God Keeps His Promises – But It’s Not Always Good News!



2 Kings 17:7-23
http://www.esvbible.org/2 Kings 17:7-23

When I was a kid, I grew up in house with a walk-out basement. There were two bedrooms (for my parents and my brother) upstairs and my dad built a bedroom downstairs for me. Since I was the oldest, I got to have that space. It meant I had my own bathroom and quite a bit of privacy. The family room was also down there so I had a TV to watch whenever I wanted and I loved it. Except – on occasion, I would get my music or the TV cranked up a little loud and then it would happen. My dad would thump his heal on the floor above me and that meant “turn it down – or I’ll come down – your choice”. I knew he wasn’t kidding and he never had to thump twice. In our reading for today, the Nation of Israel has been warned and warned – yet they refused to believe that God would seriously punish them for their stiff-necked behavior. Now we come to place in the story where God follows through. First their sins are listed, the chief among them being idolatry, and then they receive the punishment. They are carted off by the Assyrians into slavery never to return to their homeland – ever. Those 10 tribes disappear off the face of the planet as a nation.

Whenever we are forced to face the negative consequences of our actions it hurts. But had God not followed through with this promise we would have to hold all of His promises up to suspicion. Which ones will He keep and which ones will He ignore? While what happened to the Nation of Israel is tragic it was necessary. What God says He will do happens, every time. That included sending Jesus to suffer and die for our sins and also includes His promise to return for us on the Last Day. God is faithful even when it hurts.

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