In 2 Kings 17 we read about Israel’s demise under King Hoshea and its deportation to Mesopotamia under the direction of Assyrian king, Shalamaneser. The king of Assyria then sends Babylonians and Arameans to repopulate Israel to make the areas more manageable and loyal to his leadership. What interested me as I read were all the action verbs in 2 Kings 17:6-18 that describe the sins of Israel which led to their captivity. Just look at some of them for a moment:
- Sinned against the LORD (7)
- Secretly did against God what was not right (9)
- Burned incense in all the high places (11)
- Refused to hear (14)
- Hardened their necks (14)
- Refused to believe (14)
- Rejected God’s statutes (15)
- Became vain (15)
- Went after the heathen (15)
- Left all the commandments of the LORD their God (16)
- Sold themselves to do evil (17)
- Provoked God to anger (17)
Wow! These are just some of the verbs in this passage. When I completed my reading, the thought came to my mind, “What verbs would describe my relationship with God at the end of my life and, even more so, today?” Looking back over that list, the following comes to mind from Hebrews 11:
- Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice (11:4)
- Enoch pleased God (11:5)
- Noah prepared an ark (11:7)
- Abraham obeyed (11:8)
- Abraham looked for a city (11:10)
- Sarah received strength (11:11)
- Sarah counted Him faithful (11:11)
- These all embraced the promises (11:13)
- Abraham offered up Isaac (11:17)
- Moses chose suffering for righteousness sake (11:25)
- Moses forsook Egypt (11:27)
Do some inventory today. Ask the Lord in prayer to reveal the verbs that describe you. Be honest. Write them down. What needs to change? “Repent” and “confess” would be some good verbs to begin with so you could please, obey, embrace, etc. Then as you dwell in this land, you will be loyal to your King (2 Chronicles 16:9).
From A Pastor's Heart 