Choosing to Follow the Ways of Culture. Prepare to Meet Your God.
The True Israel and The Return of the King
From yesterday: Assyrian Exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 BC) Lasting approx. 210 years- “ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 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”( 2 Kings 17:6-7)
Ancient relief showing Assyrian Exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 BC) (source)
Today’s Verse and Thought
“The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.”(Psalm 37:12)
When God’s People Ignore His Warnings to Repent
760 BC to 722 BC
In the ancient kingdom of Israel the land teetered between prosperity and ruin. Political instability plagued the kingdom, as a series of weak and corrupt kings fought for power, leaving God’s people divided and vulnerable. Amidst all this inner turmoil, a dangerous empire was forming in the north. Assyria was hungry to increase their kingdom and assert its dominance over all the smaller nations surrounding it.
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered.”(Amos 3:11)
As the evil of the Assyrians rose against Israel, God’s prophets once again began to emerge from the shadows, their voices crying out warning after warning to repent and turn back to God Most High. In the end, the prophets’ pleas turned to cries of judgement against Israel.
God Sends Amos the Prophet
Amos, a shepherd, called out by God to prophesy against Israel, wandered through the towns, his heart heavy with the weight of God’s message.
“Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt. You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”(Amos 3:1-2)
Amos saw the corrupted wealth of the rich feasting and living in luxury while they exploited the poor who suffered greatly, their cries for justice drowned out by the clang of money.
"Woe to you who are at ease in Zion!” Amos shouted, warning the people that their complacency towards God’s commands would lead to their destruction.
"Your rituals will not save you from the judgment that is coming”(Amos 5:18-24).
In Amos chapter four we read of God’s warning shots over Israel as He tried to shake them out of their complacent and sinful ways. God withheld rain; He sent blight and mildew to destroy their crops; He brought the pestilence of Egypt onto the people; He allowed some to die by the sword. And yet, “you did not return to me.” God’s hand of protection and provision was about to be withheld and even the innocent would suffer due to corruption of their parents.
God brought these calamities upon Israel - not because He hated them, but because He loved them and was desperately trying to keep them from self-destruction. They could have prevented the exile.
Israel thought that because they were God’s Chosen People that they were exempt from His punishments. They thought they could basically do whatever they wanted - just as long as they went to temple, did the “rituals” of repentance, and purification. They could live the rest of the week however they wanted - including worshipping the gods of the pagan culture and participating in their sacrifices and festivals.
The people rejected the pure Law of the Lord. The leaders of the nation abused the poor and needy among them, to feed their own greedy lifestyles. They indulged in pornographic sin engaging in perverted sexuality - “a man and his father go in to the same girl.” They even sacrificed their own children to death in the fires of the Baals. They were following the ways of the culture, forsaking the ways of God.
“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (Amos 4:12)
God Sends Hosea the Prophet
In the midst of this, Hosea’s voice joined the call to repent. He spoke passionately about Israel's unfaithfulness to God, likening the nation to an unfaithful whoring spouse. "You have chased after idols," he lamented, urging the people to return to their true love - the God who had rescued them from bondage in Egypt.
His words painted a vivid picture of a nation at a crossroads, a plea for repentance that went unheeded in the wind.
The warnings grew more urgent as Assyrian forces began to mobilize. The kings of Israel, desperate to retain their power, turned to foreign alliances, seeking security from those who would ultimately betray them. "Trust in the Lord," the prophets urged. Instead of trusting in God, they trusted in the weapons of faithless nations to save them.
As years passed, the siege of Samaria, the capital city, loomed like a dark cloud on the horizon. The Assyrians laid siege to the city, and the people found themselves caught in the throes of famine and despair. The prophets’ visions and warnings of destruction began to unfold into tangible realities. Locusts swarmed the fields, and fire consumed the land—signs of the judgment were unleashed like a rainstorm that turned into a hurricane. The priests and leaders failed the people and they were about to pay a heavy price.
After three long years, the walls of Samaria crumbled, and the Assyrians marched in, their banners raised high. The people of Israel, proud and defiant, found themselves humbled, scattered and defeated, many deported to far-off lands. The kingdom that had turned its back on its covenant with God was now a shadow of its former self.
Yet even in the midst of captivity, the words of the prophets lingered in the hearts of the remnant of God’s people: a reminder of the hope that still lay in turning back to their Father. If only they would return with their whole heart.
"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.”(Hosea 6:1-3)
God’s intentions of punishment against His people are never meant to destroy out of vengeance; they are meant to bring us back to Him in humble repentance, commitment, and trust.
To be continued…
Today’s Question
Verses to Explore
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”(Genesis 6:5)
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”(Psalm 5:4)
“Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.”(Psalms 21:11)
“Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts.”(Psalms 28:3)
“Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”(Psalm 34:14)
“For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.”(Psalms 37:9)
“Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!”(Psalms 7:9)
Today’s Prayer
Father I am so humbled by the lessons of your people, Israel. I know that today we are living in a time of your grace and that final judgement and wrath is coming. Until that moment however, I believe that your Church is doing the same thing as Israel. We seem to be participating in the sins of our culture and excusing it as a perverted sense of “choice, justice, equity, and inclusion.” These are the words of our day. These are the ideologies that your Church seems to be embracing.
We are calling good evil and evil good. We participate in evil. We teach it to our children by our own examples. And we excuse all of our personal choices as just going along to get along. I am guilty of this. Forgive me Father for I have sinned against you.
In this season of pure evil, I proclaim your righteousness to prevail over us. You laugh at evil. May we be on the right side of it. Bind up the evil in our nation and throw it at the foot of the cross where it belongs.
Who will stand against the evil of our day? Who are the Amos’ and Hosea’s of our time? Where are the Elijahs? The Peters and Pauls? Where are the courageous men, grandpas, fathers and sons of conviction who will protect and stand for righteousness against an evil and corrupt world? Where are the women - the grandmas, mothers and daughters who cry for the hearts of the broken while their little ones’ souls are stolen by a perverted screen? Where are the parents who say ”no” instead of indulging their own children into a spiral of destruction?
God forgive us. God forgive us.
We do not deserve to be called your people. As a “Christian nation” we have chosen the way of the flesh. I know that your gift of grace forgives all of our sin, except the blasphemy of your Holy Spirit. God forgive us for using this as a license to live a life of pornography, greed, perversion, and complacency. God forgive us. None of us is without sin.
We are still “One Nation Under God.” As long as we make that claim, I pray that your people cry out in utter repentance for the sins that fill our homes. Restore a pure heart within us and return us to our first love before we reach the point of no return. I pray we heed the warnings. I pray you protect us and keep us from the day of evil. I pray that our lives bring you honor and glory, not shame. Amen. ❤️