2 Chronicles 7:21-22
And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.
Someone once said, "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it". How true is that statement today? This morning let's take the time to learn about the children of Israel and their sins as a nation. Some have told me throughout the years that we have no lessons to learn from Israel and their failures, but I think differently. Israel repeatedly failed in their walk with God. But over and over, God was there to forgive them and bring them back to what they needed. But notice what God says this morning...
He says that their house, which is high, will be a sign to everyone that passes by. How great would it have been if The Lord was speaking about an astonishment of praise and worship? But He was speaking of being and example of those people who used to be blessed but now are not.
When I went to Israel a few years ago we saw the first century stones that Jesus possibly walked upon. We saw the Temple Mount. We also saw the area where the priests used to walk across to enter the Temple area. It was destroyed, along with the Temple itself, and you could see the heaps of stones. Jesus told them this would happen. When I saw this I immediately began to think of how we will fall to this same ruin if we don't place God and His Son Jesus as our top priority.
The scripture says they forsook The Lord, The Lord that redeemed them, they laid hold on other gods, worshipping and serving them, and God will make an example out of them.
My prayer this morning, and many mornings, is that God will continue to be gracious and forgive the sins of His people and His church. Some would say it's the worlds fault, but this wouldn't be true. They don't know any better, but the church does. We know the history through scripture. So we should pray for more understanding lest we also repeat the same sins they did. Please don't think I'm negative when I say this, but I feel that we are very, very close to repeating it even today.
Lord please help us to learn from mistakes and history. Please help us to stay focused upon You! Lord remind us of what we have in You! Thank you Jesus, I love you.
