II Kings 18:37 “Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household. And Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.”
What a picture these words create in the final verse of II Kings 18. It’s a cliff-hanger ending. The enemy is at the gate, the city has no real defence, and their future has been spelled out for all the City to hear.
How will they respond?
The ripping or tearing of clothes was a tradition among the Jews that went back generations, and it is an aspect of mourning, grief, and loss. The first mention of this act is in Genesis. “When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes” (Genesis 37:29). A short time later, “Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days” (Genesis 37:34) when he thought that Joseph had been killed.
Other mentions in the bible of people tearing their clothes in sorrow and repentance include David, when Saul and Jonathan were killed (2 Samuel 1:11–12); Elisha, when Elijah was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11–12); Job, when he lost all he possessed (Job 1:20); Jephthah, when he understood the result of his rash vow (Judges 11:34–35); Mordecai, when he heard of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people (Esther 4:1); Ahab, when Elijah proclaimed a judgment against him (1 Kings 21:27); and Paul and Barnabas when the people of Lystra began to worship them (Acts 14:14).
As well as grief and mourning, repentance was at the heart of this Jewish custom to tear their clothes.
The leaders of the believers in Israel made a public declaration of their grief, and repentance, acknowledging their utter dependence on God, and not their own wisdom, strength or resources. This was no ceremonial action or ritual, this was an act of the heart before the living God and before the people, so that the people themselves may also make time to mourn and repent before God. In my imagination the whole city tears their clothes, crying out to God in their helpless need for help from heaven.
What a great example for us today – not that we would tear our clothes, as our fashion today exists around torn clothes in many countries. But rather as the prophet Joel relates to us God’s command: “Rend your heart and not your garments” (Joel 2:13). The One who sees the heart requires more than external ritual. And this command is accompanied with a promise: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13; cf. Psalm 34:18).
Repentance is brought about by God’s kindness, and leads to God acting, bringing healing, salvation, liberty, and hope.
Principle of Change 40 – as we have those moments when we realise who we are and who God is, one of the most spiritual things for us to do is to take time to repent before God.
Strength – Restorative – brilliant at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it. You are focused on the root cause of problems and how to overcome these.