Away From His Presence

This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. . . . They had followed the practices of the pagan nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of them, as well as the practices the kings of Israel had introduced. . . . Because the LORD was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. 2 Kings 17:7-8, 18

ISRAEL CAME INTO THE LAND of Canaan charged with the duty of purging the land of pagan shrines and establishing the exclusive worship of Yahweh. But when we come to 2 Kings 17, we realize that, in a tragic reversal, the land was back to its preconquest state, full of idolatrous shrines. “They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire” (verse 17). Instead of raising their children to love and obey the Lord, they put their sons and daughters into the stone arms of a false god and watched as their children burned in the fire.

A god who is not aroused to anger when children are thrown into the fire could not be good. But our good God gets angry. While he is slow to anger, his perfect anger is among his perfections. For two hundred years he repeatedly sent his prophets to Israel to warn them that if they did not abandon their worship of idols, they would be plucked out of the land. When they refused to listen, the Lord “swept them away from his presence” —just as he’d ejected Adam and Eve from the Garden because of their disobedience.

Likewise, there will come a day when every person will stand before this unchanging God. All who have refused to listen to his warnings, all who have spurned his offers of grace, will be driven away from his presence.

Lord, we know a day is coming when you will pour out your anger on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead lead wicked lives. But we also know that you poured out your anger on Christ so that all who find refuge in him will not be swept away from your presence but instead will be brought safely home to you. So we ask, Lord, that you would be patient in your anger. We ask that you would draw ________ into the safety of your fold and keep ________ in the safety of your presence forever.