Shaped

I come from a very individualized culture.  Though I know it’s true, my mind has a hard time grasping that for most of the world the group matters more than the individual.  I read of Asian cultures that value family honor above all.  During the height of COVID, when in Missouri I heard so many decrying government regulation regarding face covering and vaccination, I was told that in Japan everyone cooperates with such things because they value the group above themselves.

Considering group mentality, how many times have I read the New Testament and marveled how quickly leaders were to stone or at least threaten to stone someone who spoke words the group considered dangerous.  Apostle Paul was beaten or stoned numerous times for preaching the gospel before it was accepted by community leaders.  Before that he was the one dragging people before the Sanhedrin and having them imprisoned and more for defecting from the group in power to follow Christ.  It seems the culture of Jesus and Paul’s day had little individual freedom.

While I marvel at the lack of personal liberty in Jesus’ day, the “ah ha” comes when I read in Scripture the history surrounding the exile.  Before exile the people as a whole stopped worshipping the Almighty.  They bowed to all kinds of idols and more.  The result, nearly everyone died as God’s wrath was poured out. 

Today in Ezekiel 9 this caught my attention.

To the end there remained those who mourned the turning of their culture away from Yahweh.  I wonder how many of those who survived the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar were those “who weep and sigh”.

I’ve been taught the Bible my entire life and have studied on my own since my teen years.  I am now 47, and it was only last week that the low number of exiles hit me.  I sat jaw dropped for a full minute I think.  King David took a census at the end of his reign and found 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah (2 Sam 24:9).  That was only the fighting men, not the Levites, the women & children or those unable to fight.  Contrast that with the number taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:28-30), 4,600 total!!!  WOW! . . . Let me say that again.  WOW!!!  That’s roughly ONE THIRD OF ONE PERCENT!!! I always wondered how in the world people survived the siege of Jerusalem for over two years.  Now I know.  They didn’t.

Considering these numbers, it begins to make more sense why in Jesus’ day the religious leaders were so quick to kill anyone they saw as violating God’s law. They took seriously the consequences individual sin could have on the group.

Point to ponder:  In what ways has my individualistic western culture shaped my view of the world that do not line up with the culture of Heaven?