Grace, Truth, and Love

I first felt called to obey this command seven years ago. In fact, Brett and I did go to Israel that year, but the Shiloh excavation didn’t start until afterwards. My participation has been postponed for many different reasons: injury, illness, being “wealth-challenged,” but the desire to go has only increased with time, and it hasn’t been a “gee, I’d love to do that” kind of thing. I’m not exactly the outdoorsy, dirt-under-my-fingernails type. It was an “I absolutely have to do that” kind of thing – like it would be wrong not to go as soon as the door opened.

So, let’s look at the original context of the command to go to Shiloh and see what it’s all about. God said, “Go now to my place that was at Shiloh” in Jeremiah 7:12 (ESV). It was a dark day in Israel. God’s people had turned away from Him. Instead of acknowledging the Author of all creation and being thankful for the many blessings of prosperity He had provided, His people made statues out of wood, stone, and metal, and they thanked their idols, instead. What a slap in the face to God that was!

Imagine if I made a little guy out of clay and thanked it for all my money, and my children, and my health – oh, and my ability to make little guys out of clay. Who has more power, the clay man or the one who made it? The clay man has no power at all; it certainly doesn’t deserve the credit for giving me the ability to bring it into existence.

But as if that wasn’t bad enough, they were offering sacrifices to these idols. Some even killed their own children to honor them! Well, God wasn’t just going to stand by and let them continue to do this. He had warned them through prophets before. In fact, He had warned them all the way back when they first entered the land. They had recited God’s blessings for their obedience and the consequences – or curses – for their disobedience.

They had gone through many cycles of disobedience and judgment, and obedience and blessings, but they had become so wicked, they wouldn’t stop doing evil, even to save their own lives. Yet they believed if they continued to bring sacrifices to God’s temple, this would somehow protect them from His wrath. Did they think they could bribe Him to look away from their sin?

So, God said to Jeremiah, “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place… For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (Jer. 7:5-7).

This was a promise of blessing, but it was conditional. And this was their last chance. If they didn’t change their evil ways, God would remove them from their land. So, He said, “Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh” (Jer. 7:12-14).

So, if His people listened, He would bless them, but if they didn’t, He would destroy their temple and Jerusalem, just as Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been, was left in ruins. He wanted them to “go to Shiloh” to witness its destruction, so they would understand that He wasn’t just bluffing.

Sadly, the overwhelming majority did not heed the warning. They were cast out of the land, and their temple was destroyed. Twice. And as you might guess, Shiloh is still in ruins.

It might seem depressing to visit a place that God destroyed, and I have now witnessed the effects of that destruction firsthand. But there is hope! God spoke of a time when His people will return.

Isaiah 35:10 (and 51:11, ESV) says, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Then He issues a command and reminds them He foretold their return:

“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations!” (Is. 45:20 ESV)

So, on my way to Israel, I was surrounded by Jewish people who were going home! What an incredible testimony of the faithfulness of God to fulfill His word!

“Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Is. 45:21b).

In the Hebrew, the phrase, “a righteous God and a Savior” is El Tzadik v’Moshia. This is where we get the word for Messiah, which comes to us via the Greek as “Christ.” He is a righteous God and a Messiah.

My experience at Shiloh for the first few days has been very physically demanding. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done since childbirth. I hurt. I’m exhausted. I’m filthy. There are creepy crawlies in the soil I’m handling. (I named a nasty scorpion Hophni.) I’m dehydrated despite drinking water constantly. So, why on earth am I doing this?

Because disobedience has its consequences. Because obedience brings blessing. Because there is no other God. Because every rock cries out, “God is faithful!” He means what He says. To quote Scott Stripling, the Director of Excavations for this project, “What we read in the book, we find in the ground.”

Isaiah 46:8–10 (ESV) says, “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

The past is being verified. His people are returning to the land. There are prophecies that have not yet come to pass, but His word will be fulfilled. The ruins of Shiloh are a testimony to the fact that God means what He says.

Return to the righteous God and Savior/Messiah!

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