The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
2 Kings 16-17, 2 Chronicles 28
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 6:Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Background Information: 2 Kings 16-17, 2 Chronicles 28
In 722 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Isaiah had said Assyria would be the tool of God’s judgment. Now, after years of occupation, they would finally conquer and exile many Israelites. Then they populated the land with people from other conquered nations to water down any remaining national identity. These people brought their idolatry with them, and now the land of promise had descended back into darkness. Israel had been warned for centuries, and now time was up. Joshua’s farewell address years earlier told of this day.
“If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”
Joshua 23:16
To make this point crystal clear, we are not left guessing as to why Israel fell:
“This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they worshiped other gods.”
2 Kings 17:7
It was no better in the southern kingdom. Terrible king Ahaz sacrificed his own children in the fire, “imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.” The south, in their weakened state, was getting hammered by invaders from all around them, and so Ahaz made an alliance with Assyria. This did not go well for him. Then, instead of finally turning to God, it seems impossible to imagine but he becomes even more faithless. He turns to the “gods of Damascus that had defeated him.” In the sweeping narrative of large-scale warfare, we must not miss the terrible circumstances of individual people living through all of this. The Assyrians were brutal; it’s no wonder Jonah had not wanted to visit their capital years earlier. So many families were destroyed as men were killed in battle. Children suffered through famine, disease, and all the other horrors of war. It is hard to read all this, and it leaves us with a deep longing. We are left longing for the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God for protection as the Thailand team leaves today. Ask God to use this team for his glory and the good of others.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.