http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%2028;%202%20Kings%2016-17&version=ESV
2 Kings 17:21-23 "When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day."
722 B.C. This is when Israel fell to the Assyrians. The prophets - Isaiah, Micah, and Amos have warned Israel of this coming day.
What saddens me when I read this account, is how I read how far Israel had literally fallen away for the Lord.
Let's look at some of the things that Israel did that stirred up the anger of the Lord:
v. 9 - they built up high places in all their towns
v. 11 - they made offerings on all the high places
v12 - they served idols, that were false and they themselves became false (v.15)
v.15 - They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them.
v. 18 - And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens andBD)"> sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
Because of these things, the Lord removed Israel out of His sight. Some one might say that is harsh. Why did He not give them a second chance?
Verse 13 says,
"Yet the LORDAN)"> warned Israel and JudahAO)"> by every prophet and every seer, saying,"Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets."
The Lord had warned the people. Over and over again. He gave them prophets and His Word to warn them, guide, them, and instruct them in how to live lives for Him that are pleasing to Him.
This is what saddens me today about evangelical Christianity. We have become like a modern day Israel before their capture of the Assyrians. We have taken God for granted and ignored His Word.
God is a loving God. He is also a just God. As you celebrate the Lord's Day today, think about His love and justice. Contemplate your life and ask the Lord to reveal areas in your life that are not pleasing to Him, and submit these areas to the Lord and ask for His help in making them areas that become pleasing to Him.
The tribe of Judah would fall about 140 years later in 586 B.C. We will read more of this when we get to the prophets of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Remember the year 722 and what happened to Israel when you read the rest of Isaiah in our readings. It will help you with the context of what is going on and what is fixing to be going on in the land of Israel and Judah.
The Lord put this in the Bible so that we could learn from this. Now, the United States is not a theocracy, as Israel was, or a land built by God and chosen by God explicitly, even though we have many Christian foundations in our nation's heritage.
But the way our nation lives today and they way Israel lived before its fall to Assyrian in 722 BC is quite stunning in their similarities.
Pray for our nation today that it might return to the Lord. Pray that we might not have to endure what Israel did.
Lord help us and our nation.
Ephesians 5:15-17
"AG)">Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
Soli Deo Gloria.
Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.
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