November 6, 2023

The Lord disciplines the one He loves.

2 Kings 17-18

Madison Bellinghausen
Monday's Devo

November 6, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 6, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 6, 2023

Monday's Devo

November 6, 2023

Big Idea

Forgetting God's Word is the first step away from faithfulness.

Key Verse | 2 Kings 17:22-23

The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets.  So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

2 Kings 17-18

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings 1 17:17 Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.

19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him 2 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

41 So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 3 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent 5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents 4 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my 5 18:29 Hebrew his hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me 6 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

[1] 17:17 Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire
[2] 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them
[3] 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent
[4] 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
[5] 18:29 Hebrew his
[6] 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me

S2:216 2 Kings 17-18

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | 2 Kings 17-18

The Old Testament beautifully displays the dichotomy of God's perfect grace and His righteous judgment. It may seem to be a harsh paradox, though. Like any good father, God does nothing thoughtlessly. And His discipline is an incredible act of love.

We see in 2 Kings 17:22 that "[t]he people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did." Jeroboam, a former king of Israel, is written in history as the man who made two golden calves and built shrines for the worship of false gods (1 Kings 12:28-33). Nice.

We, too, can find ourselves here—imitating the world around us and facing the painful consequences. Sin is our natural, often easiest, inclination. Humanity has been in this cycle of sin and punishment for thousands of years.

Israel saw the downfall of the kings who were seduced by worldly idols, as well as the grace of God on those who walked in step with Him. They were explicitly commanded to turn from idols or face God's righteous punishment (Deuteronomy 27:15, 28:15). Despite the warnings, though, they were still coaxed by the allure of sin and self-sufficiency.

"They did not depart from [the sins of Jeroboam], until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day." (2 Kings 17:22b-23)

The word exiled connotes feelings of dread, but, truly, what parents would watch from afar as their child chose a path leading to destruction? Discipline, or redirection from the Lord, is an ultimate act of care that forces us to turn our eyes back to Him. So the Lord removed His people from their land—removed them from the location of their sin and retrained His beloved to listen to His commands. 

When God speaks, He is faithful and trustworthy. To walk in His commandments is to walk in love (2 John 1:6). He alone has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). While His redirection may be painful at times, it is a great act of love and care.

This month's memory verse

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Discussion Questions

1. What is your initial reaction to the word discipline? When you read through this passage, do your thoughts on it change at all?

2. As Israel chose the same idols of Jeroboam, we tend to stumble back into our own repetitive patterns of sin. How do you respond when you find yourself in this place? Do you turn toward or shy away from God in these moments? Why?

3. As you read 2 Kings 17:23 where "the LORD removed Israel out of his sight," what is your response to God's discipline of His people?

4. How does this passage impact your thoughts on discipline and loving redirection from the Lord?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Madison! I got these awesome takeaways from your devo- -"The Old Testament beautifully displays the dichotomy of God's perfect grace and His righteous judgment. It may seem to be a harsh paradox, though. Like any good father, God does nothing thoughtlessly. And His discipline is an incredible act of love." -"Sin is our natural, often easiest, inclination." -"Despite the warnings, though, they were still coaxed by the allure of sin and self-sufficiency." -"When God speaks, He is faithful and trustworthy." This is the big takeaway. Mainly because it uses one of my favorite Bible words, “dichotomy”. -The Old Testament beautifully displays the dichotomy of God's perfect grace and His righteous judgment. It may seem to be a harsh paradox, though. Like any good father, God does nothing thoughtlessly. And His discipline is an incredible act of love.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

Q1. Reaction to “discipline”? Here is my best example- In the fall of 2020 a good friend asked me if I want to go on a Rocky Mountain Elk hunt in Sept/Oct of 2021. I had heard him talk about these for years and was very excited to be invited and given the choice. He was very kind in how he phrased his next statement, “You know Hugh, you need to really be in shape to go up and down the mountains chasing elk.” “Nuff said. I weighted 215 pounds and hadn’t done serious cardio exercise for several years. After researching it and checking with him I began a highly disciplined training program that mimicked going up and down the mountains. I began it six months before the trip. By the time September came I weighed 180 pounds and couldn’t wear most of my clothes. And keep in mind, there is about a 20% chance of getting a trophy elk so this was far from a certain prospect. It could have easily turned out that I spent many thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours training and come home empty handed. As it turned out I now have a 6x6 trophy bull elk in my den. Come and see. Q2. The difference between B.C. and A.D. for me is that my answer to all of these type of questions is that the change of “playgrounds, playmates, and playlists” have massively reduced the temptations. Even so, the battle in the spiritual realm is ongoing. Amy, my CG guys, and other friends are strongholds for me. Q3. God’s removal of His people from His sight makes me very sad. As I have been taught, His promises go all the way back to Genesis 12 and Genesis 15; Land, Seed, and Blessing. And now they have been removed from Him. Q3. Thoughts on discipline? As my creator and the One who knit me together in my mother’s womb, God knows me better than I know myself. He created me to have a relationship with Him. But not by compulsion. I get to choose. If I choose wisely, I will be blessed. If not, I will bear the pain of the bad choices. Only a loving Father in Heaven would set it up this way. Among my favorite passages in all of the Bible is John 13-17. Jesus’s call to unity is compelling. And he was willing sacrifice absolutely everything and bear 100% of God’s wrath on my behalf…so that I might have unity with Him. Unlike my elk hunt this unity cost me $0. Moreover, the chance of my rewards for the discipline of faithfulness is 100%, not 20%. The trophy I have in this life is the intangible but priceless prize of abundance, peace, joy, and rest that he promises. And a 100% chance of eternal life with Him.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

-Who is my Rabshakeh? Who is the chattering nabob that is telling me that what God has promised is not true? Who is telling me that I need to be focused on my own protection and provision rather than believing God’s promises? -To what mafia boss-like “king” am I paying tribute for the insane premise that they will provide and protect me. “Hezekiah offered to pay whatever Sennacherib would take to avoid a siege of Jerusalem. Sennacherib demanded about 11 tons of silver and one ton of gold, which Hezekiah paid. He did so by stripping the palace and temple that the king had previously re-overlaid with gold in order to glorify Yahweh (v. 16).” Hezekiah paid todays equivalent of about $7,000,000 in sliver and $64,000,000 in gold. At an average wage of $55,000 in today’s dollars that’s the equivalent of about 1,290 workers total earnings in a year. Ok…so the gold used to glorify Yahweh was now used to pay off a non-Israelite king that, history had shown, could NEVER be trusted. Verses 17:7-23 - “In this section the writer catalogued Israel's transgressions of God's Word that resulted in her going into captivity. Ironically, Israel's last king had sought help from Egypt, from which Israel had fled 724 years earlier.” I love this from the notes- “The unbelieving world might tell Christians not to worry about the reason for suffering. 'What will be will be.' But the Scriptures indicate that at least sometimes there are knowable reasons why a person or nation does or does not suffer. Discerning those reasons may not be simple, but what is clear from most of Israel's history is that defiant, consistent rejection of God's standards leads to judgment by suffering." "It is a wonder that either nation [Israel or Judah] lasted as long as it did. One must conclude with the prophets that it was possible only because of the patient mercy of a loving God who remembered his covenant promises, though his people had forgotten theirs." “This chapter concludes the second major section of Kings: the history of the Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12—2 Kings 17). The lessons of the history of this period that the writer emphasized could not be clearer.” "God's people had become disloyal to their Suzerain who had brought them redemptively out of Egyptian servitude. They had expressed disloyalty by worshipping other gods (17:15-17). And they did all this despite his persistent reminders to them through his spokesmen, the prophets, that what they were doing constituted high treason. The inevitable result was the judgment of God, a judgment which took the form of exile from the land of promise."
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Greg Jones

I like this statement. “The Old Testament beautifully displays the dichotomy of God's perfect grace and His righteous judgment. It may seem to be a harsh paradox, though. Like any good father, God does nothing thoughtlessly. And His discipline is an incredible act of love.” The second part of the statement really resonates with me. By faith I believe it to be true. “Like any good father, God does nothing thoughtlessly. And His discipline is an incredible act of love.” That revelation is found in the OT. And in the NT it’s foundational to the gospels. But, I don’t see that happening in say Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. “The Old Testament beautifully displays the dichotomy of God's perfect grace and His righteous judgment. It may seem to be a harsh paradox, though.” The first part of the statement, in my opinion, isn’t what the OT actually says. It is what we, again my opinion, rightly extract from what the OT actually says. Again my opinion from just reading my Bible. The Bible graphically displays a dichotomy between God’s grace and man’s grace, God’s judgement and man’s judgement. That statement has to be extracted as well. Example of extraction, tracking the Edomites (Israel’s cousins the descendants of Esau Genesis 36:9) through Samuel and Kings. 2 Samuel 8:13-14, 1 Kings 11:14-22, 2 Kings 8:20-22, 2 Kings 14:7, 2Kings 16:6. When a king of Judah does good it doesn’t go well for the Edomites. When it goes well for Edomites it’s because a king of Judah has done wrong. That doesn’t sound too harsh. But if we consider Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7) concerning his encounters with Israel and the Edomites to the narrative in 2 Chronicles a difference emerges. What Amaziah and Judah did- But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. 2 Chronicles 25:11-12 What some Israelites did- But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil. 2 Chronicles 25:13 The reason for the consequence of of the the LORD’s judgement (always the case in Samuel and Kings)- After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. [[[Therefore]]] the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” 2 Chronicles 25:14-16 I believe for the original readers/hearers Chronicles creates a harsh paradox. Without saying God was raising a bunch of terrorist, Chronicles says, as terrorist this was our view of God without saying that either. I mean we kind of compute things. Good image, of a bad father in, good Father, doesn’t compute out. On the other hand, bad image of a good father in, bad image of a good Father out. Now you have a dichotomy and you’ve created a paradox that needs to be explained. I believe in this case 2 Chronicles is harshly different for that purpose.
GJ

Greg Jones

I really love this deeper dive. I love it when the Bible is discussed and considered through a paradigm of dichotomies and paradoxes. Sometimes I think us older folks teach kids not to think to deeply about the harder parts of the Bible. If we read 2 Chronicles 25:11-12, and we find it a harsh view of God as a father how might the gospels handle that? Jesus is standing on a high place, maybe a rock, maybe the rock 10,000 Edomites were thrown from and dashed to pieces, we don’t know. But we know what he said to a bunch of sinners. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:2-12 Great devotional Madi. I thought it was excellent.
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Michael Sisson

Re: 2Kgs 18:2 2 Kgs 18:2 (NASB) He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and >>>his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.<<< Jewish tradition say Abi is the maiden in Isa 7:14. If so, in the short-term, Isa 7:14 was originally fulfilled when a maiden (Abi, daughter of Zechariah) gave birth to Hezekiah son of Ahaz. Hezekiah was the most righteous ruler since David and a type of the Messiah to come. Later, in the long, Isa 7:14 had a second, greater fulfillment when the Virgin Mary (Lk 1:31-35) gave birth to Messiah Yeshua.
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Michael Scaman

Psalm 84 has a bug differnce between discipline and wrath/judgement Those God disciplines are blessed Those God opposes are wiped out (said twice in that Psalm)
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Sue Bohlin

Thanks so much, Madi. I love this sweet little insight that comes from the NET Bible. 2 Kings 18:6 is translated that Hezekiah was "loyal to the Lord," or "held fast to the Lord." But the Hebrew says, "he hugged the Lord." I've never come across that in scripture before. But what a picture of what abiding looks like! Yes, HUGGING! There is nothing passive about hugging. Holding onto someone and not letting go is very active, very intentional--and very powerful. Let's hug Jesus today like Hezekiah did!
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Amy Lowther

1. Discipline is something to practice everyday. Discipline is tough, but it reflects ability to handle life respectfully of yourself, your opportunities, and others. When your discipline is disrespectful, an individual might miss things or might receive punishment. No, this passage does not change my mind on what discipline is but it does present examples of life I may consider. 2. I don’t find myself in repetitive patterns of sin. I do attend church service, serve for the church, and read the Bible regularly which helps me focus on and practice the values of God in everything I do. Because I learn from God and practice His values daily, I turn to God instead of shying away from Him. 3. God will not do everything. God is encouraging we do our best with gifts He has given each of us. 4. This passage reminds me we each have unique personalities and lives we can share with each other which offer new things we may or may not need. God is always encouraging each of us to be true and good with what is available.