The Plan

The Plan

Learning about God's Plan for Salvation at South Shore Trinity Lutheran Church

1st Kings 14:21-31

Judah turns from the Lord and Egypt sacks Jerusalem

Week 25– Judah

Now that the kingdom of Israel has been taken off to exile in Assyria, we will turn to the Kingdom of Judah. Let’s recap what brought us to this point: Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, became king over the complete nation of Israel which had been ruled by David and his father, Solomon. Soon after he ascended to the throne, Rehoboam was asked by the people to reduce their taxes and the mandatory labor that they had been forced to do under his father. Unfortunately, instead of listening to his wise advisors who encouraged him to win the people’s love by lightening their burden, Rehoboam followed the counsel of his inexperienced advisors who told him that he needed to make a show of strength by increasing the people’s taxes and mandatory labor. This went over like tofu at a bacon convention and 10 tribes broke away from king Rehoboam and formed the nation of Israel…the nation whose demise we have spent the last few weeks following.  

Today, we will begin tracking the nation of Judah by going back to the breakup of the original nation of Israel. This will involve a return to the book of 1st Kings where we will follow Judah through their own struggles and celebrations. Here we will see that these events are the means by which God calls them out of their sin to His forgiveness and continues his plan of Salvation.

Jonah 4:1-11

God forgives and Jonah acts like a two year old

Jonah 2:1-10

Jonah learns you can’t run from God

Jonah 1:1-17

The Lord calls and Jonah flees

Week 24– Israel: The book of Jonah and Israel is exiled

This week we will jump out of the book of Kings and into the book of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, so we will take a look at the book named after him right after he is mentioned in 2nd Kings chapter 14.

            The reader would be mistaken if they thought the main purpose of the book of Jonah was to tell us about Jonah or about a big fish. Yes, Jonah is the most talked about person in the account, and there is a big fish, but the story is really not about them. The whole book is designed to explain that God’s plan of salvation is for all people, even the evil people of Nineveh. A fact that ticks Jonah off so much that the end of the book becomes an important warning to all people about the dangers of holding grudges, refusing to forgive others and having an exclusive country club mentality.

            Finally, this week ends with God’s patience finally running out with Israel. He allows them to face the consequences of their having repeatedly turned away from him. It is not what God wants, but eventually He gives them what they want: freedom from Him.