Inviting the Judgment of God

 

Isa 7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established."'"

The Lord speaking to King Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah tells him, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” Rezin has designs on Jerusalem but God says that while Rezin  may be the head of Damascus, that’s as far as the Lord will let him go.  Jerusalem will not be conquered by him! As far as Ephraim. (the northern kingdom of Israel) within 65 years they will be broken, so far broken that they will never be a people again.

This amazing prophecy was fulfilled on all counts. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom (referred to as Ephraim) were carried away and dispersed when conquered by the Assyrians. The Assyrians then resettled the northern kingdom with people of their own choosing, and these people mixed with the remaining Jews and became known as Samaritans.

2Ki 17:22-24 tells us: “For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day. 24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.

So what can we take home from this account? First of all, the fulfillment of this prophecy should remind us again that God is Sovereign, He is in control. Nations conquer and get conquered at His beck and call and not their own.  Secondly, we should note the reason for being conquered.

 

This conquering was a judgment from God against Israel because they lived in the sins of Jeroboam and refused to repent of them. What were the sins of Jeroboam? We read about them in 1Ki 12:28-33, “Therefore the king (Jeroboam) asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

 

In a nutshell, Jeroboam made following the Lord, a matter of convenience. No crosses to bear, just change the rules, make your own rules as you go along. Ignore the Word of God and live as you please.

 

This kind of attitude and shunning of the true God and His Word invites His judgment. Always has….always will. Therefore, remember the words of Jesus who said: Joh 12:48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

It’s not about our convenience, it’s about surrendering to and following Jesus. He is Lord, He makes the rules not us!