Human Response 503: Obey God rather than Man

2 Chronicles 11:14, 16 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the Lord….And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers.

After the division of the kingdom of Israel, King Jeroboam in the Northern Kingdom had established the false religion of worshipping Golden Calves and forbade the Lord’s priests from executing their office. Thereupon, many Levites and other faithful citizens of Israel left the idolatrous kingdom of Israel and came to Judah and Jerusalem to seek the Lord and worship Him as He commanded.

By this migration we can see that Israel (the North) became more and more secularized, pagan and worldly, while Judah (the South) grew stronger and more faithful with more believing citizens, though they finally lost their way, too. And by the way, Judah lasted 135 years longer than Israel, and the kingdom was restored from Captivity, while the ten lost tribes of Israel were lost forever.

The faithful people of God may always be smaller in number than their worldly counterparts, but they live longer, for eternity. These people obeyed God rather than Jeroboam, and by their actions strengthened the Southern Kingdom. Most of the people of the Northern Kingdom would go along with the evil kings, hoping to personally benefit.

Drifting along with negative trends and rationalizing away God’s teachings can lead to ruin. It is easier and lazier to just live the way the world lives than to be courageous in your faith. It takes the response of faith to leave the world and join with God’s faithful people. Taking a stand for God’s truth and God’s way in the face of the world’s way and its citizens is hard without the Spirit and the Word. Losing what the secular world offers requires faith to see the invisible riches offered in the Gospel. Come to Judah!