God Disciplines His People

2. God Disciplines His People Weekend of December 7/8, 2013

3. What’s our study today? God’s people were judged for breaking the covenant. They were conquered and taken into exile. Bottom Line: God does not tolerate sin. What difference will this study make for you? Our study will help you evaluate your obedience to God and repent of trusting in other things.

4. God’s People Sinned – 2 Kings 17:7-117 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.

5. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger.

6. Last time we studied God’s promise to establish David’s Kingdom and to have Solomon build the temple. • After Solomon’s death in 931 B.C. the Kingdom divided into two smaller kingdoms: • Israel, the Northern Kingdom; • Judah, the Southern Kingdom; • After a three year siege, the Northern Kingdom with its capital city, Samaria, was the first to fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

7. The same scenario played out 136 years later, when the Southern Kingdom and its capital city, Jerusalem, fell to the Babylonians in 587 B.C. • Like a loving Father, God submitted His rebellious children to severe discipline in order to correct their ways. • Though God has rescued them from the land of Egypt and slavery to Pharaoh, the people had sinned against the Lord their God.

8. God had every right to expect the Hebrews to love and worship Him, but instead they sinned against Him. • The word “Sin” in the Bible carries the idea of “missing the mark.” • Being “on the mark” meant you hit the center. • Being “off the mark” was anything else.

9. Bottom line: God’s people “missed the mark” He had set for them in their covenant loyalty and obedience. • The most baffling for us is to see all that God did for them and yet how they ignored God and refused to obey Him. It just doesn’t make sense! • We would never do such a thing, or would we? • Are we really any different than ancient Israel? • God has done so much for us and yet don’t we refuse to turn from our sinfulness and lovingly obey Him.

10. Especially grievous to God was His people’s constant worship of other gods. • The very first point of the Covenant at Sinai was to “have no other gods.” • Solomon started down that slippery slope of idolatry by worshiping the gods of his many foreign wives. • Unfortunately, for Israel, it was all down hill from there. • The people also lived according to the pagan customs of the nations around them, instead of God’s covenant standards.

11. We would never do such a thing, would we? • And yet for so many Christian families, the celebration of Christmas this year will include this man. • In addition to worshiping other gods, the people “secretly did what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord.” In a recent Gallup Pole: 87% of Christian Families celebrate Santa with their Christmas; In those Christian families, 73% of kids, ages 6-10, when asked the story of Christmas, reponded with the story of Santa;

12. These secret things refers to the religious ceremonies for worshiping Baal and Asherah; • Baal was the Canaanite god of storm and rain; • Asherah was the goddess of fertility; • The Canaanites believed that worshiping these two gods would guarantee the fertility of the land and timely rains for their their crops; • For Israel it meant doing this worship in secret; • Burning incense to these gods; • All over the nation, from the large cities to the small towns;

13. This was the very reason God drove out these all those other nations before Israel in the first place. • If these nations incurred God’s judgment for their sins, how could Israel expect to fare any better? • This section ends with the words, “They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger.”

14. We call ourselves God’s people. • Do we profess faith, while living according to the to the mind-set and practices of this country’s godless culture? • When we fall short, we have only to repent and turn back to God to be forgiven and restored.

15. God’s People were Warned 2 Kings 17:12-1512 They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this." 13 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets."

16. 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.

17. How frustrated God must have been with His people: • “Though the Lord had told them” seems to emphasize the deliberate nature of Israel’s sin. • “The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets” emphasizes the repeated nature of this warning and the countless number of prophets that God sent His people.

18. God wanted the people “to U-turn from their evil ways” and “to keep His commandments.” • The words “turn from” really means to repent, in other words. “to change directions,” to to make a U-turn toward God. • The word “keep” means to watch or guard, in other words, “to U-turn toward God’s desires.”

19. What method does God use to call you to repent? ____ Personal Bible Study? ____ Personal devotion/prayer time? ____ Life circumstances? ____ Pastor Jim’s sermons? ____ Confrontation by a friend/co-worker? ____ Personal conviction by the Holy Spirit?

20. In spite of all God’s efforts, the people would not listen. The text uses several word pictures to describe this: • They were as stiff-necked as their fathers – meaning obstinate and stubborn. GERMAN

21. They rejectedGod’s decrees and covenant and ignored the warnings God had given them.

22. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless – worthless actions translates into worthless feeling people.

23. They imitated the nations around them – meaning they replaced the true worship of God with a counterfeit – looks like the real thing, but it’s NOT!

24. How well do we represent Jesus to our lost and dying world? - - - - - Or do we blend in with the evil habits of our society, so that there is little difference?

25. God’s People were Disciplined 2 Kings 17:18-1918 So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.

26. Though God had clearly declared His expectations for His people, • Though God had repeatedly warned His people through His prophets, • In 722 B.C. the Assyrian Army came and carried the Northern Kingdom into captivity. • Did the Southern Kingdom of Judah, who was watching all this destruction, wake up and see the error of their ways? They Sinned! They Rebelled! Unfortunately, No!

27. The text tells us, “Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God, but followed the practices Israel had introduced.” • Even with God’s extra patience for 136 years, Judah too was destroyed in 587 B.C. • Has the Lord God changed since those Old Testament times? Not at all!

28. God is the same today as He has always been: • He has revealed His will for us through His Word; • He patiently calls us to repent and to accept His purposes for our lives; • We can learn from the mistakes of God’s people in the past; • We can avoid the harsh consequences of disobedience; • So……

29. How well are you learning this lesson?