The Fall of Israel
2 Kings 17
Take your Bibles and turn to Second Kings chapter 17. Tonight we're going to look at the fall of Israel.
Remember — after King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel, or Samaria, and it consisted of ten tribes. They were always wicked. They did not have a single good king, and tonight we're going to see the end of that kingdom.
The Southern Kingdom, called Judah, was more of a mixed story. They had some good kings and some bad kings, but for the most part they were much more faithful than the northern kingdom.
The entire history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel spans only a little more than 200 years. They didn't last long. But if you've been paying attention on Wednesday nights as we've studied all the different kings and the wickedness of Israel, it's actually surprising they lasted as long as they did.
The Northern Kingdom was the kingdom of Jeroboam, who, against God's wishes, set up two different places where people could worship a golden calf instead of worshiping God in Jerusalem. It was the kingdom of Ahab and Jezebel, who hunted down God's prophets and brought Baal worship into the land. It was the kingdom of Jehu, who was unbelievably violent. And more than any of that, it was a kingdom that turned its back on God, wanted nothing to do with Him, and went headlong into idolatry and never really turned around.
Judah, by contrast, experienced revivals. They had their periods of sin, but they turned back to God time and again. They had their bad kings — like Ahaz — but those bad kings were usually replaced with a good king who had a heart for God. The Northern Kingdom was just all bad, all the time.
And God had had enough.
In our chapter tonight we're going to read about how God brought the Northern Kingdom of Israel to an end.
The Fall of Samaria — Verses 1–6
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him tribute. 4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought 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. 5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
*> 2 Kings 17:1–6
The last king of Israel was a man named Hoshea. Like many of the kings before him, he came to power by murdering his predecessor — he executed a coup and made himself king. By this point, Israel wasn't much of a kingdom anymore. Assyria had already come in and seized huge portions of the territory — all of Galilee, everything east of the Jordan. What remained was essentially just the hilly region around the city of Samaria.
A word about Assyria: Assyria is not Syria. They are two completely different countries. Syria is just to the north and east of Israel. Assyria is in the northern part of what is modern-day Iraq. The capital city of Assyria, Nineveh, still exists today — it's called Mosul.
Assyria was the first empire. Before Genghis Khan, before Alexander the Great, before Rome, before the British Empire — the Assyrians were the first to do it. They were Babylonian in their culture, speaking the same language, but they were exceptionally skilled at both conquest and cruelty. Their strategy was essentially shock and awe. If you surrendered to them, they would treat you tolerably — heavily taxed, your freedom stripped away, but alive and functioning. If you resisted, they would terrorize and humiliate you without mercy. They wanted a reputation. They wanted the world to know: you do not mess with Assyria.
When Hoshea first came to the throne, he was wise enough to say, "We're going to do what Assyria wants. We're going to pay the taxes. We're going to bring the gifts." Israel became essentially a vassal state. But when the Assyrian king died, they thought it might be a good time to change their situation. They attempted a treaty with Egypt and stopped sending tribute. Assyria figured this out very quickly and responded swiftly. They besieged the city of Samaria — a city with remarkably strong walls — and held that siege for three years. Eventually the walls gave way, and Assyria conquered Israel completely.
As was their custom, the Assyrians removed the conquered people from their land. They took everyone except the very poorest and relocated them to distant regions, forcing assimilation into other cultures. Then they moved more loyal populations into the conquered territory. This is exactly what happened to Israel.
The prophet Amos had foretold it:
2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
*> Amos 4:2–3
Amos said they would be taken away with hooks — with fishhooks — and that is exactly what happened. The Assyrians threaded rope through fishhooks, drove those hooks through the lips or noses of their captives, and marched them all the way to Assyria. Imagine the shame, the degradation, the pain of a march like that.
What a sad end for these people who were once the people of God. These are people God delivered from Egypt. People who were part of the great events of the book of Joshua. People who were part of the kingdom of David and the kingdom of Solomon. They had every advantage, every opportunity — and they ended like this.
Principle 1 — God's patience is not God's pardon.
The children of Israel probably thought — because God had allowed them to continue in their sin — that God didn't care. They probably assumed they would get away with it forever. After all, God had been faithful and patient with them for two hundred years. And before that, He had been patient with them through the book of Judges, through the Exodus.
We have a tendency to mistake God's silence for God's approval. When we do wrong and judgment doesn't come immediately, we assume it isn't coming at all.
But that is not how sin works. Sin starts small, like a seed, and grows into a large harvest. You reap what you sow — but you also reap later than you sow, and you reap more than you sow.
For hundreds of years, Israel had been casting a vote for their own destruction by the way they lived. They were choosing the judgment of God by their choices. And the bill finally came due in 2 Kings 17.
God is slow to anger — but being slow to anger does not mean God has lowered His standards. God gives many chances — but giving chances does not mean God has dropped the charges.
When we have done wrong and punishment doesn't immediately follow, that is an opportunity to throw ourselves on the mercy of God. It is not an opportunity to go further into sin.
Maybe today you are in some kind of sin. You know it, but in the back of your mind you're thinking, Well, nothing bad has happened yet. That is an opportunity. God is mercifully giving you a chance to repent before the inevitable consequences arrive.
God's patience is not God's pardon.
God's Case Against Israel — Verses 7–23
In verses 7–23, God acts as a prosecutor laying out His case, explaining in precise terms why this judgment came. David Guzik in his commentary identifies five reasons why Israel was judged. We'll look at them briefly as we move through these verses.
1. They disregarded the God of their redemption.
7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods.
*> 2 Kings 17:7
God had brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery, and given them a king — and yet they feared other gods. They did not regard God the way He deserved to be regarded.
2. They conformed themselves to the godless nations around them.
8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
*> 2 Kings 17:8
God had delivered those pagan nations into Israel's hands — and Israel turned around and worshiped their gods. They chose the powerless idols of the Canaanites over the one true God who had given them the land flowing with milk and honey.
3. They practiced idolatry both secretly and openly.
9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
*> 2 Kings 17:9–12
High places were built all over the country. Images and groves were erected on every hill, under every tree. They continually did the very things God had forbidden.
4. They rejected the repeated warnings of God.
13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. 14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
*> 2 Kings 17:13–15
God sent prophet after prophet. And they hardened their necks. They became a stiff-necked people, stubbornly refusing to see what was right in front of them. One of the saddest things you can witness is a person who digs in their heels and refuses, no matter what, to give in to God.
5. They forsook God and served idols until judgment finally came.
16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 20 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. 21 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. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; 23 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 17:16–23
God had had enough. They rejected Him, and rejected Him, and rejected Him again — and God removed them. They were carried away to Assyria, unto this day.
Principle 2 — God would rather people turn than fall.
Look again at verse 13. It's a remarkable verse.
13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers...
*> 2 Kings 17:13
Consider what that verse is actually saying. God did not have to do that. He did not have to send Elijah, and then Elisha, and then Amos, and then Hosea, and all the other prophets He raised up to speak truth to a people who had set their hearts against Him. God did not have to give them 200 years of opportunity.
But He did. And that tells us something about the heart of God.
God could have brought judgment far sooner. Instead, He sent ambassadors to plead with His people, to reason with them, to give them miracle after miracle — undeniable evidence — so that they would have every chance to repent and turn back to Him.
Some of you who are parents understand this. You have a child doing something that plainly deserves punishment — harsh punishment. But you give warning after warning, because you love them and you're looking for them to turn around before the consequences come. God looks at His people with the same kind of love. He wants them not to be punished but to turn to Him and be restored.
Every sermon you have ever heard, every moment of conviction you have ever felt — all of that is God giving you a chance to turn before the consequences arrive.
God would rather His people turn than fall.
The New Inhabitants — Verses 24–33
24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. 25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
*> 2 Kings 17:24–25
As already noted, Assyria moved people. They removed the Israelites and moved in populations from other conquered territories — people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim. These were pagan people who had no knowledge of the God of Israel. And God does something striking: He sends lions into the land to slay some of them.
Why? God had already judged Israel. Why did He care what happened to the land?
Principle 3 — God has a land, and He is watching over it even when His people are not there.
I believe the Scripture teaches that God has a special relationship not only with the people of Israel but with the land of Israel. It is wrong to assume that the exile meant there were no more Israelites — the book of Chronicles tells us that many of the faithful from the ten northern tribes had long since immigrated to Judah. Some scattered throughout the world no doubt remained faithful to God and their Jewish heritage. They were still God's people. And Israel was still God's land.
God cares what happens to that land — which tells me He is not finished with it. God still has a plan for that small parcel of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
I know this is not the most popular position in certain theological circles, but I still believe the Old Testament contains promises made to the people and the land of Israel that have not yet been fulfilled — and that God never intended for all of those promises to be absorbed into the church. God still has promises for Israel. And perhaps God sending lions to harass these pagan squatters is a small hint of that.
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. 28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. 30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
*> 2 Kings 17:26–33
The Assyrian king was shrewd enough to recognize what was happening. The God of the land was doing something. So he brought back one of the exiled priests to teach these new inhabitants how to fear the LORD. And they did — after a fashion. They started going through the motions of worship. They started doing what the Bible prescribed, in a certain way.
But then we arrive at verse 33, and it stops us cold.
33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods.
They feared the LORD — and. That single word "and" is the whole problem. They gave God a place. They went through the religious motions. But they never gave up their other gods.
You could say exactly the same thing about Israel. That was their problem from the beginning. And honestly — it could be said of many people who claim to be Christians today. They check the religious box. They come to church on Sunday. Maybe they put a little in the offering plate, hang a Bible verse on the wall. But God is not truly the Lord of their life. They are still serving their career, their pleasures, their desire for comfort and acceptance.
They fear the LORD — and serve their own gods.
Principle 4 — God wants more than a seat at the table. He wants to be the head of the house.
Acknowledging that God exists is not the same thing as acknowledging that He rules.
Don't give God your leftovers. Don't think God will be pleased because you wear a cross or show up to church occasionally. That is not the relationship He is after. He wants to be Lord and Savior — the God of your life, not a decoration on it.
That was the fundamental problem with Israel. They wanted to call themselves the people of God without actually submitting to God as their God. He put up with it for a time, but their sin ran its natural course. They reaped a harvest of destruction. The bill came due, and judgment arrived — because God was not truly their God.
If I asked everyone in this room, "Does God have a place in your life?" — every hand would go up. Of course. Why else would you be here on a Wednesday night?
But if I asked, "Who is actually running your life? Who sets the agenda for your finances, your relationships, your ambitions, your ethics?" — that is a very different question.
A God who exists in your life but does not rule your life is not the God of Scripture. He is an idol dressed up with the right name. He is a golden calf worshiped in the name of the One True God. God is a lot of things — but God is not convenient.
So what does He have in your life?
A seat at the table — or is He the head of the house?
Let's stand and pray.
