Sunday Missions Devotional: Will you teach them?

“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. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.” – 2 Kings 17:27-28

Here we have a heathen king trying to deal with a situation beyond his control the way he knew how. An attack by wild animals was interpreted as an act of judgment by the god of that conquered land. Jehovah was the God of Samaria, so they sent for a priest from that land that would teach them how to please the justice of Jehovah. One of the most important aspects of missions is teaching. Just because a nation talks about God and Jesus, we can’t assume they know the God of the Bible and the Jesus of the Bible. One of the most effective weapons that the enemy uses is imitation. In missions we are to teach the Word. Just as in this passage, people need to know about Jehovah’s justice. And the only way to please His justice is through Jesus Christ. We are called to teach every nation that Jesus took our place of punishment and shame, so that we could please the perfect justice of a holy God. Through Jesus we, then, obtain mercy and pardon of sins, life and life everlasting. How will they know without a preacher? Will go you and teach them?