One of the things that always strikes me about the Bible is how things can slip right by me, understated as they are. Cataclysmic events often come in simple sentences without exclamation points or ominous music. Take, for example 1 Kings 12:17: “So the Israelites went home.” Boom, just like that, the kingdom splits in two, north and south, Israel and Judah, and if you’re not paying attention, you’re confused for the rest of the Old Testament. All of this week’s readings focus on the northern kingdom, Israel.

Jeroboam, a good man gone bad, is finally dead and his son Nadab has taken over. He thoroughly follows his father’s tradition of sinful decisions and bad leadership. Then during Nadab’s third year in control, Baasha—probably a top army man—murders Nadab in the middle of a military campaign. (Imagine Barack Obama visiting the troops in Afghanistan, and while there being assassinated by the top US general.) Baasha not only proclaims himself king, he kills off all of Nadab’s extended family, thus fulfilling the prophecy against Jeroboam in 14:10-11.

“He walked in the way of his father.” How I, too, hang on to the way my original family always did things! How many times have I said, “At our house, we always. . .”? We always opened our presents on Christmas Eve. Vacations were a time to go see relatives. We were early to bed, early to rise. It’s true, any women’s magazine will tell you about the influence of our old families on our new ones. Some of us hang on to every tradition and try to transfer it all. Others of us reject every shred of our old family’s ways, defining our lives by what we’re not doing – and winding up just as firmly bound to the old. Only a few of us successfully pick and choose, consciously thinking: this is a new family, not my old one. How will our new household approach this?

For Nadab, the issues were much graver than where to go on vacation. He adopted all his father’s ungodly ways and carried on. Remember, Jeroboam had wanted a lasting dynasty, but he doubted God would really provide one. So instead of trusting God to protect the royal line for him, he instituted forbidden decentralized worship to keep the people away from Jerusalem, the southern capital. He introduced ad hoc priests and random religious holidays that had nothing to do with what God had in mind.

And Nadab? He followed in the way of his dad. All his life he had watched and listened to his father. This is how we maintain the loyalty of our people. This is how we run our country. This is how our family rules. But, that way was not God’s way, and God had clearly set the conditions for Jeroboam: “If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right. . . I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David” (11:38). God gave Nadab, son of Jeroboam, two years to change direction, but then the hammer came down.

So today I think, what about me? Beyond the everyday traditions of my family, what sinful practices did I learn there? Prejudices? A lack of hospitality? Pride and disrespect? I want to turn from whatever displeases you, Father, no matter how familiar it seems. Let me walk in the light, not in sin. Please show me what I’m blind to, and give me grace to see and follow your good way. Amen.

Your fellow traveler,
Karen