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 15:8-9,
"In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit."
Zechariah became the fourteenth of the nineteen kings the northern ten tribes of Israel had, following the split in Israel years earlier after old King Solomon passed away. As with all the kings of the northern kingdom, Zechariah "did evil in the eyes of the Lord."
The southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, fared somewhat better. Of the twenty monarchs the southern kingdom had, eight kings were "good". Nevertheless, the high places were still used to offer sacrifices.
Israel, as all sinful and rebellious mankind does, placed herself in a disadvantage with the Lord. The Lord always has his own agenda and Israel put herself in a position where the Lord would have to make some changes to the nation in order to pursue that agenda. His agenda was to bring his Son into the world to provide an atoning sacrifice for all so that he could build a kingdom of mankind for himself without compromising his sense of justice.
The positioning of errant Israel to bring about the Lord's agenda required the Lord's involvement in the nation in a way that would facilitate his pursuit of it. Reading of the succession of the kings that ruled, what happened to them and how the nation was effected by it all is the story of how the Lord prepared Israel for her coming Messiah - her Messiah that she would later reject as a nation.
Such is the heart of lost and fallen mankind! And, yet, the Lord pulled it off! Even given the bizarre behavior of sinful Israel, the Lord did prepare the nation, brought Jesus Christ, the Son of God into the world through Israel, and launched his gospel mission to build his kingdom.
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
"In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit."
Zechariah became the fourteenth of the nineteen kings the northern ten tribes of Israel had, following the split in Israel years earlier after old King Solomon passed away. As with all the kings of the northern kingdom, Zechariah "did evil in the eyes of the Lord."
The southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, fared somewhat better. Of the twenty monarchs the southern kingdom had, eight kings were "good". Nevertheless, the high places were still used to offer sacrifices.
Israel, as all sinful and rebellious mankind does, placed herself in a disadvantage with the Lord. The Lord always has his own agenda and Israel put herself in a position where the Lord would have to make some changes to the nation in order to pursue that agenda. His agenda was to bring his Son into the world to provide an atoning sacrifice for all so that he could build a kingdom of mankind for himself without compromising his sense of justice.
The positioning of errant Israel to bring about the Lord's agenda required the Lord's involvement in the nation in a way that would facilitate his pursuit of it. Reading of the succession of the kings that ruled, what happened to them and how the nation was effected by it all is the story of how the Lord prepared Israel for her coming Messiah - her Messiah that she would later reject as a nation.
Such is the heart of lost and fallen mankind! And, yet, the Lord pulled it off! Even given the bizarre behavior of sinful Israel, the Lord did prepare the nation, brought Jesus Christ, the Son of God into the world through Israel, and launched his gospel mission to build his kingdom.
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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