Fall of Israel

What goes up must come down says the old saying... and sadly that is the way it is for most things. Sadly, that was true for Israel. They had reached glorious heights under the reign of King David. And it looked as if the people God had chosen to be his own had finally made it. They had land, a king, peace and - best of all - a special relationship with the one true God.

But, as we shall see in our studies this week, the Israelites couldn't resist the temptation to disobey God's Law and to pursue the worship of idols. As a result, God allowed the Babylonians, Israel's ruthless and powerful neighbours, to inflict severe punishments on them.

But before we get too smug, we must admit that we have the same problem. As the saying goes "I can resist anything but temptation". It's one of the great lessons we will see this week, that we all need God's help and the help of fellow Christians, to avoid giving in to sin.