Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Kings 17:21-22 (New Living Translation)

21 For when the Lord tore Israel away from the kingdom of David, they chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. But Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. 22 And the people of Israel persisted in all the evil ways of Jeroboam. They did not turn from these sins

Read through the (hi)stories of the Kings. In Israel, king after king followed the sins of Jeroboam. He had erected places of worship and sacrifice that were not at the temple in Jerusalem. He had created a caste of Priests that were not Levites. He had violated just about everything God had commanded.

Generation after generation in Israel followed after the practices of Jeroboam.

Why? What did Jeroboam ever do for the people that was so wonderful? Why didn’t the generations in Israel follow the ways of the LORD God who brought them from slavery in Egypt to a homeland?

Gosh, those people were…well, let’s apply just about any bad word we can find. Reminds me of us today. In our enlightened, scientific, post-modern, modern (you pick one or find your own favorite) world, the works of God are more obvious than ever. And we see these and follow God daily—NO WE DON’T.

We are worse than those in Israel who followed Jeroboam for centuries. Or we are just the same.

Why do we fail? Please God help us all in our unbelief. Help me in my unbelief.