There is a sad story in the book of II Kings. It is the end of over one-half of the kingdom of the Israelite nation.
If you are a student of the Old Testament, you will recall that God had divided the twelve tribes because of their disobedience. Rehoboam became the king over two tribes, and Jeroboam became king over ten tribes.
King after king had ruled in both kingdoms. There were a few in the kingdom of Judah that remained faithful to God, but there were no kings in the kingdom of Israel that followed God.
Prophet after prophet had warned the people, but their hearts were set on mischief. Enemy after enemy fought and overcame the people, killed their soldiers, took their wives and children as slaves, and still they refused to obey God.
Hoshea had been anointed king of Israel. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, rose up against Hoshea, defeated him, and made him his servant. In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, Shalmaneser took Israel away after besieging them for three years. This is what the scripture says about the reason this happened:
“And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced” (II Kings 17:7-8 ESV).
The following verses describe the kinds of things they did that made God angry with them. They made offerings to strange gods. They did wicked things that provoked God to anger. They served idols. They despised God’s laws and the covenant He had made with them. They followed the nations around them. Then we have this statement,
“And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; …and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger” (II Kings 17:16-17).
This is such a sad story! These were the people of God, chosen by Him, loved and protected by Him. But here they are, offering their own children to idols by burning them on an altar.
God had begged them for generations to return to Him, but they drifted farther and farther away into idolatry. Finally, verse 20 says that He rejected them, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies.
Things are the same for us today. John 14:1-6 tells us that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. The way to inherit that place is to be obedient to the words of our Lord. If we are not obedient, God will not find our names in the Book of Life. If our names are not in the Book of Life, we will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 22:15).
With us, it is not about following the Old Law, with its feast days and sacrifices. It is about being obedient to the plan of salvation and in the treatment of our fellowman.
Remember the story Jesus told of the rich farmer in Luke 12. The man had so many crops that he had no place to put them. His solution was not to share with those in need but rather to demolish his barns and build bigger ones. Jesus said, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).
We find a similar situation in Luke 16 with the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus simply wanted a few crumbs from the rich man, but the rich man paid no attention to him. Both men died. The rich man suffered in torment, and Lazarus was comforted in Abraham’s bosom. Abraham made it clear that there was no possibility of a change of residence for the rich man. His punishment was to be eternal.
So where will you be? Where will I be? Just as the fate of the nation of Israel rested in their obedience to God, or lack of it, so will ours be.
Sandra Oliver