The LORD’s Patience

Over the years, any people have told me that they are “New Testament” Christians.  They tell me this to let me know that they like Jesus, God’s love, and God’s forgiveness that they see in the New Testament.  They don’t like God’s wrath, God’s justice, or fire and brimstone that they see in the Old.  When I read through the Old Testament, though, I see something different than they see.  I see God’s love, forgiveness…and patience.
Hoshea son of Elah began to rule over Israel in the twelfth year of King Ahaz's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria nine years. He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, but not to the same extent as the kings of Israel who ruled before him. King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked King Hoshea, so Hoshea was forced to pay heavy tribute to Assyria. But Hoshea stopped paying the annual tribute and conspired against the king of Assyria by asking King So of Egypt to help him shake free of Assyria's power. When the king of Assyria discovered this treachery, he seized Hoshea and put him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and for three years he besieged the city of Samaria.  (2 Kings 17:1-5 NLT)
We will joke about it – that God will strike us down if we say or do something wrong.  We watch for a lightning strike on us (or the person standing next to us) when we do something wrong.  The think about that joke is that we half expect it to happen.  Only, it hardly ever happens – at least not right away.  Why?  Has God gotten soft over the years?  Is it ok to rebel against God now?  No, this is the way the LORD has worked with God’s people throughout history.
Finally, in the ninth year of King Hoshea's reign, Samaria fell, and the people of Israel were exiled to Assyria. They were settled in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:6 NLT)
We read the Old Testament and see the LORD defeating, capturing, and taking Israel into captivity through the nation of Assyria.  We see God’s justice and wrath being lived out.  What we forget, however, is that the LORD has been reaching out to Israel (the north) for hundreds of years now.  God even intervened and forced Israel to have a good king (Jehu) for one generation. But the kings, and people, of Israel continually rejected God.  They turned away from God, rebelled against God, and treated one another in ways that ignore the fact that people are made in the image of God.  God was patient.
This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 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. The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the LORD their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city. They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles at the top of every hill and under every green tree. They offered sacrifices on all the hilltops, just like the nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of them. So the people of Israel had done many evil things, arousing the LORD's anger. (2 Kings 17:7-11 NLT)

How about you?  Do you see the LORD’s patience in working with Israel?  Do you see the LORD’s patience in working with you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors?  How do you thank God for being patient with you?