced to live in ghettos for a thousand years of European history have forced Palestinians into ghetto living for many years. This is a complete breach of their Mosaic covenant which, above all else, demands that they remember their captivity at the hands of oppressors and never act the part of oppressor toward others. This, as much as any dietary law, sabbath day observance, or national boundaries is what was to make them a peculiar people to the Lord—a nation apart from the rest of the nations and kingdoms of this world.
 
As we cross the 20,000 mark—that’s 20,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed over the past two months—I cannot remain silent. To do so would be wickedness. To remain silent would mean standing before God with blood on my hands. I have enough of my own sins to worry about. I don’t need to add others’ sins to my load.
 
Now, to be clear. The murderous actions taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023 were barbaric beyond words. What that perverted terror organization perpetrated against innocent civilians, men, women, children, and infants was wickedness of the darkest black. The actions taken on that day were far more than simply barbaric, or inhumane, or animalistic. They were as anti-Christ an action as can be conceived—and, in my book, that charge of “Anti-Christ,” is as bad as it gets and the worse I can say about anyone or anything. I cannot hope for anything but the deepest pit in hell for planners and attackers alike. Before that day, I am of a mind that the planners and attackers of that day should be hunted down and punished. If punishment means death, so be it.
 
But not like this. Not like it is being done at the present.
 
Israel’s October 7 is, as many have rightly stated, much like America’s 9/11. But the nation of Israel’s response to their 10/7 has gone too far—just as America’s response to 9/11 went too far. (Yes, in the aftermath of 9/11, I warned immediately against an ungodly and bloodthirsty response to it that would turn us into international law-breakers and, worse, make us indistinguishable from our attackers. With blood-lust, a generation of Americans did not heed such warnings, but engaged in crimes against humanity and the breach of many an international law so that we became little better than those we hated.)
 
Israel is making the same mistake. Like America, they have wasted an opportunity to unite the world against a vile enemy.
 
The barbarity of Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023 cannot be compared to the reasoned requests that ancient Israel made to Rehoboam in circa 900 B.C. Nevertheless, Israel’s response to those barbarous attacks has, itself, turned barbaric. They have put down a thigh when something less was needed. Israel’s leadership—often looking, like America’s, as much like a criminal enterprise as anything else—headstrong, arrogant, and blinded by rage and pride looks as stupid as their ancestral king, Rehoboam. One can’t help but wonder what the world, their world, might look like if they had chosen and would choose to take their thigh off the necks of Palestinians and look to the basic humanitarian needs of Palestinians. To be servants rather than tyrants, as their greatest of prophets, Moses, taught them. 
 
O.K. Fine. Israel has a law that calls for an eye for an eye—we hasten to say that Christians do not have such a law since Jesus rejected and reversed it. The international community would probably not bat an eye over Israel’s seeking an eye for every eye they lost on October 7. But really now. Even the least skilled or most cynical reader of the Bible surely would not seek to justify taking 20 eyes for every eye lost—and its likely to be 30 or 40 Palestinian eyes for every single Israeli eye before the tragedy is over.
 
Tragically and shamefully, America was not called to account for the twenty years of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and breach of international law that it committed in the aftermath of 9/11. Little wonder, then, that Israel follows America’s bad example in the aftermath of its 10/7. America has no authority by which it can call on Israel to repent, to abide by international law, to remove their thigh from the neck of Palestinians; to say nothing of being true to its higher ideals as found in Tora. It is left to the rest of the world, weak and ineffectual as it is, to try and talk sense to a nation driven mad through pain and grief.
 
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  conclusion: the human thigh

There is a very old Scottish proverb that goes,
 
“No man harms me unharmed.”
 
Such shameful sentiments are spoke with pride and braggadocio. As if, such wickedness was heroic. Unfortunately, this is the human way. This is the way of fallen man. Even those individuals who manage to rise above such sentiments in their individual lives, nearly all fall prey in their corporate/group/national lives to the satanic spirit that inspires such thought and behavior.
 
The pragmatist among us might have to shrug and yield to a certain level of satanism such as this. Israel is allowed, justified by human law, to return harm for harm. But, like America and like Hamas, Israel now goes too far. It must reign in its hurt. The present hurt they inflict on those who hurt them can only bring more hurt. Hurt to its enemies and more hurt to itself. More hurt in the present and more hurt in the future. More hurt over the entire globe. This is directly contrary to the call God gave Israel and the hope he had for it.
 
“In days to come
      the Mountain on which stands Yahweh’s temple
will be fixed above any other Mountain;
      lifted above any other height.
All nations will come streaming to it;
      many peoples will come, saying:
‘Come! Let’s go up to Yahweh’s mountain;
      to the temple of the God of Ya‘qōb.
He will teach us his ways,
      and we shall walk in his paths.
For Torah will come out of Ṣîyôn,
      and the word of Yahweh from Yerûšālāyim.’
Then will He mediate between nations;
      He will reconcile many peoples,
so that they will retool their swords into plow blades
      and their spears into pruning instruments.
One nation will no longer lift the sword against another,
      nor will they any longer train for warfare.
 
Come, Oh House of Ya‘qōb, and let us walk in Yahweh’s light” (Is. 2.2-5).
 
Call me a dreamer. Call me an idealist. Call me utopian. But I refuse to give up on the word of God. I refuse to yield to arguments that enmity and barbarity are inevitable. The reader can think of this post as my attempt to be true to the Lord’s latter-day charge and to the expressed hopes of the angelic choir that so surprisingly appeared during that very first Christmas Season.
 
“Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy. For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me.
Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace, and seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children; and again, the hearts of the Jews unto the prophets, and the prophets unto the Jews; lest I come and smite the whole earth with a curse, and all flesh be consumed before me” (DC 98.14-17).
 
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lk. 2.14).
 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!


[1] See, for example, our homily, entitled, “King Solomon and King Noah, two peas in a pod: ‘neoliberalism’ and the redistribution of wealth.”