The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 21:10-15,
"The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 'Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.'"
Manasseh's father, King Hezekiah, had removed the objects of idol worship in Judah. Where the folks had turned their backs on the Lord to serve worthless objects of stone and wood, Hezekiah sought to return the nation to recognizing the rightful place the Lord should have always had in Israel. However, given that sinful proclivity of mankind to turn from our Creator, Judah, in King Manasseh's lifetime, brought the objects of idol worship back into the mainstream of Judah's society and worship.
The one thing that stands out to me in the Lord's words here is that he never, ever changes! Not in the least. He set aside Israel as a people for himself, the people he would use to roll out his program of redemption to all mankind. As the Lord's covenanted people, they not only shared in the blessings that accrued to them as God's people, but they also had responsibilities.
As Judah turned this way and that in their relationship to the Lord, the Lord himself never changed. All he asked of his people, he continued to expect. As his people turned from him, he took those steps as needed to keep his redemption of mankind on track. In short, the Lord's program of redemption stayed on track, not as a result of the faithfulness of his people but in spite of the lack of it.
God never "evolves". Our society, in its collective imagination, fancies itself as being "on the cutting edge" and moves from one priority to the next. Thinking we are "advancing" by turning to this or that from season to season, our society is most often simply "devolving". Gay marriage, LGBT whatever, dredged up from the dark past of lost and fallen mankind has been around for millennia and is a quintessential return to the dark past. "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly." This pretty well sums up the "evolving" we see today.
God is not like that. What was known about God in Moses day was "operational" in Manasseh's day. What was know about God when all the Scriptures were written is yet operational today, exactly as told us by the Scriptures... and will be throughout all eternity. God does not change.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 'Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.'"
Manasseh's father, King Hezekiah, had removed the objects of idol worship in Judah. Where the folks had turned their backs on the Lord to serve worthless objects of stone and wood, Hezekiah sought to return the nation to recognizing the rightful place the Lord should have always had in Israel. However, given that sinful proclivity of mankind to turn from our Creator, Judah, in King Manasseh's lifetime, brought the objects of idol worship back into the mainstream of Judah's society and worship.
The one thing that stands out to me in the Lord's words here is that he never, ever changes! Not in the least. He set aside Israel as a people for himself, the people he would use to roll out his program of redemption to all mankind. As the Lord's covenanted people, they not only shared in the blessings that accrued to them as God's people, but they also had responsibilities.
As Judah turned this way and that in their relationship to the Lord, the Lord himself never changed. All he asked of his people, he continued to expect. As his people turned from him, he took those steps as needed to keep his redemption of mankind on track. In short, the Lord's program of redemption stayed on track, not as a result of the faithfulness of his people but in spite of the lack of it.
God never "evolves". Our society, in its collective imagination, fancies itself as being "on the cutting edge" and moves from one priority to the next. Thinking we are "advancing" by turning to this or that from season to season, our society is most often simply "devolving". Gay marriage, LGBT whatever, dredged up from the dark past of lost and fallen mankind has been around for millennia and is a quintessential return to the dark past. "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly." This pretty well sums up the "evolving" we see today.
God is not like that. What was known about God in Moses day was "operational" in Manasseh's day. What was know about God when all the Scriptures were written is yet operational today, exactly as told us by the Scriptures... and will be throughout all eternity. God does not change.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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