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. 2 Kings 17:15 – After a couple centuries and after many kings, the northern kingdom of Israel fell. The nation of Assyria came, besieged the land, conquered Israel, and carried the Israelites into captivity. Now this seems to be a hard move from the Lord on His people, especially after everything He did for them in rescuing them from Egyptian captivity centuries prior. We see though the reasons for the hard move of God in verse 7-23. Israel went headfirst into deep sin. As we see in our verse above, they despised the law and all the words God had given their ancestors. Instead they took part in all the idolatrous practices of the nations around them, the very thing God said not to do. While tucked away in the middle of this verse, there is a phrase that speaks a powerful message, “They went after false idols and become false.” The word for “false” can be translated as idol, emptiness, nothingness. Literally they went after nothing and became nothing. Our likeness will be determined by what we pursue. If you want to pursue some nothingness idol, you’ll become nothing for it can’t do anything for you. Yet if you want to become like Jesus, you pursue Jesus. While this passage is so depressing to read through seeing how their pursuit of sin and nothingness idols led them to such tumultuous seasons of life, what a blessing to have the comfort of scripture revealing to us that isn’t the only path in this life we can take. Nothing doesn’t have to be your end and falseness doesn’t have to be your identity. We can choose to follow Jesus can become more like Jesus. Choose then this day who you will follow, for it will determine the outcome of your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3083
Question To Ponder: What would following Jesus make you more of?
See Full Chapter
See Previous Devotions Over This Chapter
Daily DEVO 
Leave a comment