CAPTIVITY! 2nd Kings 17 Even though Hoshea, the last king of Israel, did not do all the evil of those before him, he had been born and brought up in an evil time, and evil practices were normal to him. Who would have thought the day would come when the children of Israel would seek an alliance with Egypt to preserve them from being attacked by the Assyrians? History does repeat itself, and we see similar practices today among the nations of the Middle East as they wage war and maneuver among themselves. Their forefathers forsook the Lord and ignored the righteousness of life and the laws He gave.
The reason for the fall of Samaria and the end of the ten tribes that formed the kingdom of Israel was that they repeatedly turned to idolatry. They worshipped the two golden calves that Jeroboam had made, and worshipped all kinds of strange idols that were common to the various tribal groups around them. In their apostasy they refused to believe in God. Even though His promises were fulfilled, they ignored His saving acts of grace on their behalf with ears that refused to listen and eyes that chose to be blinded by their sin.
They also rejected the law of God and the covenant He had made with them as His chosen people. They willfully turned their backs on the way of righteous living God had instructed them. They worshipped idols, which meant just about anything that moved and they could see physically. Their faith was not in God but in themselves and the things that appealed to their senses. In spite of God’s plain command to them to have no other gods before Him, the Jews were influenced by any culture they contacted with a rebellious attitude against God.
Now, we as a nation do the same. "God is not in all their thoughts." Plans, treaties, peace talks, and failing alliances are all failures because God is left out, and the idols of materialism, man-made religion, and personal opinions are what are directing the affairs of those nations. Sadly, it has also come here, and our nation is following the same path of failure. The sins of those who follow us have been learned from us or those of our generation. To us, it was abhorrent at the beginning. However, as the laws of the land have been adapted to the will of the people rather than the other way around, it has become hard for the succeeding generation to know the difference between right and wrong.
This willfulness is the common denominator of all men everywhere. That attitude is prevalent in all of humanity today. Every day, each of us has a strong desire to do what we want in order to please ourselves. We worry when we don’t have to. We fear when we should be confident and go forward in faith in God. We want to do what we want despite what God’s word says. We want to feel good about ourselves and what we have done. We don’t want to do what God’s word says because it is difficult and makes us feel uncomfortable. We are inclined to follow the majority of people rather than go upstream against the downward tide of popular opinion.
The practice of spreading captives throughout the Assyrian empire was probably to keep people of the same background from uniting and rebelling. Moving Assyrians into captured lands seemed good, but historically, it didn't do well past the first generation. People quickly adapt to a new environment and form loyalty to a geographical area that supersedes that which their forbearers had. A nation of immigrants from many foreign countries soon unites as a new entity established and maintained by local interests and concerns. The plague of lions from the Lord led to the establishment of a mixed religion that contained some good things from the worship of God and then was mixed with the evil practices of pagan idolatry. It ended up as a terrible, perverse religious form without power or morals.
High places for idol worship were erected in every town, on hills, and under every big tree. Sinful practices, perhaps even religious prostitution, witchcraft, spiritism, and the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, were all added to the name of God. The resulting mixture of people became known as "Samaritans," who were despised by the tribe of Judah, which included some of Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi. Most Jews today trace their lineage to one of these three. The other tribes are known as the "ten lost tribes." However, the poorer people who labored on the land were likely left to till the land. Those who were leaders of one kind or another - business, political, military, or government would have been taken away to other parts of the Assyrian empire.
This great insult against the holiness of God continues in various religious forms and practices today, even under the name of Christianity. God is longsuffering and allowed Israel a long time to repent and turn to Him before He finally shut them down - national identity and all. We must beware because that same pattern of departure and depravity is happening here in our day. Israel was led away in captivity and dispersed among the nations. What will happen to us remains to be seen. We know it is a principle - whatever we sow, we reap.
In grace, God has shown kindness to the mixture called "the Samaritans" and saved the woman at the well, many during Philip's preaching, and likely many more. Our "God of all grace" looks upon the hearts of individuals and is willing that they come to Him, and He will receive them despite who they are or what they have done.
Israel lost sight of God, whom they were expected to trust by faith, and turned to man-made things that are seen—even though they are not real. Israel lost sight of who God was, what He had done for them, and the importance of following Him. Consequently, they lost their identity, they lost their testimony, they lost what they had personally had, and, in many cases, lost their lives. They said they worshipped the Lord but mixed in with the service of their gods and ended up with nothing but captivity.
Man's imagination can create all kinds of false impressions, which, if followed, will soon become real in the depraved minds of those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." People claim to believe in God, but they refuse to reject sinful practices both personally and religiously. They do what God denounces and do not do what God commands. They add to what God has completed and ignore what God has done for them. Our words and actions must correspond to what God says and does to be right.
We are not immune to such consequences when we let other things and opinions cloud our judgment and spiritual life. God must come first in everything we do. His word shows us where we are and where He intends us to go. To add or subtract from divine revelation is a form of idolatry in that it promotes self-worship and an "up with man" attitude. "I know best what is good for me." "If I think it is right, I will do it." That attitude is the attitude of idolatry that leads to captivity and final destruction.
God chose a people to bear His name, “Israel, a Prince with God.” For many generations, onlookers observed and wondered at God’s amazing grace. There was order and dignity of worship in His chosen place as His earthly people followed the instructions from God given to them by Moses. However, as time passed, they secretly did things that were not right and were copied from the idolaters around them. At first, they thought it was okay if it was not in plain sight. Instead of those around turning to God in faith, God’s people hardened their necks and went down in disgrace morally, spiritually, and then physically.
They made themselves idols like the sinful world around them. They sold themselves to do evil that increased by leaps and bounds until they sent their children down in flames following that terrible course of apostasy. Consequently, the nation was rejected by God, who had made them His original choice among all the nations of the earth.
The nation of Israel (ten northern tribes) disintegrated, defeated, and dispersed among the people of the Assyrian empire, where it has been hidden ever since. Other people came into their land from various places to take over their privileged place. Those people did what they wanted in God’s sanctified space He had given to the Jews, and they had no fear of God, nor did they recognize the God of Israel at first. So, God sent lions among them to make them afraid, and some of them were killed as God got the attention of the pagan people. The king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest to instruct the foreigners on how to fear the Lord and make sacrifices and offerings in the way God intended. He can use whoever or whatever He chooses to bring judgment down on those without fear of God.
When God’s chosen people fail to walk in His ways, He may take up others who don’t know Him but see through the haze of spiritual gloom, evidence of the true God they don’t know. Because of a faint glimmer of faith there, God’s grace will show even though they mix men's counterfeit ideas and imaginations with the pattern of truth God intends.
We who know so much have so much to lose when we turn away from the divine truth that we have been taught and practiced. Those who know very little about God and have never been taught the Bible are still able to choose what and who they believe based on creation and conscience. When they turn towards God, the very little light they have grasped pleases the Lord, and “In every nation, he who fears God and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
How strange it is that those who know the truth and were favored so much in their early life were taught by believing parents and faithful teachers to turn away from faith in God to those things they can touch, taste, feel, hear, and see. They and their children and all those who follow them will fall under God’s judgment because they swallowed Satan’s lies.