The Last Straw

2 Kings 17:2 ESV

And he did what was evil in the sight of the ORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

2 Kings 23:25 ESV

Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

My blood pressure continues to rise, I can feel the color creeps up my collar. Then finally the child, so slowly it is almost imperceptible, puts the toy down only to start to pick up another and that is when the tension is broken by an irate father crossing the room to enforce judgment. I look back and think, “wow, you overacted on that one.” Yet, a morning or days’ worth of patience (long suffering) endurance is really what has broken loose. Over the course of the day many more things had been done deserving of far more than was given, had occurred and been passed over. So, at this point much had to be accounted for and the accounting was thorough.

Too little to late” is how the saying goes. Reading through the text of scripture, watching as decades go by verse by verse, it is easy to understand and see how God would not be amused with our last-minute lip service in an attempt to appease him. The scriptures above point to the reality of a “days’ worth of disobedience” and how God’s Justice makes its ruling. Hoshea was not as bad as the other kings of Israel, so, by human standards, conservatives were winning. The fast spiral into debauchery had been slowed by some perceivable measure, yet God chose this moment to destroy the Northern Kingdom. It did not matter that it was the best king they had had in generations, he was wicked. Turning to the Southern Kingdom we find Josiah repenting and completely turning to from the wicked ways of previous generations. Is this GOOD king able to save his people? Does his missionary activity, and religious reforms move the needle so that Judah can succeed were her sister failed?

That is the question answered in 2 Kings 23:26, “Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath…” . He as able to stall the justice of God for a short time, but it was only stalled, it was not removed. The weight of sin was simply to great, the nation would fall, the foundation had been laid, and the seeds of destruction scattered, the harvest was coming, it would just be later than expected.

As Christians look at the United States, let us understand that Christ did not die for nations, he does not bear the sins of Rome, Germany, England, or the United States, on the cross. He bears the sins of the individuals. He bears my sins on the cross, Justice has been served for me, not for my nation. Let us pray he will raise up generations of Godly leaders but know that nations rise and fall, we serve a different LORD, and our citizenship is in a different kingdom. As election cycles ramp up we must serve to be salt and light in our country but we know that our Kingdom will never fall, even the nation we serve in does.

CORAM DEO