2 Kings 17
RIGHTEOUS OR SELF RIGHTEOUS?

The demise of the kingdom of Israel makes very sad reading. Their idolatry and wickedness became so bad that God couldn’t stand it any more. “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.” (2 Kings 17 v 18 ESV).

I can imagine the people of Judah looking over the fence at their neighbours, sad and afraid, telling each other that all these bad things happened because they turned away from the LORD. There could have been quite a bit of righteous satisfaction. After all, Judah still had the temple, the offerings to the LORD, the priests and Levites. And Hezekiah had made many religious reforms.

But despite the fact that Hezekiah was the most godly king since David, the record says this about Judah: “Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced.” (v 19)

Let’s not start to feel self justified by looking at the ungodliness of the people around us. Instead we should measure ourselves by God’s standard to become the people he wants us to be – no matter what people are doing around us.