Broken

"The Lord said: I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel," 2 Kings 23:27.

(Wait! What are we talking about in these exploratories right now? This: Covenants God established and their implications. OK? So. We pay attention.) God had covenanted with ancient Israel to protect them for ever in the promised land, but Israel's part was to keep God as God. They didn't. First, God gave a millennium of prophetic invitations to return despite their refusal, then God withdrew his protections, not only for the northern kingdom (Israel) but for the southern (Judah), too. God said of Jerusalem and the temple specifically: I will cast off this city that I have chosen and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. And alien armies devastated the land, Judah no longer existed, as was true of Israel a century earlier. Covenant broken, covenant ended. Something new has got to happen.

We fellowship with a brother or sister today in a new covenant signed in Jesus's blood. And together we give God thanks for inviting us into eternal relationship.