Tolkien's 2nd Age, on Amazon - Dig in!

In 2017 Amazon paid $250M to buy rights to make a TV show based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (LOTR). I was apprehensive as to how a tv show of the LOTR will turn out. This week, Amazon revealed that the TV show will focus on the Second Age of the history of Tolkien's Middle Earth. This is so satisfying not only because the Second Age is precursor to the more popular LOTR, but also because it explores some aspects of the human condition in ways that I think will be theologically interesting to say the least.

The TV series is expected to start late 2019. In preparation, I want to do a few posts to give people a sense of the Second Age. I want to give a very simplified run through of the three ages of Tolkiens Middle Earth and then delve into the theological significance of the second age.

The First age in Tolkien's mythology is the age of Gods, and Elves. The villian of the first age is an Ainur (Angel-like being) called Morgoth. The first age focuses on the fall of Morgoth, the Lucifer figure.

(pic above: Finglofin fighting Morgoth.)

On the other hand, the Third age is the age of men. A substantive part of this age is narrated in the trilogy the LOTR. In the LOTR evil is in the form of a disembodied Sauron (who was Morgoth's luitenet). Originally, Sauron was a beautiful creature, buy he lost his visage at the end of the Second age which is why he is the all seeing eye in the LOTR.

So what is the second age about?

The Second age is about Numenoreans who are hybrids between the race of Elves and the race of Men. The numenorean men were uniquely gifted because they got the best of both worlds. The elves are immortal; unless they are killed, say in a battle, they can live forever. But having longevity is a curse, because they grow weary of long monotonous grief-filled lives. On the other hand, the race of men are given 'the gift' of death by the God. Numenorean men, however, aren't immortal as the elves, neither do they have very short life spans as men. Numenorean men can live for up to 300 or 400 years. So naturally, they grow to become an intelligent, skillful and powerful force in middle earth.

(pic: Sauron surrendering to Numenorean king in the second age)

They are so powerful that they go to war against Sauron, capturing him. What Sauron lacked in power, he made up for in his craftiness. Sauron knew he could not defeat his captors in out right battle. But he could destroy them from within by corroding their moral core. Sauron gains a foothold in the Numenorean psyche by appealing to their desire for immortality.

You see, though the Numenorean men have the best of both worlds, they do not see themselves that way. They envy the elves who are immortal. They want the glory of immortality. To pursue their sense of immortality they start making their tombs extravagant with lots of ornamentation. Their preoccupation with seeking immortality shifts their focus away from living the good life in the present (Interesting that Voldemort in Harry Potter has the same weakness, seeking immortality at the cost of the good life now!).

Using this Numenorean desire for immortality, Sauron designs a trap with a two step process, if you will.

1.He suggests that the Numenoreans are not immortal like the elves because the God is "holding out on them." Sauron succeeds sowing seeds of doubt of the God's goodness. He could have given the immortality if He wanted to, but did not. The God does not care their happiness and well-being.

2.If they break with the God and worship Morgoth (Sauron's boss, the Lucifer figure), then Morgoth would grant them immortality. This of course is a lie, but the Numenorean men are so blinded by their desire for immortality that they are oblivious to the lie. They follow Sauron's advice. They build an altar to Morgoth. Then offer human sacrifices to Morgoth.

Sauron's dark counsel resulted in the Numenorean men going to war against the realm of the God (Valinor), leading to their ruin and destruction. Only a faithful few did not go to war and survived. It is out of this faithful few that Aragon, the true King, reflecting the Kingly office of Christ, working along side Gandalf, reflecting the prophetic office of Christ and Frodo, reflecting the priestly office of Christ, will eventually emerge to redeem middle earth from the clutches of Sauron (you see Tolkien's Christology is more complex than anything Lewis' Aslan could allegorize).

This account, of Sauron and the Numenorean men, is a retelling of the Genesis chapter 3 account of the Fall of man. In Genesis the devil, in the form of the serpent, plants an idea in the mind of Adam and Eve - the idea that God was "holding out on them." God was preventing them from eating the fruit, becoming God-like. Once Adam and Eve allowed this distrustful seed to take root, the bait was taken.

The fact of the matter is, even to this day, the devil is still using the same lie that God is "holding out on us," to tempt us to break away from God and fall into his trap. The culture tempt us to think that the God of the Bible is a kill joy.

The culture sees sin as fun - God is a killjoy because he does not want us to sin. This lie has taken deep roots in our culture. This is a lie of the most pernicious, because we see clearly in the Bible that God wants human beings to have pleasure - whether it be Song of Solomon or Jesus' first miracle being about providing wine for an already inebriated throng. However, for pleasure to be fully enjoyed there has to be a supportive framework. Let me explain.

I was seeing the TV show the Chef's table where world class chefs judge food made by chefs competing for the price. It is very clear that tasty food requires some structure and order. A chef can innovate, but only within a framework. The framework guides what taste, texture, smell works together and complements well. As long as the chef gets creative within the framework, the food brings pleasure. When the chef goes outside the framework, things fall apart. Likewise, God, in the Bible, provides us the framework to enjoy the pleasures of life.

God provides the framework through covenants. Sin is anything that breaks this framework providing legitimate pleasure. As human beings we are called to be in covenant with God through Christ, and, to be in covenant with fellow human beings. What does it mean in terms of our ethics? For one, it means sex has to be covenental, as in, within a marital relationship. So much of the sexual abuse in our culture, that has come to light thanks to #metoo, wouldn't have happened if people did not have sex outside the covenental framework. Covenant is not just about sex. It is about being the brother's keeper, it means being good custodians of the environment too. God wants us to enjoy the legitimate pleasures of life, with creation and created beings, within this covenental framework.

On the other hand, the devil, like Sauron, keeps whispering into our hears that in giving us this framework for legitimate pleasure, God is holding out on us. That if we threw off the framework then we will be more happy. The Sauron was successful in using the lie about God holding out on good pleasure, causing Numenorean men to distrust God. In breaking the framework given to them by God, they fell into Sauron's trap. The serpent of Eden did the same with the titular human beings. Even today, the devil is on the same mission of planting the idea in our heads that God is holding out on us. Those who believe the lie distrust God and fall into the devil's trap, not unlike the Numenorean men of the Second age of Middle earth.

In Middle Earth's second age, a powerful people got neutered by the lie that God was holding out on them, loosing their covenant with God, leading to decadence and destruction. Only a faithful few lived into their life's potential, participating in redemption of creation. I for one am excited that for Amazon choosing the Second Age because it will explore the intimate details of the human condition in a story that brings up an important question. The question is are we going to trust the lie of the devil that God is holding out on us having pleasure, that God's ways are not fun and happy, or, are we going to live in covenant with God, trusting God's framework for our pleasure is the best.