This 18 part series explores the main moments in the Bible. This is a long story that takes place over thousands of years.  It’s the story of all the ways that God has been trying to rescue and bless and love God’s people since the beginning of time.  It’s the story that has been passed down and shared with billions of people.  It’s a story that was written for everyone to hear, and at the same time it’s a story written specifically just for you. This chapter of the story is when the Cycle Repeats.

The Restoration of Israel was not the end of the story.  The cycle of unfaithfulness and forgetfulness would repeat itself and the next time, a Babylonian army would come through and force the Israelites into exile again.   The story of Israel is one of God’s guidance and blessings followed by forgetfulness and unfaithfulness followed by God’s gracious forgiveness and restoration.  It’s a cycle that repeats over the course of hundreds of years and yet it is also the cycle that lives in the heart of every human being.  

Israel’s story has always been our story as well.  We are blessed and loved by God, called to be God’s people at work in the world, caring for the vulnerable, but we often forget.  We don’t just forget our call, we forget that God is God and we are not, and in our pride and arrogance we often are led to our own destruction.  

But God is merciful and abounding in love and forgiveness.  Despite our unfaithfulness, God still reaches out to restore us.  God calls us back and once again sends us forth to be the presence of God in the world.