Did Israel lose their land because of persistent wrongdoing? Did foreign immigrants to the land also persist in sin? Have we repented? Let’s look at 2 Kings 17.
Who was the 19th and last king of Israel and taken prisoner by Assyria?
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. (2 Kings 17:1-5 ESV)
Why did Israel fall? Did God give them plenty of warnings through His prophets?
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes. This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods. They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did what was not right against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.” Still, the Lord warned Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and statutes according to all the law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets.” (2 Kings 17:6-13 HCSB)
Did Israel listen to the warnings? What vile practices did they adopt?
But they would not listen. Instead, they were stubborn, just like their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They rejected the Lord’s statutes, the covenant that he had made with their ancestors, and his warnings that he gave them. They pursued meaninglessness—and became meaningless themselves—as they followed the lifestyles of the nations that surrounded them, a practice that the Lord had warned them not to do. They abandoned all of the commands given by the Lord their God, crafted for themselves cast images of two calves, constructed an Asherah, worshipped all of the stars in heaven, and served Baal. They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the Lord considered to be evil, thereby provoking him. As a result, the Lord was angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. No one was left except for the tribe of Judah. (2 Kings 17:14-18 ISV)
Was it just Israel or also Judah that did not obey God’s commandments?
Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. (2 Kings 17:19-23 KJV)
What happened to the foreign settlers in the land of Israel? What was the Assyrian king’s solution?
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. Now it happened at the beginning of their settlement there, that they did not fear Yahweh; therefore Yahweh sent lions among them which were killing them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken away into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are putting them to death because they do not know the custom of the god of the land.” Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you took away into exile and let him go and live there; and let him instruct them the custom of the god of the land.” So one of the priests whom they had taken away into exile from Samaria came and settled at Bethel, and instructed them how they should fear Yahweh. (2 Kings 17:24-28 LSB)
Did the foreign immigrants to Israel’s land mix pagan worship with fear of the Lord?
But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They also feared the Lord and appointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile. (2 Kings 17:29-33 NASB)
Did the foreign immigrants to the land of Israel ever learn to obey God, or did they persist in their pagan worship practices?
To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did. (2 Kings 17:34-41 NIV)
Under the new covenant, is there still a danger of refusing to repent?
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27 NKJV)
Did Israel lose their land because of persistent wrongdoing? Did foreign immigrants to the land also persist in sin? Have we repented? You decide!
