Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jul 2 2019 - 2 Kings 17:1-24 – End of Northern Kingdom

You will remember that after the death of Solomon, the kingdom of God's people split into two parts. The larger northern kingdom of Israel had its capital in Samaria. The smaller kingdom of Judah retained the capital city of Jerusalem. Today's reading commences, "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah," when, "Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria" (17:1). Hoshea, like many of the northern kings before him, "did evil in the eyes of the Lord" (17:2).

The major power to the north of Israel at this time was Assyria. The Assyrians had made Israel their vassal state, exacting taxes from them and demanding their submission to the Assyrian Empire. But Hoshea wanted to be free, so he sent envoys to the king of Egypt asking for help – and stopped paying taxes to Assyria. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, put Hoshea in prison, laid siege to Samaria and then deported the Israelites to Assyria. This was the end of the northern kingdom.

The larger part of today's reading (17:7-23) consists of an explanation as to why the northern kingdom of Israel was swept away.

These were people whom God had rescued from slavery in Egypt and given an inheritance in a land flowing with milk and honey. But they had forgotten the Lord who saved them and turned to worship idols. The Lord had warned them through his prophets, "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey" (v. 13). But they "would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God" (v. 14). They angered the Lord who had saved them. "So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there" (v. 23).

God's judgment executed against the Northern kingdom should have acted as a warning to the southern kingdom of Judah, but we read, "even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced" (v. 19). That failure to learn from Israel's fate will lead to Judah also being taken off into exile – in Babylon.

Today's reading concludes with the words, "The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns" (v.24). This provides the background to the Samaria and Samaritans whom we encounter in the pages of the New Testament. The Jews, the descendants of those who had made up the kingdom of Judah, considered the Samaritans a hybrid people – not pure people of God like themselves.

The New Testament warns us that, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). We must never think that because the God whom we have come to know and love in the Lord Jesus Christ is a God of grace and mercy that he is not also a God of judgment. The apostle Paul who delighted to preach of the grace of God in Christ told the Christians in Galatia, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A person reaps what they sow. Whoever sows to please the flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:7-8).

Father God, help us to pay attention to the lessons that you are teaching us though your word and by your Spirit. Help us to know that you are a God to be feared. You have been gracious to us and have redeemed us through the shed blood of your precious Son. Fill us with your Spirit that we might live in glad obedience to you by the power of the risen Christ who lives in us. Enable us to keep ourselves from idols and to bring glory to your name. In that last day may we hear your word of commendation upon our lives, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Jul 2 2020 - Acts 27:21-44 – Knowing God

Don’t you just hate it when, in the midst of trouble and disaster, someone stands up and says “I told you so!” In effect, that’s what Paul says after several days of storm at sea. The sailors have thrown the cargo overboard and every ounce of their skill was now directed to the saving their own lives – to the point that they had laboured on without food for several days. But, as we read at the end of yesterday’s passage, their hopes were fast fading even of saving themselves (see Acts 27:20). It’s at this point that Paul stood up and told them, “You should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss” (27:21).

If this had been all that Paul had to say, no doubt he would have been thrown overboard after the cargo. But Paul continues by telling them that God sent his angel to assure him that they will all be safe – only the ship will be lost.

After fourteen days of being driven before the storm, the ship carrying Paul and 275 other men came close to land. What a contrast there is now between the behaviour of the sailors and that of Paul. Some of the sailors, knowing the dangers involved in trying to get a large ship safely to an unknown shore in gale force winds, try to save their own lives by escaping in the small boat kept on the ship. Paul, knowing the God who made sea and wind and dry land, and who has guaranteed his safety and that of all on board, encourages them all to take food while they wait for daylight. Before them all, Paul thanked God for the food, broke it and began to eat, encouraging the others to do the same.

This meal in the face of the storm and of an unknown morning has echoes of a communion service. Sailors, soldiers and prisoners join Paul in eating bread together with thanksgiving and in hope. Perhaps they have begun to gain a glimpse not only of the faith of this strange prisoner but of the Saviour whom he served; the Saviour who gives life in the face of death. Can you imagine the testimony of these 270 or so men in the months and years that followed? After it was all over and they were safe, might they, as the sailors in the story of Jonah, have “greatly feared the Lord … and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him” (Jonah 1:16)?

As this chapter closes, we have one further testimony to the impression that Paul had made on his captors. When the ship is stuck on a sandbank not far from the shore, “The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan” (27:42-43). Paul’s integrity and trustworthy character saved not only his own life but the lives of all the other prisoners with him in the ship.

Knowing God enables us to have a quiet confidence in him in the face of troubles and to focus our concern on those around us rather than upon ourselves: “The people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32).

Father God, increase my confidence in your daily care for me that I may not fear even when the earth shakes and mountains slip into the sea. May I rather be an encouragement and strength to those around me. May they also come to trust in you, their sovereign Creator and share in the blessings that come from Christ’s victory over death.

Peter Misselbrook