Judith 1:1-6: a reflection

1In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh, the great city, in the days of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana, 2and built around Ecbatana walls of hewn stones three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, 3and set its towers at its gates one hundred cubits high, and its breadth in the foundation was sixty cubits, 4and made its gates, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and their breadth forty cubits, for his mighty army to go out of, and the setting in array of his footmen— 5in those days King Nebuchadnezzar made war with King Arphaxad in the great plain. This plain is on the borders of Ragau. 6There came to meet him all that lived in the hill country, and all that lived by Euphrates, Tigris, and Hydaspes, and in the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymaeans. Many nations of the sons of Chelod assembled themselves to the battle.

The book of Judith opens with a display of earthly grandeur. A great king builds an imposing city with walls of hewn stone, towers rising high above its gates, all constructed to project strength and to send out his armies. Kings gather, nations assemble, and the stage is set for a clash of empires. The scene is heavy with the pomp of human power, fortifications and armies and proud rulers preparing for war.

For all the impressive scale, the reader who knows the story senses the irony already building. These towering walls and vast armies, meant to guarantee security and dominance, will not finally deliver what their builders trust them to. The book will go on to show a proud, seemingly unstoppable power humbled through the courage of one faithful woman and the hand of God. The grand fortifications of the opening are a monument that history will not honor as its builders hoped.

There is a quiet lesson in this opening scene about where real security lies. Walls, towers, armies, all the impressive machinery of human strength, can look unassailable and still fail, because they leave God out of account. Do not be overawed by displays of power, and do not build your own security on things that merely look strong. The God who humbles proud empires is the only sure foundation. Trust him rather than the towering walls the world puts its confidence in.

Lord, the world builds towering walls and gathers armies and trusts in displays of strength, but such things cannot finally save. Keep me from being overawed by human power or building my security on what only looks strong. You humble the proud and are the only sure foundation. Let me put my trust in you rather than in the walls the world relies on. Amen.