What happens when years of ignoring God's warnings finally catch up with His people?

In today's episode of The Dwelling Place, we're reading 2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16–17, and Isaiah 13–14, arriving at one of the most heartbreaking moments in Israel's history—the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC.

King Ahaz plunges Judah into shocking idolatry, while Israel finally experiences the judgment the prophets had warned about for generations. Yet even in humanity's darkest moments, God's heart remains the same: pursuing His people with mercy, discipline, and steadfast love.

If you've ever looked back on your own failures and wondered whether you've gone too far for God's grace, this episode offers profound hope. Stephanie reminds us that the same God who patiently pursued Israel is still pursuing us today with His never-stopping, never-giving-up love.

Together we'll explore:

• Why Israel finally fell to Assyria after centuries of warning
• The tragic reign of King Ahaz and how compromise always leads farther than we expect
• The compassion shown by unexpected Samaritans—a beautiful preview of Jesus' Good Samaritan parable
• Why God's discipline is evidence of His faithful love, not His abandonment
• Isaiah's prophecy against Babylon and the danger of pride and self-exaltation
• The difference between pursuing godliness and trying to become our own version of "perfect"
• Encouragement for Christian moms carrying the impossible weight of trying to do everything right
• Why humility—not perfection—is one of the greatest gifts we can model for our children

Whether you're reading the Bible chronologically or simply longing to understand the Old Testament more deeply, this episode reveals how every page points us to God's relentless grace through Jesus Christ.

Key Bible Passages

• 2 Chronicles 28
• 2 Kings 16–17
• Isaiah 13–14
• Deuteronomy 28
• Luke 10
• Revelation 12
• Philippians 1

In This Episode You'll Discover

Israel's exile wasn't God losing patience—it was God faithfully keeping His covenant after generations of calling His people back.

Stephanie also shares a personal reflection about motherhood and the temptation to become the "perfect mom." Isaiah's warning against pride reminds us that our children don't need a flawless mother—they need one who joyfully depends on a perfect Savior.

Rather than striving to have every answer, Christian motherhood is an invitation to daily humility, repentance, wisdom, and reliance on Christ.

A Prayer for Moms

Lord, help us release the pressure to be everything for our children. Teach us to pursue wisdom while remaining completely dependent upon You. May our lives point our families to the only perfect One—Jesus Christ. May our children grow up seeing not our strength, but Your faithfulness. Amen.

If this daily chronological Bible study has encouraged your walk with Christ, we'd love for you to follow the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with another mom who could use the reminder that God's mercy is greater than her failures.

Entrusted Ministries exists to help moms delight in God's Word, disciple the next generation, and build Christ-centered homes—one chapter of Scripture at a time.

If This Episode Encouraged You...

If The Dwelling Place is helping you grow in God's Word, would you consider subscribing, leaving a five-star review, and sharing this episode with another mom? Your support helps more women discover daily Bible teaching that points families to Christ.

For additional biblical parenting resources and free encouragement for Christian moms, visit Entrusted Ministries.

Resources Mentioned

• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast
• Full-Circle Discipline Resources
• Jesus Storybook Bible

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and as we

read 2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16

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and 17, and Isaiah 13 and 14, we'll

uncover what some would consider

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the lowest point in all of Kings

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As the judgment that the Lord

had warned would finally come.

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And we'll be reminded, as Sally

Lloyd-Jones writes No matter

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what, in spite of everything, God

would love his children with a

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never-stopping, never-giving-up,

unbreaking, always and forever love

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As we consider the wickedness of this

nation, you and I may think about the

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lowest points in our own lives, the

ones we're ashamed to look back at

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The moments that tempt us to think

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we've been disqualified

from the grace of the cross

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but we'll be reminded that this God that

still pursued the nation of Israel and

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brought them to the end of themselves

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is the same God that

faithfully pursues you and I.

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He conquered our sin on the

cross, and He loves us too much

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to allow us to stray from Him.

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He's a God that continually

seeks to dwell with you,

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And he delights that you're looking to him

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We'll start out with 2 Chronicles

28 with a truly wicked king, Ahaz.

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We've studied Ahab before, but now this

is Ahaz, and just to make it easy, you

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can remember that they were both terrible.

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Ahaz is in the southern kingdom,

but his kingship looked more

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like he was reigning in the north

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Beginning in verse one

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Ahaz was twenty years old when

he began to reign, and he reigned

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sixteen years in Jerusalem.

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And he did not do what was right in

the eyes of the Lord as his father

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David had done, but he walked in

the ways of the kings of Israel.

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He even made metal images for the Baals,

and he made offerings in the valley

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of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his

sons as an offering, according to the

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abominations of the nations whom the Lord

drove out before the people of Israel.

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And he sacrificed and made offerings

on the high places and on the

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hills and under every green tree.

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Therefore the Lord his God gave

him into the hand of the king of

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Syria, who defeated him and took

captive a great number of his

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people and brought them to Damascus.

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He was also given into the

hand of the king of Israel, who

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struck him with great force.

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For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed

one hundred and twenty thousand from

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Judah in one day, all of them men

of valor, because they had forsaken

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the Lord, the God of their fathers

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Next we learn That Israel took 200,000

captives from Judah And brought them

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home But the Lord sent Oded, a prophet,

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To meet them and to warn them that

although God gave Judah into their

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hands, The way they were treating them

was unacceptable in the Lord's eyes.

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They ignored Oded's warning.

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But as they continued to bring

home these captives, certain

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chiefs stood up against them

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You shall not bring the captives

in here, for you propose to bring

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upon us guilt against the Lord in

addition to our present sins and

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guilt, for our guilt is already great.

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And there is fierce wrath against Israel.

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So the armed men left the

captives and the spoil before

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the princes and all the assembly.

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And the men who have been mentioned

by name rose and took the captives,

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and with the spoil they clothed

all who were naked among them.

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They clothed them, gave them

sandals, provided them with food

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and drink, and anointed them.

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And carrying all the feeble

among them on donkeys, they

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brought them to their kinsfolk at

Jericho, the city of palm trees.

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Then they returned to Samaria.

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It's fascinating that they're going

back to Samaria because their example

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of compassion reminds me of Jesus'

parable of the Good Samaritan,

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Who went above and beyond to restore

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We would hope that after God delivered

these two blows to the nation of

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Judah, that King Ahaz would be humbled.

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but just the opposite happens.

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He reaches out to the

king of Assyria for help.

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Then the Edomites and the

Philistines invade and defeat Judah

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For the Lord humbled Judah because

of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had

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made Judah act sinfully and had

been very unfaithful to the Lord.

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And the alliance that he attended to

make with Assyria to strengthen him

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Their king actually comes against

him and afflicts him how about now?

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Is Ahaz humbled

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After suffering blows from five

surrounding nations verse 22 tells

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us, " In the time of his distress, he

became yet more faithless to the Lord.

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The same Ahaz, for he sacrificed to the

gods of Damascus that had defeated him.

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But they were the ruin

of him and all Israel."

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Next, he destroys some of the furniture

from the house of the Lord, shutting

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the temple doors so no one is allowed

to worship Yahweh he builds altars to

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the pagan gods of other nations, and

his heart is hardened beyond humbling.

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Let's go over to 2 Kings sixteen

and seventeen to fill in any details

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that the chronicler left out.

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Well, chapter sixteen tells us that

Ahaz was taking the silver and the

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gold from the house of the Lord and

sending them to the king of Assyria.

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It's disgusting, isn't it?

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He is robbing from the Lord to

bless a pagan king Then in an effort

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for diplomacy, King Ahaz goes to

meet with the king of Assyria.

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He sees a pagan altar in Damascus and

comes back asking Uriah the priest

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to build an altar just like it.

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And he uses this new altar to sacrifice

to these foreign gods the sacrifices

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that the God of the Bible had commanded

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do you remember when we were walking

through some of those earlier books of

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scripture and God put so much detail

into the temple and into the sacrifices

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and the ways He wanted to be worshiped?

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Paying attention to those details

is important, but Ahaz completely

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abandoned the commandments of the Lord

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Now in 2 Kings 17, we'll go to the

Northern Kingdom to see who was reigning

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there during the end of Ahaz's reign.

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it's Hoshea, the son of Elah, and he did

what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

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Yet not as the kings of

Israel who were before him

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At that time, he had this deal where

he was sending money to the king of

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Assyria Kind of saying, " I understand

how big and powerful you are.

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Just leave us alone, okay?"

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But after a while, he

decided, " This is a lot of money.

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I'm done with this."

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He even consulted the king of Egypt.

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The king of Assyria finds out and puts

him in prison and next is the moment that

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the prophets have been warning about.

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In 17:5, "Then the king of Assyria

invaded all the land and came to Samaria,

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and for three years he besieged it.

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In the ninth year of Hoshea- The king

of Assyria captured Samaria, and he

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carried the Israelites away to Assyria.

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This is a pivotal moment

in the history of Israel.

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This is one of the two dates I

encouraged you to memorize before.

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it occurred in 722 BC

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And scripture is clear

about why it happened.

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And this occurred because the people of

Israel had sinned against the Lord their

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God, who brought them up out of the land

of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh

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king of Egypt, and had feared other

gods and walked in the customs of the

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nations whom the Lord drove out before

the people of Israel, and in the customs

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that the kings of Israel had practiced.

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And the people of Israel did

secretly against the Lord their

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God things that were not right.

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They built for themselves high

places in all their towns, from

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watchtower to fortified city.

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They set up for themselves pillars

and Asherim on every high hill

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and under every green tree.

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And there they made offerings on all

the high places as the nations did,

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whom the Lord carried out before them.

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And they did wicked things,

provoking the Lord to anger.

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And they served idols of

which the Lord had said to

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them, ' you shall not do this.'

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But they would not listen."

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but were stubborn, as their

fathers had been, who did not

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believe in the Lord their God.

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They despised his statutes and

his covenant that he had made

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with their fathers and the

warnings that he gave them.

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They went after false idols and became

false, and they followed the nations

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that were around them, concerning

whom the Lord had commanded them

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that they should not do like them.

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And they abandoned all the commandments

of the Lord their God and made for

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themselves metal images of two calves,

and they made an Asherah and worshiped

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all the host of heaven and served Baal.

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And they burned their sons and

their daughters as offerings, and

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used divination and omens, and sold

themselves to do evil in the sight

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of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

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Therefore the Lord was very angry with

Israel, and removed them out of his sight:

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none was left but the tribe of Judah only.

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Judah also did not keep the commandments

of the Lord their God, but walked in

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the customs that Israel had introduced.

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Did you hear how many times it said,

For they did not fear the Lord their

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God, but they feared other gods

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If we look back on that monumental

moment in Deuteronomy 28 when Moses

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said before departing, " I set before

you life and death, blessing and curse.

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Fear the Lord, honor His

ways, and be blessed."

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And in verse 47, he delivered a

warning from the Lord, " Because you

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did not serve the Lord your God with

the joyfulness and gladness of heart,

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because of the abundance of all things,

therefore you shall serve your enemies

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whom the Lord will send against

you in hunger and thirst, in

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nakedness, and lacking everything.

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and he will put a yoke of iron on

your neck until he has destroyed you.

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The Lord will bring a nation against you

from far away, from the end of the earth,

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swooping down like the eagle, a nation

whose language you do not understand, a

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hard-faced nation who shall not respect

the old or show mercy to the young.

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Israel has ignored all of God's warnings,

and though it may not outwardly appear

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this way, it's His faithfulness and

His kindness that disciplines them to

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bring them to the end of themselves

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We'll turn now to the Book of Isaiah.

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In chapters thirteen and fourteen,

we have a lengthy oracle against

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Babylon, and then fourteen concludes

with an oracle against the Philistines

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We'll read a portion written

to the nation of Babylon.

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Beginning in Isaiah 14:12, " How

you are fallen from heaven,

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O Day Star, son of Dawn!

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How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

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You said in your heart, ' I will ascend

to heaven; above the stars of God I

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will set my throne on high; I will sit

on the mount of assembly in the far

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reaches of the north; I will ascend

above the heights of the clouds; I

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will make myself like the Most High.'

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Some believe that this also applies

to Satan and his fall from heaven

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Luke 10 and Revelation 12 also tell us

of Satan's fall, but it is up for debate.

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Did you notice the five I will statements?

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The final one was, "I will make

myself like the Most High."

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Although I've consistently pointed you

towards godliness and righteousness,

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this is a powerful conviction

against pursuing God likeness.

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Godliness acknowledges holy, holy,

holy is the Lord God Almighty.

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As Micah said, "Who is like you, O Lord?"

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The answer obviously is no one, and

any effort to become like Him in power

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or perfection is pure wickedness, and

certainly that was found in Satan.

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I can remember coming across this

passage early in my motherhood.

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when I was in that early stages of

trying to do everything right and just so

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I wouldn't have said it But I had

certainly hoped to be the ideal mom, maybe

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even as perfect of a mother as I could

be, and to be everything my kids needed.

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And when I read these verses, I remember

repenting and saying, " Lord, help me

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to be a mom that leads in humility and

models my desperation for you, and that

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helps my kids see their need for you.

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The atmosphere around motherhood has

changed a little bit, I think, because

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authenticity is valued much more now

than the pursuit of being a supermom.

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However, I still think there's a lot

of pressure on mom's shoulders to

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get it just right, to figure out the

root of every symptom, to cut out

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every character flaw, to carefully

evaluate every food on every plate

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and we need prayer to maintain a

life of reliance delighting in and

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acknowledging our need for a perfect

God rather than striving to be like him

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Heavenly Father, we come before you

reminded of the times that we have strayed

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so far from what you've called us to.

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I pray for every mom listening that

is struggling to believe that your

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forgiveness and your mercy have covered a

particular sin she's done I pray that she

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could trust you at this very moment, that

you no longer count this sin against her,

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but through the power of your blood, you

have defeated every sin she's committed

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and that you love her dearly

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We also acknowledge that there are times

we're not convicted of our sin, and

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we're shrouded in self-righteousness

and in finding solutions on our own.

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Would you teach us how to hold both

reliance and wisdom, pursuing answers

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to the problems of life But being

surrendered to you through it all That

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we would be able to say with Paul

in Philippians, " My every hope and

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expectation is that Christ be glorified."

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Lord Jesus, we pray you would be

exalted in the hearts of our children,

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and that any shred of them that longs

to elevate themselves through their

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talents or their careers or their dreams

That they would rather choose to point

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to you in all that they accomplish

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may they lay down their

own fame and lift You high.

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Jesus, Your name is above every name,

and we delight to pray in it now.

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Amen.