Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Kings 3:1-3 (New International Version)

¹ Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

Joram becomes king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom after the split from the Southern Kingdom of Judah). Joram’s father was Ahab. In verse 2, we learn that Ahab had made a stone of Baal, a sacred stone of Baal.

This fascinates me. You take a stone, chisel or polish or shape it in some way, then declare it to be “sacred.” How do you do that? How do you make a rock, just another plain old rock, sacred? Is there a special ceremony? Is there a special day of the year for making rocks sacred? Do you wear special clothes for the sacred-rock-making ceremony?

This all sounds pretty silly to me in this place at this time. Still, it made sense to Ahab and others in their time in their place. They made rocks sacred, and the rocks were … well, sacred.

I guess we do similar things today. The American flag cannot be desecrated. Soiling a Bible and throwing it in a trash can be would desecrating it. So maybe we do make some things “sacred” even to this day. Is our church building sacred? Is our house sacred? Is our family name sacred? Hmmm, maybe that Ahab guy wasn’t so far out after all.

God, help me to not spend my life making inanimate things “sacred.” You alone are sacred. Help me to keep it that way.