{"id":3498,"date":"2023-07-27T19:56:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T19:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=3498"},"modified":"2023-07-27T19:56:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T19:56:28","slug":"an-undesirable-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2023\/07\/27\/an-undesirable-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"An Undesirable Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

In part of the July 23 sermon<\/a>, we considered the strange blessing pronounced in Psalm 137:8-9:<\/p>\n

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!<\/p>\n

We saw that God is bringing about justice \u2013 the Babylonians will suffer the same pains they inflicted on others, as prophesied in Isaiah\u2019s oracle against Babylon written a century earlier (Isaiah 13:16-19).<\/p>\n

We also saw that the use of the word \u201cblessing\u201d in Psalm 137 is the mirror image of the blessing given in Isaiah 30:18, \u201cblessed are all those who wait for him.\u201d The latter blessing is not <\/em>immediate, but rather a promise of a future benefit after enduring God\u2019s judgment on His disobedient people (see Isaiah 30:9-26). The mirror image in Psalm 137: A temporary blessing followed by eventual judgment. Those who do such terrible deeds against the Babylonians will be implementing justice and will benefit \u2013 but they too eventually will suffer just recompense for their atrocities.<\/p>\n

We see this pattern in numerous places in Scripture. Let\u2019s consider the example of the first three rulers of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Recall that after Solomon\u2019s death, the kingdom splits. In the north, Jeroboam becomes king, fulfilling God\u2019s prophecy:<\/p>\n

I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. (1 Kings 11:37-38)<\/p>\n

This is a blessing. Jeroboam reigns over Israel. He has power and majesty.<\/p>\n

Yet Jeroboam does not walk in God\u2019s ways, and so the blessing is temporary. God calls down judgment on the king, speaking through the prophet Ahijah:<\/p>\n

Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David \u2026 but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone\u2026. The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam. (From 1 Kings 14:7-14)<\/p>\n

The judgment comes after Jeroboam\u2019s death. His son Nadab reigns in his place and follows in his father\u2019s footsteps. Baasha assassinates Nadab, makes himself king, and then:<\/p>\n

He killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel. (1 Kings 15:29-30)<\/p>\n

So Baasha, like Jeroboam, executes God\u2019s judgment and receives a temporary blessing \u2013 he has power and glory as king of Israel, reigning for 24 years. But he too does evil, so God pronounces the sentence of judgment on him and his house.<\/p>\n

Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. (1 Kings 16:2-3)<\/p>\n

God fulfills the prophecy. Baasha\u2019s son Elah becomes king upon the death of his father, but has reigned only two years when Zimri, one of his army commanders, assassinates him and kills all males among his relatives and friends (1 Kings 16:11-13).<\/p>\n

The pattern is obvious: A king turns his back on God. God raises up someone else to exercise judgment. This new king then is blessed with power and authority. Yet he turns his back on God, and the cycle continues.<\/p>\n

1 Kings 16:7 speaks specifically of Baasha but highlights the nature of the cycle:<\/p>\n

The word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did<\/em> in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.<\/em> (1 Kings 16:7, emphasis added)<\/p>\n

So here we have the same type of \u201cblessing\u201d as in Psalm 137:8-9. Baasha is blessed in being God\u2019s agent, implementing God\u2019s justice against Jeroboam and Elah \u2013 but in implementing that justice he himself commits evil. God then calls on another agent, Zimri, to bring about judgment on Baasha. And Zimri too receives a blessing \u2013 for seven days! Then he himself receives the judgment (1 Kings 16:15-19).<\/p>\n

Thus, not all blessings are desirable! We don\u2019t want temporary blessings followed by eternal judgment! We want the eternal blessings that come to those \u201cwhose transgression is forgiven\u201d (Psalm 32:1), \u201cwho take refuge in Him\u201d (Psalm 2:12), \u201cwhose strength is in You\u201d (Psalm 84:5), and who \u201care poor in spirit\u201d (Matthew 5:3). We want those eternal blessings, even if we have to wait, trusting God through trials and judgments and persecutions before we receive them (Matthew 5:10-12). We want the eternal blessings of those who know Jesus, abide in Him, have saving faith in Him, and are being conformed to His likeness.<\/p>\n

Therefore, set your hope fully not on any temporary blessing, but on \u201cthe grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ\u201d (1 Peter 1:13). That inheritance is \u201cimperishable, undefiled, and unfading\u201d (1 Peter 1:4). Loving Jesus though you do not now see Him, rejoice in Him \u201cwith joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory\u201d (1 Peter 1:8). That\u2019s the eternal blessing. May we all receive it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In part of the July 23 sermon, we considered the strange blessing pronounced in Psalm 137:8-9: O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[2807,2804,222,2806,2808,2803,865,867,2805],"class_list":["post-3498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-1-peter-1","tag-baasha","tag-blessings","tag-eternal-blessings","tag-isaiah-30","tag-jeroboam","tag-judgment","tag-justice","tag-psalm-137"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3499,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498\/revisions\/3499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}