GONE TOO FAR
Despite God being a compassionate and forgiving God, is it possible that in God’s eyes, a nation or a group of people could go too far for remedy? The history of Judah described in 2 Kings teaches us precisely that.
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there. (2 Kings 23:26-27)
Josiah was truly an exceptional king. His accomplishments described in great detail in 2 Chronicles tell us a story of one who was devoted to God unlike any other king before him. He started seeking God when he was a teenager, aged sixteen. He purged the land of idols that had taken hold of the nation. He put in a dedicated effort to restore the temple. When the Book of the Law of the Lord was found, he renewed the covenant with the Lord for the nation to wholeheartedly follow and serve the Lord. It is said that he celebrated the Passover in a manner not celebrated since the time of the prophet Samuel. Israel and Judah were meant to be theocracies and Josiah in a way epitomized the vision of God for them in a manner that was even greater than David and Solomon.
Yet, despite all he did, Judah had gone too far for remedy. Having had multiple opportunities to repent and turn to God, many of the kings before Josiah including his father Manasseh had wantonly espoused the ways of the nations around them, rejecting the Lord. Hence judgment was ripe on the nation and despite a Josiah, there was now no turning back. Within a generation of Josiah’s death, Judah had gone into exile.
Can a nation or a city imbibe the wrath of God by repeatedly promoting legislation that undermines God and promoting a godless culture? Can a group of people go too far for remedy? The story of Judah needs to be an example. Is judgment then justified for the common man? If it did when the people of Judah had no say in who ruled them, why should it not, in modern day cultures where democracy allows people to select who rules over them? Is it not interesting and alarming that even Christians in today’s world vote for those who they can associate with or those who promise them goodies rather than those who stand for God and his ways? Judgment is at hand, and we can only pray that we as a nation have not gone too far.
