"Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him." 2Kings 23:25-26
How would you liked to have lived during the time of King Josiah? A time of sweeping changes, and great reforms. A time of turning back to God and old testament revival. Which, for all of that, was also a time of looming catastrophe and pending judgement.
Manasseh, Josiah's grandfather, was a godless, wicked king. And evidently he had been so evil that God said, enough is enough. And the sentence was handed down to remove Judah from the land like He had removed Israel years before. The only mystery in this is that Manasseh broke the law, but he did not pay the penalty immediately.
What's the lesson for us today? First, we can cross the line with God from which there is no turning back. Second, the higher up you are, the farther reaching are the consequences of your actions. And finally, it is always better to repent and to try than to give up.
The only way to ultimately lose with God is to quit.
No comments:
Post a Comment