{"id":64197,"date":"2019-10-12T22:32:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-12T19:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64197"},"modified":"2023-05-05T16:50:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T13:50:01","slug":"removed-from-gods-watchful-gaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/removed-from-gods-watchful-gaze\/","title":{"rendered":"Removed From God\u2019s Watchful Gaze"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The phrase \u201c[God] removed Israel from before His face” (II Kings 17:18, 20, 23) is unique to our chapter. Is this harsh expression similar to that of God’s “hidden face,” (Deut 31:17-18, 32:20) the imagery which connotes divine punishment and withdrawal of protection? Or is it simply a metaphor for exile, not of God’s withdrawal but rather of Israel’s banishment from God? We would like to offer a third understanding. The Land of Israel itself is where God’s presence is most manifest. Ejection from the land is tantamount to banishment from God’s domain. We may recall the description of God’s continual gaze, focused on the Land of Israel: \u201cBut the land into which you go to possess it, is…a land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year\u201d (Deut. 11:10-12).<\/span><\/p>\n

As such, the Land of Israel and God’s presence are synonymous. This is expressed in the following manner by Maimonides:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA person should always dwell in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most of the residents are gentiles, rather than live outside of the Land in a city where most of the residents are Jewish. For anyone who leaves the Land is considered as if he worships idols, as it says (I Sam. 26:19): “For they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave to the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go serve other gods.'” (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 5:15).<\/span><\/p>\n

The verse cited from Samuel quotes the young outlaw, David, as he is banished from Israel’s borders by King Saul. In this verse, he views the Land of Israel as “the inheritance of the Lord,” and his banishment from the kingdom as equivalent to serving a foreign god. If we may return to its implication for our chapter, exile is not merely a geographical displacement. The people of Israel have betrayed God’s covenant. In response, their exile is not merely ejection from their historic homeland and from self-governance; it is an act of being ousted from association with God and His watchful eye. This has already been spelled out in God’s warning to Solomon, expressed earlier in Kings:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you turn aside from following Me, you or your children, and do not keep My commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land that I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of my sight [lit., face], and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins\u201d (I Kings 9:6-9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2019, The Exile and Fall of Samaria\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63310,"id":63310,"title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","filename":"Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hairy-prophet\/alex-israel-2_kings_cover\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-2_kings_cover","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63117,"date":"2019-09-23 13:43:41","modified":"2019-09-23 13:53:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: II Kings - 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