2 Kings 17: The Outcome of Idolatry

"In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." 2 Kings 17:6

For the past several chapters of scripture, we have seen the great sins of Israel, that is, the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Their main sin was idolatry, that is, their worship of other gods such as Baal. After years of these great sins, we find in 2 Kings 17 that the Lord finally had enough. He could not let his name be defamed any longer--it was time for justice in the land of Israel.

In 722 BC, an unthinkable event happened. Assyria, a great empire in the day, overtook the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled them into their own land. The Bible tells us that the only remains of the people of Israel were from the tribe of Judah (18), all of the other Israelites were overtaken. but why did this happen? Why did the Lord allow the majority covenant people to be destroyed?

The author of 2 Kings gives us a long discourse in order to answer this question. Let us realize the narrative structure of this book. For 16 chapters, 2 Kings has given us multiple stories about the sins of Israel and Judah, but now pauses to give us a discourse on the sins of Israel, that is, why they were overtaken. The scriptures tell us that Israel committed many sins against Yahweh, such as making offerings to other Gods (11), not believing in God (14), following the nations around them (15), abandoning God's commandments (16), and using witchcraft (17). Although all of these sins were extremely wicked, all of Israel's wickedness can be summed up in their idolatry, that is, their breaking of the first and second commandments. Israel was commanded to serve the Lord only and made no carved image of worship (Exodus 20:1-5), yet they disobeyed both of these commands greatly, which led to their destruction.

Let us realize here the application for us today. Just like the Israelites, if we are tempted to worship false gods in idolatry, we too will be overcome. The Lord does not allow idolatry to persist. Yet, we find very quickly that no matter how hard we try, in our own hearts, we are still idolatrous. However, praise the Lord, who sent Christ in our place, who perfectly obeyed the covenant, thus fulfilling every iota of the law, and paid the price for our redemption so that our hearts could be recreated so that we would be able to serve the Lord. In the end, we are sinners just like Israel, yet the Lord has come to die in our place and give us a new heart that we might truly follow the Lord and serve him only.

In summary, consider these words based on this chapter of scripture today:

"Those who forget God may themselves expect to be forgotten. Those who try to be like the world may expect to be swallowed p by the world. Those who will not serve God in their own land need not be surprised if they are forced to serve enemies in a strange land." - Keith Brooks