“This came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God<\/em>” (II Kings 17:7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “The line in the sand.” by Bernard Spragg, NZ, via Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n A line in the sand has a universal meaning: Don’t cross it.<\/p>\n II Kings 17 tells of the end of the northern kingdom of Israel and the reasons for its fall (II Kings 17:7-18). The year was 722 B.C. and Israel had not only crossed the line, they stamped on it until it was obliterated. “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do!” they must have thought, “Not even God!”<\/p>\n What was it that had such a powerful attraction that they would risk everything? Lots of things: the desire to be more “open” religiously and give a hearty nod towards the gods of their pagan neighbors, their ignorance and plain rebellion against God’s revealed will, their willingness to sacrifice their children for the sake of their own selfish prosperity. But they didn’t get prosperity in the end, only disillusion, heartbreak, and a boot out of the land God provided for them.<\/p>\n Ancient Israel was not the first group of people to abandon morality for the sake of “fitting in,” being more “tolerant,” or simply greed for wealth and sensual pleasure. They definitely won’t be the last, either. Much of their arrogant rebellion sounds a lot like what’s happening in modern America, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n The lesson to learn isn’t complicated: When God draws a line in the sand, don’t cross it. It really is for our own good.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Zeke Flores “This came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God” (II Kings 17:7). A line in the sand has a universal meaning: Don’t cross it. II Kings 17 tells of the end of the northern kingdom of Israel and the reasons for its fall (II Kings 17:7-18). The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[992],"class_list":["post-65338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-disobedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-king-of-moab-sacrificing-his-son-cause-great-wrath-against-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":0},"title":"How can the King of Moab sacrificing his son cause great wrath against Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you also explain II Kings 3:26-27 for me? I'm confused as to how the King of Moab sacrificing his son would cause great wrath against Israel and then cause (what it sounds like to be) the servants of Israel (or Moab?) to withdraw and return back to their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Map-for-II-Kings-3-178x300.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elijah\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":1},"title":"Elijah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 17:1-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible is filled with memorable characters. Among the prophets, Elijah stands out. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t know much about his background. He just suddenly appears on the scene forecasting doom to Ahab - I Kings 17:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His name means \u201cYahweh is my God\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-king-david-do-as-king\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":2},"title":"What did King David do as king?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What did King David do as king? Answer: I don't know if you are asking for a summary of David's accomplishments or what the duties of a king were in David's time. Below is a quick overview: The Accomplishments of King David David successfully defeated the enemies of Israel,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20226,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-famine-mentioned-in-ii-kings-81-the-same-famine-mentioned-in-ii-kings-624-31\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":3},"title":"Was the famine mentioned in II Kings 8:1 the same famine mentioned in II Kings 6:24-31?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was the famine in II Kings 8:1 the same famine as in Samaria in II Kings 6:24-31? Did the famine in II Kings 8:1 include all the land of Israel? Answer: The first few chapters of II Kings are a bit difficult to place into a timeline because often\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53911,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/and-then-there-were-none\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":4},"title":"And Then There Were None","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 6:3-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of my favorite mystery writers was Agatha Christie. She would write books where you tried to figure out who did it before the end of the book, but in the process you were distracted by so many possibilities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13367,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happened-between-israel-and-edom-to-cause-amaziah-to-invade-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":65338,"position":5},"title":"What happened between Israel and Edom to cause Amaziah to invade them?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What happened between Israel and Edom prior to II Chronicles 25:13? Answer: The invasion of Edom by King Amaziah of Judah is recorded in II Chronicles 25:5-16 and II Kings 14:7. Edom had been made a subjected nation by King David (II Samuel 8:13; Psalm 60:1). However, during the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/line-in-the-sand-300x225.jpg\")