SCRIPTURE: 2 KINGS 17
HOSHEA LAST KING OF ISRAEL (vs.1-6)
Hoshea became king of Israel and he reigned for 9 years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Hoshea had been the vassal of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria and paid him tribute. But he stopped paying tribute to him because he shifted his allegiance to So, the king of Egypt by making a treaty with him. So Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. The Assyrians invaded Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, Gozan and Medes.
ISRAEL EXILED BECAUSE OF SIN (vs. 7-23)
SINS OF ISRAEL:
- They worshiped other gods.
- They followed the practices of other nations.
- They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles in every high places.
- They burned incense at every high places.
- They rejected God’s decrees and covenant.
- They made two idol cast in the shape of calves and an Asherah pole.
- They bowed down to all the starry host and worship Baal.
- They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire.
- They practiced divinations and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
SAMARIA RESETTLED (VS. 24-41)
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns, When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them to kill some people living there. The king of Assyria commanded to take a captive priest in Samaria and go there to teach the people what the god of the land required. However, each national group made its own god in different towns and set up shrines in high places. They worshiped the Lord but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. Their children and grandchildren continued to do as their fathers did.
THOUGHTS:
After 250 years of constant sin and rebellion, the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians.
CAUSES OF CAPTIVITY:
- The nation sinned against the Lord. (v. 7)
- The nation mingled with heathen nations (vs. 8-9)
- The nation set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hills (v. 10)
- The nation resisted God’s warnings to turn from their evil ways. (v. 13)
Assyrian king colonized Samaria by deporting the Israelites and importing citizens from other nations to prevent them from organizing and rebelling.
God sent lions to bring fear to the hearts of the people. The leaders solved the problem by importing a Jewish priest to learn the way of the Lord but the people worshiped both Jehovah and their own national gods. They feared the Lord but they also worshiped and served their own gods. Their worship of Jehovah was an empty formality, a mere outward show of allegiance. Their true worship was of their own heathen gods. Jehovah was but another god of their collection of deities.
Godless leader produced godless generations of citizens. Compromising priest led worshipper farther away from the Lord. When the Word of God is rejected, there is no hope for a nation’s future. Therefore, we should pray for our leaders to walk according to God’s word.
The new settlement was a mixture of Israelites with foreign captives known as Samaritans. They worshiped God to appease Him rather than to please him, treating him as a good luck charm. A similar attitude is common today. Many people claim to believe in God while refusing to give up attitude and actions that God denounces. We must shape our actions and attitude in His Word.