After the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel spiraled downward. The nation rebelled against God and His laws.
When Solomon died a civil war broke out as Solomon’s sons and generals fought for the throne.
Rehoboam had his father’s blessing to be the new king, but Jeroboam had more military influence.
In the end, Rehoboam took the southern half of the country and called it Judah. Jeroboam took the northern half and kept the name Israel. Each claimed to be God’s chosen king.
The northern kingdom consisted of 10 of the tribes and its capital city was Samaria. Every king of Israel was evil. In the northern kingdom there were 9 dynasties (family lines of kings) and 19 kings in all. Eight of these kings met death by violence. The northern kingdom lasted for about 210 years until it was carried away captive by Assyria in 722 B.C. and disappeared from history.
The southern kingdom consisted of 2 tribes (Judah and Benjamin) with Jerusalem as its capital. Judah had a slightly better record than Israel, yet only 8 of Judah’s kings served the Lord; the remaining 12 kings were wicked. The Babylonians swept down upon Jerusalem in 597 B.C. and captured it. A second attack led to Jerusalem’s total defeat in 586 B.C. The captives from both campaigns were taken to Babylon.
In 2 Kings 17:7-23 God issued a scathing indictment against the sins of His people. If He hadn’t promised a Redeemer to Abraham, He might have destroyed them altogether.
Chosen people or not, God doesn’t wink at sin.
Before you relegate this into OLD TESTAMENT oblivion let me ask you:
If this was true back then, how much more so now that Jesus was sacrificed for our sins?
Consider this NEW TESTAMENT passage:
“Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us” (Hebrews 10:26-29, NLT).
Is there anything you need to repent of today?
What are you waiting for? There’s no better time than now…
This is awesome. I totally agree. It’s all over the OT and the NT that God detests sin. It is against his holy character and his perfect justice. It was according to his hatred of sin that he sacrificed his Son on the Cross. I love this, thanks Kraig.
“You shall therefore be holy for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Thanks, Josh! Stick with me through the prophets…they’ve got a lot to say to us today. ~K