2 Kings 17:1- 23 “In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So (Osorkon) of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore, the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. 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 like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.” (Exodus 20:4–6; Deuteronomy 5:8–10)
Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.” But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire (offered their children as burnt offerings to Molech) and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them. Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.”
2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” When God was bringing the Israelites into Canaan, He solemnly warned them repeatedly to follow His Law and His Commandments and to shun all pagan religious practices. When Jeroboam led Israel in rebellion against King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, Jeroboam set up his own fake religion to entice the Israelites away from returning to Jerusalem to worship God. The Israelites really didn’t require much encouragement and began worshiping all the gods they could find. Time after time, God sent prophets to warn the Israelites that if they persisted in idol worship, they would be carried off into the countries where those practices started. The Israelites shoved their fingers into their ears and went off into more idolatry. Now the day of reckoning has arrived.
Hoshea, king of Israel, is really a nincompoop! At this time, Assyria is the dominant nation in the area. The Assyrians have a horrific reputation for cruelty to those who oppose them. (https://www.worldhistory.org/Assyrian_Warfare/) “The Assyrian kings were not to be trifled with and their inscriptions vividly depict the fate which was certain for those who defied them. The historian Simon Anglim writes: The Assyrians created the world’s first great army and the world’s first great empire. This was held together by two factors: their superior abilities in siege warfare and their reliance on sheer, unadulterated terror. It was Assyrian policy always to demand that examples be made of those who resisted them; this included deportations of entire peoples and horrific physical punishments. One inscription from a temple in the city of Nimrod records the fate of the leaders of the city of Suru on the Euphrates River, who rebelled from, and were reconquered by, King Ashurbanipal: I built a pillar at the city gate and I flayed all the chief men who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled up inside the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes.”
Knowing all this, Hoshea still stops paying tribute to Assyria and begs the Egyptian Pharoah for assistance. As soon as the king of Assyria learns of this, he moves into Israel, throws Hoshea in jail, and besieges Samaria for three years. This siege results in the mass deportation of Israelite citizens into Assyria with a re – settlement of people from some other area. God’s promises of retribution have finally come true.
APPLICATION: God gave the nation of Israel centuries in which to repent, but they persisted in idolatry, becoming worse with each new generation. Even when God sent prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea directly to the northern kingdom, their citizens refused to heed these warnings. Some of the prophets ministering in Judah such as Isaiah and Micah also issued warnings; however, all these messages were ignored.
How do we know where our countries stand on God’s time clock? The clock in the illustration tells us that it is 7 minutes to midnight. When that clock reaches midnight, God will act suddenly and completely. Today corruption is rampant around the world. There is no nation that is not battling problems with human trafficking, drug addiction, and greedy officials. Human rights abuses are worse than ever before. In Africa, women and children are being used to mine the cobalt necessary for electric cars. (https://humantraffickingsearch.org/how-child-labor-could-be-fueling-your-electric-car/) There is no country in the world that does not stand in need of national repentance.
“But, “you say, “I am only one small person. What can I do?” You can PRAY!!! During the early days of World War II, the British forces were trapped in France and needed to evacuate. King George VI called for a National Day of Prayer, and citizens flocked into churches and cathedrals. “Their prayers were answered. Storm clouds filled the skies above Dunkirk, preventing the Luftwaffe from attacking the besieged British forces, and the calmness of the English Channel allowed a flotilla of small boats to join the Royal Navy in the evacuation of over 300,000 British, French and Belgian troops. Operation Dynamo was a resounding success. Light would continue to shine against the forces of darkness…Reflecting on these events, and several other ‘Days of Prayer’ held during the Second World War, the Bishop of Chelmsford remarked “If ever a great nation was on the point of supreme and final disaster, and yet was saved and reinstated, it was ourselves…it does not require an exceptionally religious mind to detect in all this the Hand of God.” (https://www.goli.org.uk/post/80th-anniversary-of-the-nation-being-called-to-prayer#:~:text=Their%20prayers%20were%20answered.,British%2C%20French%20and%20Belgian%20troops.)
We can choose to wring our hands or shrug our shoulders and give up or we can pray! But if we fail to pray, we will never know what miracles of deliverance our nations will have missed. How long should we pray? In the 18th chapter of Luke, Jesus told the story of a widow who had a just cause. The only judge available was completely immoral, taking bribes and judging in favor of those who paid him. But every morning, this lady showed up at the judge’s chambers and refused to go away until he had listened to her. Finally, the judge relented, not because he agreed with the widow, but because he was tired of listening to her. Jesus concluded the story by saying, ““Listen to the words of the unjust judge. Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? I tell you; He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:6 – 8)
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to pray fervently for our nations and for the world, that Your Kingdom will fully come and that Your Will will be fully done throughout the world. And help us to pray frequently and persistently and not to lose heart! In the mighty and precious name of King Jesus. Amen.
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