Second Kings 17:19

The Bible says in Second Kings 17:19-24, “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.[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.” These verses review what happened to Israel and why. We have seen these types of comments several times already. Obviously, God is emphasizing what happened to Israel so that other believers will learn from it. Do not turn away from the Lord. Do not follow the bad examples of others. Do not fall into sin and stay in it like a hog in the mud. Turn to Jesus and get right every day. And so now the ten northern tribes of Israel are gone. They never came back and never reestablished what they once had. That kind of ongoing sin can have devastating consequences. Get right with God through faith in Christ.

The Bible says in Second Kings 17:25-28, “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.[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.” Even after God makes great changes, life continues. The people who are now in the land of Israel in the region near Samaria are themselves responsible to serve the Lord. Everyone on this earth should serve the Lord. One thing that they did correctly here: as we see in verse twenty-eight, they found someone who could teach the truth about God. God has given teachers to the world. There are false teachers, but there are also teachers of the Word who have been gifted by Christ and prepared. Blessed are those who have such a teacher.

The Bible says in Second Kings 17:29-35, “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 Succoth-benoth, 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.[34] Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;[35] With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:” Once again in these verses we see how false teachings destroy faith and destroy the true worship of God. They almost have a good start, but not quite. Notice verses thirty-two and thirty-three. Verse thirty-two says, “So they feared the LORD, and… sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.” Verse thirty-three says, “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods…” The problem is the word “and.” You cannot serve the Lord and other gods. You must serve the Lord only. You must have an eye that looks only to the Lord Jesus. A double-mined man is unstable in all his ways. A corrupting influence will corrupt. A little leaven will leaven the whole bunch. Eventually, they only had false worship and no true worship at all. They are described in verses thirty-four with the words, “they fear not the LORD.” That is one of the reasons for the first of the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” As it says in verse thirty-five, God told them, “Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 17:36-41, “But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.[37] And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.[38] And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.[39] But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.[40] Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.[41] So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.” These verses show us how life is supposed to work. The deliverance from Egypt with great miracles is symbolic of salvation. Every person who gets saved by faith in Christ has a similar experience. God performs many miracles to get your heart ready for Jesus. He brings you into contact with other Christians or with the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit visits you, and then Jesus Himself visits you when you call upon His name. You are delivered from the world and from sin and from hell. You now owe Jesus everything. You should follow Him and put him first and confess your sins to Him for the rest of your life. The Israelites had the Old Covenant, but we have an even better covenant: the covenant of the New Testament. It is a wonderful covenant: the covenant of grace. We are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, not of works, lest any man should boast. God’s grace refers to Him giving us what we do not deserve and do not earn or merit. It is a wonderful covenant. We have the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, temperance, patience…We have the presence of Jesus and we have His teachings. Do not forget His covenant of grace. Rely upon grace. Believe in grace. Enjoy the grace that is showered upon you through Christ and because of Him. That is the covenant that you are in: not the covenant of the law, but the covenant of grace.

The Bible says in Second Kings 18:1-6, “Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.[2] Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.[3] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.[4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.[5] He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.[6] For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.” Finally, there is a king in Judah who decides to serve the Lord without compromise. Verse three says that King Hezekiah “did that which was right in the sight of the LORD.” To serve God means that we want to do the right thing. To follow Christ means that we want to do the right thing. Always do the right thing. Verse four says that King Hezekiah “removed the high places, and brake the images…” In other words, he got rid of the false religion that was plaguing the land. Learn the Scriptures and you will know the difference between what is false and what is true, and then clean up your life. Verse five says that King Hezekiah “trusted in the LORD God of Israel.” In other words, he relied on the Lord to help him in everything that came his way. That is how you live by faith: always rely on the Lord for everything small and great. Verse six says that “he clave to the LORD.” It takes a certain amount of mental effort to cling to God. It speaks of seeking the Lord Jesus first of all, above all other things. And then verse six says that Hezekiah “departed not from following him.” Hezekiah was consistent. Once he got on the path of following God, he never got off that path. Make a decision to always follow the Lord no matter what happens to you, and no matter how much you fail. Finally, it says about King Hezekiah that he “kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.” The Lord not only wants us to believe, He also wants us to obey. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 18:7-13, “And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.[8] He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.[9] And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.[10] And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.[11] And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:[12] Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.[13] Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.” Assyria had become very powerful. They conquered one nation after another, and now they had come into Judah and had started conquering each of the cities of Jerusalem, except for Jerusalem. They were not able to conquer Jerusalem. We will see that the reason is that King Hezekiah continued to serve the Lord, and he went to the Lord in prayer, and the Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer. God can do anything. Trust in the Lord, and see what He will do.

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