Tuesday 28 June 2016

When will they ever learn?

Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. – 2 Kings 17.19

Raising children is interesting to say the least. We raised six so we have seen quite a bit. One of the things that every parent of more than one child learns is the every child is different. Some are strong willed and stubborn. Some are more compliant. Some seem naturally better behaved and some to have a had time getting it. And then there are some who are just savvy. These kids have the ability to avoid trouble by learning from the mistakes of their brothers and sisters.

We all do that to a certain extent. If we are smart we learn how to avoid problems by watching others, or reading history, or figuring out what the results of our actions might be.

Israel and Judah were sister states. Israel had really messed up. Hey never had a good king. They just kept rejecting God’s word and the warnings God sent through his prophets. Eventually God allowed them to be carried away captive by the Assyrians and then dispersed and they eventually lost their identity.

Wouldn't you think that Judah, like a younger brother or sister, would have learned from Israel’s mistakes. But no, they went on their way and keep on rejecting God for their own choices.

Stupid huh, not learning from other people’s mistakes?

And yet here we are with all of the history behind us and all the mistakes of the people of the Bible and we don’t seem to be a whole lot better than they were. We see all the problems caused when people don’t do things God’s way and yet we still do the same things. God has given us plenty of examples of both good and bad and yet we seem more inclined to follow the bad even when we know the consequences.

Like the old song asked ‘when will we ever learn?’

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