Presenting the Gospel to Heathens

After the Israelites were carried away into Assyria and the Assyrians used other people groups to resettle the Israelite lands, God made a way for the gospel message to come to the new inhabitants:

2 Kings 17:25-28 KJV
And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord : therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

[26] Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

[27] Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

[28] Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

The way the Lord moved so the king of Assyria would allow him a priest back in Israel was obviously drastic (lion attacks), but sometimes that is the only way we will listen.

God is determined to get his message of who He is and how to serve Him out to everyone. Sadly, some people are extremely stubborn, and it takes something as severe as mass lion attacks to get them to focus on God.

We don’t live in a landscape populated by lions, so I doubt we’re going to see God use this method to get ahold of us, but he will use every method to bring his message to us.

Even more tragically, the priests teaching did not go to heart in these new people. They chose to serve God, but they also served their gods from their former nations.

You can’t serve God and something else. We have to be all in. God will accept nothing less because He deserves nothing less. The God of the universe, Creator of it all, who made a way for us to receive eternal life, He is worthy to be praised, and served in totality.

Don’t be like the Babylonians, Hamathites, and others trying to serve God and something else…because He won’t accept it.

Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.