2 Kings 16:1-17:41 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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Stiff-Necked Israel Falls
Comments for Study 11

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Memory Verse: 17:20
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MAPS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
A MAP OF THE DIVISION OF CANAAN
A MAP OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE
A MAP OF ASSYRIA.
A MAP OF THE ASSYRIAN ATTACKS ON ISRAEL AND JUDAH.
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS
A TIMELINE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY
A TIMELINE FROM BABYLON TO ROMAN CONTROL OVER ISRAEL

I. Ahaz Hated the Lord and His Temple (16:1-20)

King Ahaz of Judah Sacrifices Son

* The engraving to the right is in the Latin Vulgate Bible (1702) It depicts King Ahaz of Judah sacrificing his son in a fire. Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.

>1. What detestable act did Ahaz king of Judah commit? (1-4)

* 2 Kings 16:1-4 "In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree."

* Isaiah 7, 2 Kings 16, and 2 Chronicles 28 are about Aram's attack. 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28 only have their introduction and conclusion strictly parrallel. Isaiah records the Lord sending the prophet to King Ahaz with special messages. Isaiah 8 is a prophecy of Assyria's soon to come victory over Damascus and Samaria, each capital cities that had lasted for centuries.

* Micah, Hosea and Isaiah were prophets during Ahaz's reign.

* "In the seventeenth year of Pekah" -This would be around 735 B.C. The reign of Ahaz apparently overlapped that of Jotham, with Ahaz serving as a senior partner beginning in around 735 B.C.

* "Pekah son of Remaliah" -Pekah seems to have established his reign in Transjordan virtually a rival government to that of Menahem when Menahem assassinated Shallum.

* "Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king" -Perhaps the age at which Ahaz became a senior co-regent with his father Jotham in 735 B.C. Otherwise, according to the ages and dates provided, Ahaz would have been 11 or 12 instead of 14 or 15 years old when his son Hezekiah was born (18:1-2).

* "sixteen years" -The synchronizations of the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah with those of Pekah and Hoshea of the northern kingdom present some apparent chronological difficulties (17:1, 18:1,9,10) It seems best to take the 16 years specified here as the number of years Ahaz reigned after the death of Jotham, thus 732-715 B.C. The beginning of his reign appears to be dated in a variety of ways in the Biblical text:
    1. in 744/743 B.C., which presupposes a co-regency with his grandfather Azariah at the tender age of 11 or 12
    2. in 735 B.C., when he became senior co-regent with Jotham
    3. in 732, when he began his sole reign after the death of Jotham.

* "he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD" -The reign of Ahaz is the only one for which the Chronicler(s) do not mention one good aspect. In his account the Chronicler(s) appear to adopt explicit parallels from the speek of Abijah condemning the northern kingdom (chapter 13) in order to show that under Ahaz the southern kingdom had sunk to the same depths of apostasy. Judah's religious fidelity, of which Abijah had boasted, was conpletely overthrown under Ahaz.

* Ahaz, the son of Jotham, became king of Judah in 736 BC. He did evil, even sacrificing his own son on the fire, a practice of Baal worship. He practiced other detestable acts just like the nations that the Lord drove out of Canaan because their sin was also great, and so God gave the land to Israel occupying the land up till Ahaz. The same was going to be for Judah.

Pekah became king of Israel the same year that Ahaz became king of Judah. Pekah also did evil. Israel's boarders had grown to the size when David was king because the Assyrians from Nineveh, whom Jonah had preached to a few years earlier invaded and desroyed Damascus just to the north of Israel and then left. And so Israel grew even though they did nothing.

Pekah in pride and self confidence attacked Judah with Aram at their side. They took almost all Judah except Jerusalem.

Ahaz did a terrible thing, he asked Assyria to help him by taking silver and gold from the Lord in his temple. Assyria only gave him trouble. Why? Because Ahaz sinned even more.

I learn to always examine my motives and actions. Am I right with the Lord? Do I love him and others? Do I have faith? Is my hope in him? Or do I practice false religious practices?

* Israel did not calculated a king's ascension and reign as other nations. After Israel and Judah split Judah kept calculating to "old way" and Israel switched and started calculating the way other nations did around them. Read "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings" by Edwin Richard Thiele for more understanding on how Israel and Judah calculated the dates of their king's ascension and reign.

>Who attacked Judah? (5-6)

* 2 Kings 16:5-6 "Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. 6 At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the men of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day."

* "Rezin king of Aram" -Rezin was King of Syria about 735 B.C. during the reigns of Pekah in Israel and Ahaz in Judah. When Ahaz refused to join Rezin and Pekah in fighting against Assyria, Rezin pursuaded Pekah to ally with him against the Judean king (2 Kings 15:37; 16:5). Ahaz appealed for help to Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, who came against Rezin and Pekah and destroyed their kingdoms. Rezin died in 732 B.C. when Damascus fell to the Assyrians.

* "Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel" -Pekah was king of Israel from 752 to 732 B.C.

* "fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz" -The author ascribes the attack on Jerusalem as a personal attack on King Ahaz.

* "they could not overpower him" -Though most of Judah fell, Jerusalem did not.

* "Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath" -King Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah extended the subjection of the Edomites begun by his father. He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah. (2 Kings 14:22)

* "Edomites then moved into Elath" -The original settlement was probably at the northern tip of the Gulf of Eilat. Ancient Egyptian records also document the extensive and lucrative mining operations and trade across the Red Sea with Egypt starting as early as the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. Edom would eventually lose it.

* "have lived there to this day" -Depends on the date of writing as opposed to the compiler.

* 2 Chronicles reveals that the Lord sent the prophet Oded to Samaria (Israel) and Isaiah reveals that the Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to Judah during this encounter. The Lord had not abandoned his people in spit of their continual sins.

Judeo-Israelite War

* The engraving to the right titled "Judeo-Israelite War" is by Fontaine, Nicolas (1625-1709). It depicts Remaliah, King of Aram, and Pekah, King of Israel, unite in battle against King Ahaz, causing him to seek aid from Tiglath-Pilesar III. It was in the book " L'Histoire du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament" now in public domain. Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.

>2. Who did Ahaz seek for help? (7-9)

* 2 Kings 16:7-9 "Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, "I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me." 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9 The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death."

* 2 Chronicles 28:16-21 is similar to these verses.

* "I am your servant and vassal" -Ahaz would not obey the Lord, but he was willing to call a man his lord.

* "the silver and gold found in the temple of the LORD" -The temple treasure must have been restored to some degree by King Jotham (12:18, 14:14). The name "Jehoahaz of Judah" (Ahaz) appears on a list of rulers (including those of the Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites) who brought tribute to Tiglath-Pileser in 734 B.C. (NIV Study Bible and other books)

* 2 Chronicles states that King Ahaz's actions did not help him. Tiglath-Pileser did not come to his aid. Eventualy Assyria would attack Damascus.

* "attacking Damascus and capturing it" -732 B.C.

* "He deported its inhabitants to Kir" -The prophet Amos had stated that the Arameans would be sent back to the place that they came from. (Amos 9:7)

>How was this a poor spiritual and political decision? (Gen. 15:1; Deut. 33:29; Psalm 119:113-115)

* Genesis 15:1 "After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

* Deuteronomy 33:29 "Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places."

* Psalm 119:113-115 "I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God!"

* Trusting in God when peril is at hand is a very hard thing to do. Peter, when walking on water eventually sank and would have drown if the Lord Jesus had not pulled him out of the sea.

Ahaz Sacrifice on an Assyrian Altar

* The engraving to the right titled "Ahaz's Sacrifice on an Assyrian Altar" is by Edel, Josef Samuel. King Ahaz sets fire to the wood and the lamb on an Assyrian altar. It was in the book "Historien Alten Testamente[s]" now in public domain. Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.

>3. What did Ahaz do that was against the covenant with the Lord? (10-14)

* 2 Kings 16:10-14 "Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. 13 He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar. 14 The bronze altar that stood before the LORD he brought from the front of the temple--from between the new altar and the temple of the LORD--and put it on the north side of the new altar."

* "saw the altar... presented offerings on it." -King Ahaz building the altar would have been showing submission to Assyria. Basically, Ahaz is publically saying that the gods of Assyria are better and more powerful than the God of Israel and Judah.

* "bronze altar that stood before the LORD" -King Solomon had built this altar when he built the temple.

* When problems come people often lose faith in God and turn to faith in something else. Usually, we do not want to accept that we are the one's in the wrong.

* "put it on the north side of the new altar" -The bronze altar was moved from his place of prominence in from of the temple.

>How did Uriah participate in this sin? (15-16)

* 2 Kings 16:15-16 "King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: "On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance." 16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered."

* King Ahaz combined worship of idols with worship of the Lord as prescribed in the law of Moses and according to the direction of David and Solomon.

* "Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered" -The high priest was also guilty of this sin.

* "offering..." -All the offerings that was in the law of Moses was changed from worship of the Lord God to the worship of gods of Assyria.

>How else did Ahaz desecrate the temple of the Lord? (17-20)

* 2 Kings 16:17-20 "King Ahaz took away the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. 18 He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the LORD, in deference to the king of Assyria. 19 As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king."

* King Ahaz completely dismantled the temple of the Lord. Perhaps he used these to pay off Tiglath-Pileser III.

>Why is it important to worship the Lord in his way alone? (John 4:23-24; Eph. 5:19-20; Col. 3:15-17)

* John 4:23-24 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

* Ephesians 5:19-20 "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

* Colossians 3:15-17 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

* Jesus' teachings have been often been changed and altared to match the kind of life we want to live. Many people, including myself at times have changed the meaning of a passage to justify sin.

II. Stiff-Necked Israel Falls (17:1-23)

Semmacherib's soldiers with slings

* See the carving of Assyrian warriors armed with slings from the palace of Sennacherib to the right.

>4. How is the last king of Israel described? (1-2)

* 2 Kings 17:1-2 "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him."

* The book of 2 Chronicles does not record the end of the kingdom of Israel (Samaria) for it concentrates on the kingdom of Judah. King Hoshea is not even mentioned.

* "Hoshea... in Samaria" -King Hoshea reigned from 732 to 722 B.C. His kingdom was small, and it appears other areas that were once under Israel rule where not under other's rule.

* "twelfth year of Ahaz" -Ahaz' twelfth year was approximately 732 B.C.

* "he did evil in the eyes of the LORD" -Evil is defined in the Bible as not obeying the LORD, going against his ways.

* "but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him" -The last king of Israel (Samaria) seems to have done some things correctly, though we do not know what. We are not given details of his life.

>What did he do instead of repenting and seeking the Lord for help? (3-6)

* 2 Kings 17:3-6 "Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser's vassal and had paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So king of Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. 5 The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes."

* "Assyrian" -Assyria invaded the Israel and Judah, but they did not enter Jerusalem. (2 Kings 18:17-19:37) Israel and most of Judah was taken captive, but Jerusalem was rescued. The Assyrian King Shalmaneser conquered Israel. Ten years later the Assyrian King Sennacherib destroyed most of Judah's cities, a fulfilment of Micha's prophecy. Only Jerusalem was spared by a miracle of the Lord. (2 Kings chapters 18 and 19; 2 Chronicles 32; Isaiah chapters 36 and 37) Later Babylon would take all of Judah into exile including Jerusalem.

* "Shalmaneser king of Assyria" -A personal name meaning, "Shalmanu (the god) is the highest ranking one."
1. An Assyrian king who ruled 1274-1245 B.C. The records of his military exploits set a precedent which succeeding kings followed.
2. Shalmaneser III ruled Assyria 858-824 B.C. He fought a group of small kingdoms, including Israel, in the battle of Qarqar in 853 B.C. Despite claiming victory, Shalmaneser proceeded no farther.
3. Shalmaneser V ruled Assyria 726-722 B.C. He completed the attack on Samaria begun by his predecessor, Tiglath-pileser III. In 722 Israel fell to Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:6), thus ending the Northern Kingdom forever.

* "So king of Egypt" -Egypt was in the Third Intermediate Period when the Neo-Assyrian empire reached the peak of its power. Egypt was not the strong and influential kingdom it once was when it was ruled by native Egyptians. At this time Egypt was ruled by several dynasties of foreign kings including the Libyan Meshwesh tribe as well as the Nubians from the south. The 24th Dynasty pharaoh Tefnakht ruled part from 724-717 B.C. and the 22nd Dynasty Libyan ruler Osorkon IV (aka So) ruled part from 730 to 712 B.C. Tefnakht ruling from Sais and Osorkon IV ruling from Tanis in the Eastern Delta.

* "Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes" -Eventually Judah would join them.

* 2 Kings 17:1-23 is about the end of the ten tribe nation called Israel in 722 BC. Hoshea was the last king of Israel while Ahaz and then Ahaz's son were kings of Judah.

The Bible is clear. They were deported to Assyria because all the people sinned and did evil in the site of the Lord. The problem was that they worshiped other gods, false gods, idols instead of the one true God Almighty, the Lord, Elohim in Hebrew, and Jeshua, Jesus. They did not worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Instead they made other places of worship. They appeared to be spiritual and believed ot themselves, but they were only fooling themselves. The Lord warned them through prophets and seers. Yet they refused to change.

Verse 14 says they did not trust in the Lord their God. They became worthless. All the great plans God had for them they forfeited through sin.

Verses 18-20 said Judah followed the evil practices that Israel had introduced to them. Israel became a curse to the world instead of a blessing.

The apostles tell me that I too can have a form of worship and yet not be right. I need to maintain as the Lord instructed. I need to live in trust of Jesus. I do not give up on him no matter how bad it looks and gets. Assyrian Soldiers

* See a picture of an Assyrian soldiers to the right.

>Why don't people have faith in Jesus' love? (Heb. 11:1-2, 6)

* John 16:7-11 "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."

* Hebrews 11:1-2 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for."

* Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

>5. Why did the Lord allow Israel to be defeated and deported? (7-12)

* 2 Kings 17:7-12 "All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. 12 They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this.""

* The mass deportation policy of the Assyrians was a companion piece to the brutal and calculated terror initiated by Ashurnasirpal and followed by all his successors. It was intended to forestall revolts but, like all Draconian measures, it merely spread misery and engendered hatred. In the end, it hastened the disintegration of the Assyrian empire.

There is some evidence that Israel experienced its first deportations under Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 B.C.), a cruelty repeated by Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) at the time of the fall of Samaria. The later king's inscriptions boast of carrying away 27,290 inhabitants of the city "as booty." According to 2 Kings 17:6, they were sent to Assyria, to Halah (Calah?), to Gozan on the Harbor River, and apparently to the eastern frontiers of the empire (to the towns of the Medes, most probably somewhere in the vicinity of Ecbatana, the modern Hamadan).

The sequel is provided by the inscriptions of Sargon: "The Arabs who live far away in the desert, who know neither oversees, nor officials, and who had not yet brought their tribute to any king, I deported... and settled them in Samaria."

Much mythology has developed around the theme of the so-called ten lost tribes of Israel. A close examination of Assyrian records reveals that the deportations approximated only a limited percentage of the population, usually consisting of noble families. Agricultural workers, no doubt the majority, were deliberately left to care for the crops (cf. the Babylonian practice, 2 Kings 24:14, 25:12). (NIV Study Bible)

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>Did he do this lightly? (13)

* 2 Kings 17:13 "The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets."

* The prophets Ahijah, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea were specifically sent to Israel, the northern kingdom.

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>Was his wooing them received well?

* 2 Kings 17:14-15 "But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do."

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>6. How detestable had their spiritual life become? (16-17; Rom. 1:18-32)

* 2 Kings 17:16-17 "They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger."

* Romans 1:18-32 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

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Assyrians battle against Israel at Lachish

* See the relief to the right. After more than two thousand five hundred years this relief from Nineveh reproduces for us the attack of Sennacherib's army upon the biblical city of Lachish, with overwhelming force and with all the techniques of war. The defenders fight desperately from the towers, protected by shields between the battlements "like the tower of David, built for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men" (Song of Solomon 4: 4). They are shooting arrows, slinging stones or throwing them with their bare hands and hurling firebrands down upon the enemy.

They wear pointed helmets like the Assyrians or close-fining caps with chin-straps, Assyrian sappers have built a series of sloping brick ramps on which the siege-engines are pushed up the hillside against the fortress walls. The battering-rams are fitted with a long shaft in front, the purpose of which was to gouge stones out of the masonry.

A soldier was posted in the front of the machine to keep throwing ladles full of water on the flying firebrands, thus preventing the flames from spreading. The archers advance under cover of the battering-rams. Behind them come the spearmen with large round shields. Captives, both men and women, are already leaving the city, passing three impaled victims. (The Bible as History in Pictures, Werner Keller)

>How did Israel influence their brothers in Judah? (18-20)

* 2 Kings 17:18-20 "So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. 20 Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence."

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>How long had Israel sinned before the Lord until he removed them to Assyria? (21-23)

* 2 Kings 17:21-23 "When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23 until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there."

* "Jeroboam" -The Lord anointed him king of Israel when he decreed that the nation should be divided into two. Jeroboam I reigned from 930-909 B.C.

* Hosea reigned from 730-722 B.C. Thus Israel was a nation for 208 years.

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King Sennacherib of Nineveh in Babylon

* See the relief of King Sennacherib of Nineveh in Babylon to the right.

>What can be learned about the Lord Jesus? (Exodus 34:5-7; John 3:16-18)

* Exodus 34:5-7 "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

* John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

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III. Samaria Resettled (17:24-41)

>7. Who did Assyria move into Samaria? (24-26)

* 2 Kings 17:24-26 "The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires."

* Babylon

* Cuthah

* Avva

* Hamath

* Sepharvaim

* The king of Assyria took all but the very poor out of Samaria, the capital of Israel when he conquered it in 722 BC and resettled it with people from other countries. The common belief by most cultures for many centuries believed that each territory and country had gods, powerful beings that ruled that area. The Bible elsewhere reveals that demons, fallen angels do indeed have areas where they seek to destroy God's creation, people by seeking worship and control over them.

The Lord God is the creator with rule over all his creation including demons. He sent lions to the people Assyria placed in Israel because they did not worship him. Thus he made clear to all that Israel was taken out of the promised land because they did not worship him, no other reason. Instead of worshiping the Lord, Israel chose to worship the gods of the people that the Lord conquered so that Israel could live there.

Even though priests of the Lord were sent to teach Israel how to worship the Lord, they mixed that teaching with false religions of made up gods. In the.end, "they neither worshiped the Lord nor adhered to the decrees and regulations, the laws, and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel." Verse 41 says they worshiped the Lord and served their idols. This went on for 3 generations which I assume is when this was written.

Every area has culture. Every family passes down to the next. Some things are good, harmless and some goes against God's ways. Jesus pointed out how the Jews, over 300 years after this chapter did that too. Jesus started a new way under a new covenant. He sent the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, the Spirit od truth, the Spirit of God to those who believe in him. Yet I can resist Him. What belief and practices do I do that go against the Lord Jesus and His Spirit? Am I mixing?

>What does it mean "the god of the land"? (27-28)

* 2 Kings 17:27-28 "Then the king of Assyria gave this order: "Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires." 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD."

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>What did the new occupants of Samaria begin doing that Israel didn't do?

* "taught them how to worship the LORD."

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>8. What new god's did the new Samaritans make?

* 2 Kings 17:29-33 "Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. 30 The men from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men from Cuthah made Nergal, and the men from Hamath made Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought."

* "from Babylon made Succoth Benoth"

* "burned their children in the fire"

* "Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim"

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>Are some who call themselves Christians worshiping the Lord and something else?

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>9. What did and still does the Lord want from us? (34-39)

* 2 Kings 17:34-39 "To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the LORD nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 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. 36 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. 37 You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. 39 Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."

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>Why don't people do this? (40)

* 2 Kings 17:40 "They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices."

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>How did Jesus teach the same thing? (41; Matt. 6:22-24; Luke 6:46-49)

* 2 Kings 17:41 "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 fathers did."

* Matthew 6:22-24 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

* Luke 6:46-49 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

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