The book of 2nd Kings Bible Lesson 20.
Just for your thoughts.
The 2nd Kings
Bible Lesson 20.
God’s Children Who Ran Towards the World.
Our Lord is Almighty. He never forsakes those who put their trust in Him. No matter what the circumstances are, He is able to uphold us. Nothing in our lives happens without His permission. Everything that takes place in this world is under His control. He is sufficient for all times.
This understanding of God is essential for every believer. Yet, in times of danger, some of God’s children turned to the world instead of trusting the Lord. Let us see some of them in this meditation.
When famine struck Canaan, Abraham ran to Egypt. There too, instead of trusting God, he relied on Sarah’s beauty. The result was a historical mistake—taking Hagar—which led to great consequences (Genesis 12:10–16).
Even after witnessing the miracles and wonders God performed in Egypt, the Israelites refused to trust Him, believing that Canaan could not be conquered. They rebelled and longed to return to Egypt. As a result, hundreds of thousands perished in the wilderness (Numbers 14:1–4).
Prophet Isaiah speaks very clearly about those who trusted Egypt instead of God, in Isaiah chapters 30 and 31. He says:
“They go down to Egypt without consulting me; they seek refuge in Pharaoh’s protection and look for shelter in Egypt’s shadow. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame; Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.” (Isaiah 30:2–3)
And again:
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord! The Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.” (Isaiah 31:3)
Likewise, Hoshea, the last king of Israel, trusted Egypt instead of God. The result was that he handed over his nation to Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria. After that, Israel never rose again as a nation.
In the same way, we too must learn to trust God experientially in our lives. We must realize that He is alive and present in our daily walk. No matter how much theology we study, if it does not translate into personal experience, it has no real value.
Without experiential knowledge of God, even some preachers who studied theology have come to say, “Why I left Christianity.”
Therefore, the theology we learn must be transformed into experience. We must understand that God is sufficient for us at all times. To trust in anything else brings shame. It is sin. It will never bring us honor. This is what every believer must realize.
— Ezekiel Shanmugavel