“Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God,” Jeremiah 3:22.  With an unfailing love that our human minds can’t imagine, God is always waiting for us to return to Him.

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As you read through the Old Testament you will plainly see how God constantly forgave His people and restored them.  Out of all the Kings that were anointed to rule over the Jewish people, only three ruled over the United Kingdom’s, King Saul, King David and King Solomon. 

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In 931 BC the 12 tribes were divided into the Northern tribes of Israel and the Southern Tribes of Judah.  The Northern tribes were ruled by 21 different Kings from 931 BC to 722 BC, when they fell to an Assyrian ruler.  The Southern Tribes were ruled by 22 different Kings from 931 BC until 586 BC when they fell to King Nebuchadnezzar and went into their 70 years of exile. 

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Now Bible history shows that the three kings of the United Kingdom were over-all good kings and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.  Once the tribes were divided the Northern tribes of Israel had bad King after bad King.  Each one you read about in the Bible it starts with, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord!  The ‘bad’ Kings would not follow the Laws of God, they would not outlaw and destroy the alters of the foreign gods, and they took part in idol worship.  On the other side of the ledger were the Southern tribes of Judah who during their 345 years of Kings, had about half of them ‘good’ and about half of them ‘bad’. 

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Throughout the many years of doing evil in the sight of the Lord, God never gave up on them.  He always worked through other nations to send corrective punishment to His people to get them back on track.  God sent many prophets to warn the people and urged them to repent and return to the Lord.  When they didn’t listen though, that is how they got to spend 70 years in Babylonia exile.  This 70 year exile followed four consecutive ‘bad’ Kings in Judah who did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, the Jewish people were in need of some corrective action. 

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We all may not be that blatant in how we react to God by always doing evil in His sight, but we can from time to time maybe backslide a little without realizing it.  Whatever it might be that is taking our time away from God we need to take to God in prayer, asking for His help to overcome it.  The Bible says that God is a jealous God, He wants all of us not some of us.  What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?  He will keep you in perfect peace as your mind is fixed on Him, Isaiah 26:3. 

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 Know Christ; know peace. No Christ, no peace.