2 Kings 17

God “ripped Israel out” of their place because of sin.  They are removed from the cities and replaced by people from all over.  Scripture says it like this in the Message: “GOD spoke a final No ….. turned his back on them…. given them fair warning….and plenty of time”.  God got pushed past His ability to endure their unwillingness to get their lives in line and He whacked them.  They are gone – pushed out of their homes and towns and replaced.  God allowed the king of Assyria to fill the towns with people from all over – but they served other gods.  They did not know God.  So He sends in lions to maul and kill people so they get a message.  The king sends in some exiled prophets to teach the people how to live  – who taught them how to “honor and worship God”.  But the people didn’t quite get it.  They did not worship God “exclusively….kept up their worship of the old gods…. don’t really worship GOD-they don’t take seriously what he says regarding how to behave and what to believe”.  Do you see a pattern here?  People are people whether they grow up knowing God or not – we seem to want to be independent and do things our way rather than God’s way.  And there is a price to pay for wanting to be stubborn and independent.  People die a painful death being eaten by lions.  But they still don’t get it figured out as scripture tells us they “kept doing what they had always done….putting on a front that they were worshipping God”.  Oh how stubborn and stupid we can be.  Guys – God demands our worship and true affection.  He deserves it – that is true – but He also demands it.  Sin prevents that from happening.  We need to root out sin in our lives and make darn sure we are on His page.  So much to learn from those who failed miserably.  Yet at times I see myself in the mirror…………