The People of God: The Story of the ChurchSample

We start today by going back to Deuteronomy. In this passage, we see God setting a choice before his people. A choice of life and death, blessings or curses. They are implored to choose life, that the requirements of the Lord are not too difficult for them. The consequence of continued disobedience, though, will be exile.

Sadly, after generations of the nation turning away from their God-given vocation to be the people of God, the end of Chronicles culminates in exile. King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonians comes and sacks Jerusalem, taking those left alive back to Babylon. The people of Israel now find themselves in the midst of a kingdom that lives by completely different standards to the ones given to them by God. Will they turn back to God and serve him again? Notice how the passage in Chronicles highlights that whilst the people are in exile, the land will enjoy its sabbaths. The people had not been following the Lord’s instructions regarding the sabbath cycles, this is given by the author as a reason for the exile.