When they first lived there, they [foreign inhabitants of Samaria] did not worship the Lord; so He sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. ...So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
2 Kings 17:25-28
Interesting that God is so tied to a place here that those who inhabit that place are "encouraged" to follow God or fall to the lions. Interesting, too, that He is always concerned with others coming to know Him. We make the Old Testament so Hebrew-centric. And, yes, it's the story of the Jews. But think about the story of the invaders. What transpires during the invasion and captivity both reminds the Jews of the God they've walked away from but also brings the invaders in contact with the Lord.
There isn't just the chosen and then the rest of the world. Nineveh, Babylonians, invader and invaded, He seeks us all. The truth doesn't belong to just church-going believers. It's there for everyone, whether we deliver it or not.
I'm just glad God sent us His son rather than a lion. Sadly, a lion might have been more effective.
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