God’s Big Plan

When was the last time you witnessed a child having a full-blown meltdown in public; complete with head-pounding, ear-piercing, chest rattling shrieking, kicking, and crying their demands?

I used to judge. I used to think that mother or father a terrible parent. Until I had children—and now grandchildren.

Can I just say, Thank the Lord for Facebook and Instagram! These completely unrealistic snapshots of our lives at least balance out the other embarrassing “real” moments!

My point is this: If we measure anyone by an isolated event or two—ignoring the full context in which those event(s) occur—we can reach a completely false conclusion about that person’s character and/or capability.

The same is true of our God. Choosing a few stories out of the Old (or New) Testament and making a sweeping judgment about God’s character is like judging a parent by their kid’s tantrum in the grocery store. So let’s look at the full context of the kings and prophets. Let’s discover the real character of our Loving Heavenly Father and His tantrum-throwing kids.

Abba’s House Rules

The story, of course, began in the Garden, when His kids ate poison instead of the good food He provided (Gen. 3). His remedy of the poison would come eventually. It would be a long and difficult wait, coming generations later (Gen. 3:15). In the meantime, the Father chose one child in particular, Abraham, to faithfully preserve the family record and bring the Father’s blessing to every child on earth.

“Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” Genesis 18:18

Disobedience brought hard times upon His children, but He gave them a strong leader named Moses, who helped re-establish an earthly connection between the Father and His children. Because His holiness was too overwhelming for His fallen children to bear, He protected them through a set of Laws (Ex. 20) that would allow them to enter His presence in a sacred tent (Ex. 25:8). He promised blessing to His children if they obeyed and warned of discipline if they disobeyed. A choice, blessing or discipline–just as He’d done in the Garden.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28

Rebellious Teens

“Growing pains” is a gargantuan understatement for the struggles Abraham’s descendants endured after entering the Promised Land with the Father’s Law and His Presence. Rebellious to the core, they demanded a king to rule over them—a big brother—rather than listening directly to the instruction of their Father. Though the Father warned them that brother-kings would mistreat them and take advantage, they insisted, so He gave them what they asked and allowed them to learn the hard lesson the hard way (1 Samuel 8).

Their first king, Saul, disobeyed and, rather than humbly confessing and repenting, he justified his sin. Because of Saul’s unrepentant heart, the Father rejected him and chose another king—David—whose greatest desire was to please the Father’s heart.

Favorite Son

David wanted to establish a permanent “House” for the Father among His children, but instead, the Father established a permanent “house” for David’s children. The Father made a covenant with him, promising one of his descendants would forever rule the Father’s children (2 Sam.7:8-16). And soon after David died, it was Solomon who built the Father’s earthly house—the Temple—in which His earthly Presence dwelt in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8).

Despite the Father’s blessing and presence, His children disobeyed–as they’d done in the Garden–leading to more family conflict and a division into two nations. Northern Israel crowned their own king and fought David’s royal descendants in Judah.

Heartbroken and angry, the Father sent faithful prophets in another attempt to warn His children of discipline and remind them of His love. But neither Israel nor Judah listened to the prophets, and they refused their Father’s arms.

Because a loving Father always follows through on discipline, both nations were eventually exiled because of their disobedience—Israel to Assyria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:22-23), and Judah to Babylon in 586 BC (2 Chron. 36:17-20).

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!” Hebrews 12:7-9

Fly-Over and Future Posts

Now that we’ve done the general “fly-over” on Israel’s/Judah’s history, I hope you’ll get a better understanding of the more detailed stories we’ll examine in the coming months. I’ve already written three books on various Prophets and Kings that I hope you’ll enjoy (dates approximate):

In the Shadow of Jezebel – 870 – 835 BC
Love in a Broken Vessel – 807 – 715 BC
Isaiah’s Daughter – 732 – 687 BC

But what happens after Hezi and Zibah? What about their son, the wicked King Manasseh? (Hint: that sequel, Isaiah’s Legacy, will release February 2020!) What about the Prophets and Kings between Manasseh and Judah’s exile?

And where does Daniel fit into all this?

These and many other questions will be answered with some fun and interesting posts this summer in preparation for the August 1st release of By the Waters of Babylon, one woman’s heart-rending but hopeful journey from Jerusalem’s destruction to Babylon’s new beginning.

For now, I hope the following chart will be a helpful tool to help you follow along as we dive into the “giggle weeds” and details of Judah’s Prophets and Kings.