Ok stick with me today. We're in the last Chapter of 2nd Kings and finishing up our 30 day Journey. And as I finished 2 Kings today, there was one little section I couldn't stop thinking about. Actually once it hit me I couldn't wrap my head around it.
But if you're not paying close attention it's easy to read right past it.
Jerusalem has fallen. The Temple has been destroyed. The people have been taken captive. It feels like the story is over. But then there's this small moment. The people who are left behind are told, "Stay here. Serve Babylon, and it will go well with you."
I kept thinking about that.
After everything that had happened, God was still making a way for them. Their circumstances weren't what they wanted, but He was telling them, I'm still with you here.
But this is the part that I can't shake.
Fear took over.
And Instead of staying where God had placed them, they ran back to Egypt.
Did you catch that....They ran back to Egypt.
So I looked it up. A commonly used estimate is:
The Exodus: around 1446 BC (early date)
The fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25): 586 BC
That places it at about 860 years.
Think about what that means.
They weren't the generation that made bricks without straw. They weren't the generation that crossed the Red Sea. They weren't the generation that ate manna in the wilderness.
They had only heard the stories. Yet after centuries of God proving Himself through judges, kings, prophets, victories, discipline, mercy, and countless chances to return to Him their instinct in fear was still to run back toward Egypt.
It wasn't just after a bad day. Not just one disappointment. After the plagues. After the Passover. After walking through the Red Sea.
After manna from heaven. After water from a rock. After the wilderness. After Joshua. After the judges. After David. After Solomon. After generations of God calling His people back to Him again and again.
After everything....
They ran back to Egypt.
Man...The more I thought about the more I realized this isn't just Israel's story.
It's ours too. How often do we do the same thing? God delivers us from something that once held us captive. He patiently walks us through seasons that shape us. He proves His faithfulness over and over again. Then life gets hard. Fear creeps back in.The future feels uncertain. And suddenly, the very thing God rescued us from starts looking familiar, maybe even comfortable.
I wonder how many times we confuse familiar with safe. Egypt wasn't home, It never was. It was slavery and It was the place they had cried out to be rescued from.
But when fear took over, they ran back anyway.
They went back to Egypt!
After everything he's brought you through....No matter what....Don't go back...
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading 2 Kings 25
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