And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria… He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.
75% of the book of 1 Chronicles is just that, a list of names, chapter after chapter. The lists are very important at times, but quite frankly, most of the time I do not go there. But in between those lists are gems that make me go “hmmm?” In this section, three tribes of Israel, after taking possession of the land God allotted to them, settled in and then became like the world around them. To the neighbors it was no big deal, just another family moving into the hood. But to God, the Israelites were to be different, by their very nature they were to stand out; they were His! How did God deal with them? “If you want to be like them, you will feel the sting of their lifestyle.” God gave power to an unbelieving king who took them into slavery. At the writing of the book of 1 Chronicles, they were still in captivity.
God will use unbelievers for His purposes too! Can you think of a time when an unbeliever was more righteous than you in their action? Or a time when their rebuke was right on the mark? You betcha. How should we respond? Well, Hebrews 13:8 says that God is unchanging; So, if He uses unbelievers in the past to correct His children of old, He is still doing it today. Grow from it, get up, stand tall in repentance and begin to act like God has called you to act: like a Christian and not like the world. It is that simple. Notice- There is no formula of what that action is- you already know, that is between you and your Father in heaven.
Enjoy life!
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