Thursday
Evening Bible Study
March
14, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
After the death
of King Solomon, the
kingdom of Israel split into two nations.
The northern
kingdom would be known as “Israel”.
The southern
kingdom was known as “Judah”.
16:1-20 Ahaz
:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of
Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.
:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the
sight of the Lord his God, as his
father David had done.
Ahaz was a BAD king, one of the worst in the southern kingdom.
:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son
pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the
children of Israel.
:4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills,
and under every green tree.
:3 he made his son
pass through the fire
This is a reference to the worship of Molech, the god of the Ammonites.
The worship of Molech involved burning your little babies in the
outstretched arms of the bronze god in the fire.
Actually, the worship of Molech was rather practical.
The people also worshipped other gods, like Baal and Ashtoreth, which
often involved sexual immorality in the worship.
And when you've got a loose lifestyle, you end up with extra unwanted babies.
And Molech worship took care of that.
God did not think highly of Molech worship.
(Le 20:2–5 NKJV) —2 “Again, you shall say to the children
of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in
Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be
put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that man,
and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his
descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should in
any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his
descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that
man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who
prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
:3 whom the Lord had cast out
When Joshua brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, they were warned
about the kinds of wicked things that the people of the land had been doing.
The Israelite conquerors were not just taking the land for Israel, they
were bringing God’s judgment on these people’s wicked ways.
We are supposed to be different from the world, not the same.
(Col 3:5–7 NKJV) —5 Therefore
put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness,
passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these
things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you
yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
:3 under every
green tree
In other words, he worshipped anything and everything.
He was a “worship
gourmet”, or a “religion connoisseur”
Illustration
Someone once asked Elvis why he wore so many gold religious emblems
around his neck. He had a star of David,
a cross, a crescent, etc.
He replied, “I'm not taking any chances, uh-huh, uh-huh”
Lesson
Just one way
The problem with the religion connoisseur is this flies in the face of what
the Bible teaches.
(Ex 20:3 NKJV) “You shall have no other gods before Me.
(Jn 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.
If you’re looking to anything in addition to Jesus Christ, then you’re not
trusting in Jesus Christ.
:5 Then Rezin
king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to
Jerusalem to make war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria captured Elath for Syria, and drove the
men of Judah from Elath. Then the Edomites went to Elath, and dwell there to
this day.
:5 Rezin …and Pekah
Two kings in the north ally together to come against Ahaz.
Play War Plan
map clip
Ahaz is ruling from Jerusalem. Pekah is centered in Samaria. Rezin is
centered in Damascus. Rezin from Damascus comes down and takes Elath
on the Red Sea from Ahaz. Uzziah had
built the city up, after having retaken it from the Edomites (2Ki 14:22)
Then the Edomites take Elath from Rezin
Extra credit homework: Read
Isaiah 7 and 2Chronicles 28. 120,000 men
of Judah are killed and 200,000 women and children are taken captive to
Samaria.
We have a little more of this story in Isaiah 7.
(Is 7:1–2 NKJV) —1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz
the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of
Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make
war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David,
saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of
his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
The people of Judah were terrified by the invading armies.
Their reason for coming against Jerusalem was to take Ahaz out of the
picture and set up their own king instead (Is. 7:6).
(Is 7:6 NKJV)
—6 “Let us go up against Judah and trouble
it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them,
the son of Tabel”—
Though they did not remove Ahaz as they intended, they did cause great
damage to Ahaz.
In 2Chronicles 28:6-8, we are told that 120,000 men of
Judah were killed, and 200,000 women and children were taken captive to
Samaria.
(2 Ch 28:6–8
NKJV) —6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed
one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because
they had forsaken the Lord God of
their fathers. 7 Zichri, a mighty man
of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house,
and Elkanah who was second to the king. 8 And
the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred
thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much spoil from
them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
:7 So Ahaz sent
messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your
servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria
and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.”
:7 messengers to
Tiglath-Pileser
This is the same king of Assyria that has already come against the northern
kingdom in 2Ki.15:19 (known as “Pul”) and took 1,000 talents from Menachem, and
then came against the northern kingdom again in 2Ki.15:29, taking many of the
northern and eastern cities away from Israel.
Play Nineveh
map clip
Tiglath-Pileser’s empire is centered in Nineveh, in northern modern Iraq,
430 miles from Damascus.
It wasn't just
because of Ahaz’ troubles with Israel and Syria that he called for help.
(2 Ch 28:16–19 NKJV) —16
At the same time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help
him. 17 For again the
Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. 18 The Philistines also had
invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth
Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages,
and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. 19 For the Lord brought
Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline
in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.
Ahaz, as the king of Judah, had opened the door to all kinds of idolatry
because of his own bad example.
And as a result, the people went downhill fast, and God's judgment came
quicker.
Lesson
Setting the example
A bad example is likely to spread to others.
(1 Co 5:6 NKJV) Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump?
If others see you doing some bad thing, and then get away
with it, they're likely to say, "Gosh, maybe it's okay to do this
..."
I remember back when Clinton was president, how people
looked at his infidelity as an excuse to be unfaithful to their own wife.
Ahaz’s bad example became the pace-car for the nation’s race downhill.
:8 And Ahaz took
the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent it
as a present to the king of Assyria.
:9 So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up
against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and
killed Rezin.
:9 captive to Kir
Play Kir
Hareseth map clip
Shortened form of Kir Hareseth, 170 miles south of Damascus located in
ancient Moab.
This was one of the policies of the Assyrian Empire. Whenever they
conquered a nation, they would take the people away to a foreign land, mixing
the nations up, and thus keeping rebellion down, since people were too busy
learning to live in a new country.
This was
actually a fulfillment of a prophecy given by Amos (Amos 1:3-5)
(Am 1:3–5 NKJV) —3 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I
will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead
with implements of iron. 4 But I will send a
fire into the house of Hazael, Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. 5 I will also break the gate bar
of Damascus, And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, And the one
who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to
Kir,” Says the Lord.
:9 the king of
Assyria heeded him
It sounds as if everything came out okay, until you dig deeper in the
account in Chronicles:
(2 Ch 28:20–21 NKJV) —20
Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed
him, and did not assist him.
21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and
from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not
help him.
All Ahaz got out of it was a little false relief.
He actually got distress - he ended up with a huge tax burden from the Assyrians, they never
restored any of his cities to him, and in the removal of Syria, there was now nothing
standing in the way of Assyria coming down and
wiping out the rest of Israel
and Judah.
Lesson
Deceitful help
Ahaz was trusting in the flesh instead of trusting in the Lord.
It kind of looked as if it worked, kind of.
But in the end, it hurt him more than helping him.
Examples
The worker who starts taking speed to keep up with the load at work.
Sure, he gets through the week, but not only does he wipe
out when he comes down, he ends up getting hooked.
The wife who’s going to convert her husband, or straighten him up by
nagging at him all the time.
She ends up driving him further from the Lord.
God’s desire is for her to win him with her manner of
life, not her mouth (1Pe.3)
It’s handling people with anger, slander, criticism, rather than with
prayer, love, grace, and patience
Trying to fix
life’s problems by taking shortcuts doesn’t help.
:10 Now King Ahaz
went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that
was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of
the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.
:10 Ahaz went to Damascus
Play Damascus
map clip.
Damascus is
north east of Jerusalem,
about 140 miles away, as the bird flies.
After Tiglath-Pileser conquered the Syrians and captured the capitol city
of Damascus, Ahaz went up to meet the guy that had helped him out.
He meets with the conquering king of Assyria,
in the conquered capitol of Syria.
:10 saw an altar
Ahaz is attracted to the way they do things in Damascus.
He decides he wants to import some of these new ways of doing things back
to Jerusalem.
We get a little more background on this in the parallel passage:
(2 Ch 28:22–23 NKJV) —22
Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly
unfaithful to the Lord. This is
that King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed
to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of
the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.”
But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
Ahaz is thinking that since the Syrians were trouble to him, that their
“gods” must be better than his. Yet he
is conveniently forgetting that the Syrians have just been wiped out by the
Assyrians.
Lesson
Making it worse
Ahaz had been struggling because God had brought trouble against him
because of his idolatry.
But rather than respond in the manner that God desired, which was
repentance, he responded by making things worse.
Illustration:
When you take
lifesaving classes, one of the things they teach you is to be very careful when
you rescue a drowning person.
The tendency of a non-swimmer is to flail their arms around wildly, and
what can happen is that they can grab on and actually drown the person trying
to rescue them.
Lifeguards are taught (at least I was) if necessary you might have to knock
out the person you’re rescuing, otherwise they can end up pulling you under
while you’re trying to save them.
Instead
of fighting God’s work, give in, and it goes much easier!
:11 Then Urijah the
priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.
So Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus.
:12 And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and
the king approached the altar and made offerings on it.
:13 So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured
his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
:14 He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the temple—from
between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.
Ahaz is replacing the bronze altar that Solomon made with this new
altar. He’s going to keep Solomon’s
altar, but move it off to the side.
:15 Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new
altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s
burnt sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the
people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and
sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the
sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.”
He would be the only one using the old altar.
:16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.
:17 And King Ahaz cut off the panels of the carts, and removed the lavers
from them; and he took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under
it, and put it on a pavement of stones.
Some of the “furniture” of the Temple is getting a makeover as well.
The carts were used to carry stuff for the sacrifices.
The bronze “sea” had been sitting on bronze oxen. The oxen are removed.
:18 Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the
temple, and he removed the king’s outer entrance from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of
Assyria.
:18 On the great new
altar …
Lesson
Newer isn’t always better
It’s good to keep up with the times.
I think it’s important that as a church we try to stay “relevant” and be
able to connect with people where they are at.
Play “Emma” clip
There are some
things that shouldn’t be changed.
God had been the original designer of the tabernacle and the temple:
God gave Moses the
original design of the tabernacle.
(Ex 27:1
NKJV) —1 “You shall make an altar of acacia
wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its
height shall be three cubits.
Even when
Solomon built the temple, it was done according to blueprint, God’s blueprint
given to David.
(1 Ch 28:11–12 NKJV) —11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule,
its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the
place of the mercy seat; 12 and the
plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around,
of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated
things;
(1 Ch 28:19 NKJV) “All this,”
said David, “the Lord made
me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these
plans.”
Why was it so important to follow God’s design?
Because God’s design had a purpose, to show us what heaven
is like:
(Heb 8:5 NKJV) who serve
the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed
when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you
make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
When we start messing with what God has said about
worship, we may be making things look prettier, but we run the risk of messing
up the bigger picture in the process.
:19 Now the rest
of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
:20 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the
City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
:20 buried with his
fathers
Actually, though he was buried in the same city as his fathers, Jerusalem, he was not
buried in the place where most of the kings were buried.
(2 Ch 28:27 NKJV) So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city,
in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel.
Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Apparently there was still some sense of decency among the people in not
burying this wicked king in a place of honor.
Extra credit:
Another prophesy of Isaiah is given at the time of Ahaz’ death. In Isaiah 14:28-32, the Philistines are
warned not to get too self-confident with Ahaz’ death. The next king, Hezekiah, would be tough on
the Philistines (2Ki. 18:8).
17:1-4 Hoshea
:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became
king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.
There are some apparent
difficulties reconciling this with:
(2 Ki 15:30 NKJV) —30 Then Hoshea the son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah
the son of Remaliah, and struck and killed him; so he reigned in his place in
the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
This from Bible Knowledge
Commentary:
Ahaz’s reign, which began in 744,
included 9 years as vice-regent (744-735), 4 years as coregent with his father
Jotham (735-732), and 16 years as principal king (732-715). (Cf. comments on
16:1-2a.) Hoshea began his reign of 9 years in the 20th year of Jotham
(15:30), which was 732 b.c.
Jotham’s 20 years (750-732) included his 16-year reign (750-735) and 4 years as
coregent with Ahaz (735-732). Jotham’s reign from 750 to 732 appears to be 18
or 19 years, but it was considered 20 years because he reigned 18 full years
and parts of two other years
:1 Hoshea
This is the last king of the north.
The end is coming…
I think it’s interesting to look at
the name of the guy that’s king when the big judgment finally comes:
Hosea or Hoshea or Oshea =
“salvation”
It’s the same name as the guy who
brought them into the promised land, Joshua. (Num. 13:16)
Joshua or Jehoshua = “Jehovah is
salvation”
It seems Israel’s time in the land
started with Joshua, and ended with Hoshea.
It’s also the same as the prophet
who wrote the book Hosea. (Hos. 1:1)
Hosea was one of the prophets that
foretold the end of the northern kingdom due to their idolatry.
It’s also the same name as the
little baby born in Bethlehem 720 years later.
:2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,
but not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
:2 he did evil
Though Hoshea was “evil”, he wasn’t as bad as the other guys before him.
He apparently did not worship Baal as some of the kings had done.
He also could not worship the calves of Jeroboam since they had already
been carried away by the Assyrians when they came against his predecessor,
Pekah (2Ki.15:29).
The Jews also say that he removed the guards that were traditionally
stationed on the roads to Jerusalem to keep the Israelites from going to the
temple to worship.
Lesson
Not as bad as …
Being “not as
bad” isn’t enough to stop the judgment.
You can tell yourself that you are “not as bad” as other people, therefore
God should let you into heaven.
Not so.
We are all
sinners.
(Ro 3:23 NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
All of our sin
ends in judgment.
(Ro 6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The only way
out of judgment is through believing in Jesus Christ.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
:3 Shalmaneser
king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him
tribute money.
This is Shalmaneser V (727-722
b.c.)
Shalmaneser was the son of Tiglath-pileser, the guy who had been causing so much trouble for Israel, Syria,
and Judah.
:4 And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by 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.
:4 A conspiracy
Hoshea decided
to try and get away with not paying his taxes. Hoshea was trying to get the
Egyptians to help him out, but they weren’t much help.
Hoshea became the prisoner of Shalmaneser.
:4 So – Also
known as Osorkon
IV, (727-716 b.c.). He was a “so-so”
king. So what?
17:5-41 The end of
Israel
:5 Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to
Samaria and besieged it for three years.
:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and
carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the
River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
:6 Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan
Play Assyrian
captivity map clip.
Halah, Habor, and Gozan are roughly 400 miles north and east from Samaria, not exactly a
move across town.
The area of the Medes were another 350 miles beyond that to the east, past
the capitol city of Nineveh.
Again, the Assyrians are trying to mix things up.
This was the practice that the
Assyrians had developed to help keep their conquered kingdoms from rising up in
revolt against them.
Once they captured a nation, they
would scatter the people to various other parts of the empire and try to get
them to intermarry with other nationalities, destroying any remaining
nationalism.
:7 For so it was
that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of
Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other
gods,
:8 and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the
children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
:7 the children of
Israel had sinned
This is the
reason for the captivity. God had warned
the people that if they ever turned away from Him, that they would eventually
be allowed to be captured by another nation and taken away.
(Le 26:32–33 NKJV) —32
I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in
it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after
you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
That was 700
years earlier that God had given that warning.
Now it is coming to pass.
:9 Also the children
of Israel secretly did against the Lord
their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high
places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.
:9 secretly did
There are times when we know what is right and wrong, but because we plan
on doing it anyway, we do it in secret.
We don’t want anyone to know.
I think we even get the idea that maybe God won’t know either.
(Is 29:15 NKJV) Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark;
They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
Ezekiel had a vision where he took a trip into the imagination of the
elders back in Jerusalem.
(Eze 8:12 NKJV) Then He said to me,
“Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the
dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
Lesson
Dangerous secrets
If you’re involved in something that you feel you need to keep a secret
from those close to you, there’s a good chance it’s wrong.
One of Satan’s best tricks is to isolate us by making us keep things
secret.
And once we become enslaved to certain sins, but feel we need to keep it
secret, then we become slaves for life.
The answer?
Bring it out
into the light.
(1 Jn 1:7 NKJV) But if we
walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
There’s no need to be in bondage any longer.
:10 They set up
for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and
under every green tree.
:11 There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom
the Lord had carried away before
them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger,
:12 for they served idols, of which the Lord
had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
:13 Yet the Lord testified
against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying,
“Turn 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.”
:13 the Lord testified
You can take this chapter by itself and think, “Gosh, God sure is tough on
His people”.
But keep in
mind that it took God over 700 years to get to this point.
It took God sending many, many prophets warning the people before the
judgment came.
:14 Nevertheless
they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their
fathers, who did not believe in the Lord
their God.
:15 And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with
their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they
followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were
all around them, concerning whom the Lord
had charged them that they should not do like them.
:16 So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and
two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and
served Baal.
:17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire,
practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the
sight of the Lord, to provoke Him
to anger.
:17 soothsaying
The practice of trying to discern
direction from things like signs, omens, looking at animal livers, etc.; or
through contacting evil spirits.
(Dt 18:10–11 NKJV) —10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes
his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices
witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium,
or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
:18 Therefore the Lord was
very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left
but the tribe of Judah alone.
:18 Judah alone
The Northern Kingdom was completely
dismantled. Only the Southern Kingdom
remained.
Actually there were several other tribes that were considered a part of Judah.
Benjamin was
considered a part of Judah.
Simeon had
their portion inside the tribe of Judah.
Much of the
tribe of Levi had also migrated south to be included among Judah as well.
:19 Also Judah
did not keep the commandments of the Lord
their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
:20 And the Lord rejected all
the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of
plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight.
:20 cast them from
His sight
Lesson
Our Security
I think you could look at this almost as an illustration of a person who has lost their
salvation.
I know this is a controversial subject.
Some will say that this is an Old Testament lesson we’re looking at and
it doesn’t apply for New Testament believers.
I think that there are several Scriptures that make me uncomfortable when
it comes to the security of a person’s salvation.
(Jn 15:6 NKJV) If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is
withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they
are burned.
Some may say that this describes a person who was never
saved, and I won’t argue with you too much about that. But the word “abide” is the idea of
“remaining” or “staying put”. I don’t
think Jesus’ illustration here is about branches that were never a part of the
vine, but branches that have been separated from the vine that are cast into
the fire.
Paul uses much of this language in describing us Gentiles in our
relationship with God.
(Ro 11:19–23 NKJV) —19 You will
say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said.
Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be
haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did
not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider
the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you,
goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be
cut off. 23 And they also, if
they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft
them in again.
In talking about the Jews in the wilderness who didn’t make it into the
Promised Land because of their unbelief, the writer of Hebrews states,
(Heb 3:14 NKJV) For we
have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast to the end,
The continual warning throughout Hebrews is to continue to
believe in Jesus.
I think it might be possible for a person to lose their salvation if they,
like the nation of Israel, continue
to persist in getting farther and farther away from God, and ultimately no
longer believe.
Am I worried about losing my salvation?
I’m not. I’m planning on continuing to develop my
relationship with God.
I don’t stay saved because of my good works but my faith. It’s faith in Christ’s work that saves us.
I don’t have to worry about any outside influence causing me to lose my
salvation.
Jesus said,
(Jn 10:28 NKJV) And I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch
them out of My hand.
Paul wrote,
(Ro 8:38–39 NKJV) —38 For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created
thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
I do not believe that God’s hand on me is wobbly and about to let go.
Some people make it sound as if you will lose your salvation if you say a
bad word or don’t go to church on Sunday.
The nation of Israel is warned for 700 years before the judgment comes.
God is not just waiting for your next sin to cut you off.
:21 For He tore
Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king.
Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord,
and made them commit a great sin.
:22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he
did; they did not depart from them,
:23 until the Lord removed
Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So
Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this
day.
:23 until the Lord removed Israel
Lesson
Turn Around
Even with the removal of Israel from her land, God’s heart is always to
have them come back to Him.
Even with the warnings in Leviticus there is a promise if they would turn
around and confess their sin (Lev. 26:39-42).
(Le 26:42 NKJV) then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with
Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
:24 Then the king
of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from
Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the
children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its
cities.
Play Assyrian
Assimilation map clip
This is all part of the grand Assyrian plan to mix the nations up to keep
nationalistic fervor down.
As these people mix in with the few remaining Israelites, the result was
the race known as the Samaritans.
Can you imagine being a king and hearing that the Assyrians are on their
way? I think the Hebrew word for
“Assyrian” is “Borg”.
Play Borg clip – resistance is
futile
:25 And it was so,
at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which
killed some of them.
God uses the lions to get these strangers to realize that He is God and He
is still around.
:26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you
have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the
God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are
killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.”
They figured that this “god” of the land must need to be appeased some way,
and so they figured they’d have to secure the proper good luck charms to be
safe in the land.
:27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the
priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him
teach them the rituals 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.
They bring back one of the Israelite priests to teach them the tricks of
the land, and how to relate to this god, Yahweh.
If this priest was originally from Bethel (and it’s a good bet he was,
since that’s where he settles), it’s more than likely that he was one of the
priests over the golden calf worship that Jeroboam had set up, one of which was
located in Bethel.
:29 However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them
in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every
nation in the cities where they dwelt.
:30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal,
the men of Hamath made Ashima,
:31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their
children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
We aren’t real sure just who or what some of these gods were. But everyone who came from distant lands had
packed their gods in their suitcases and brought them with them.
:32 So they feared the Lord,
and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places,
who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
:32 from every
class they appointed for themselves priests
They did just as Jeroboam had done (1Ki. 12:31)
This is a common misunderstanding of ministry.
Somehow people
get the idea that ministry is something you should consider if you can’t do
anything else.
Yes, God does use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
But those in ministry ought to be the ones setting an example for others to
follow.
They ought to be the ones ahead of the pack when it comes to following
after God.
:33 They feared the Lord, yet served their own
gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried
away.
:34 To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not
fear the Lord, nor do they follow
their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of
Jacob, whom He named Israel,
:35 with whom the Lord had
made a covenant and charged them, saying: “You shall not fear other gods, nor
bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them;
:36 but the Lord, who brought
you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you
shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice.
:37 And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He
wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear
other gods.
:38 And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor
shall you fear other gods.
:39 But the Lord your God you
shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
:40 However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals.
:41 So these nations feared the Lord,
yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s
children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.
:41 feared the Lord, yet served their carved images
So these pagan nations that were brought in mixed together both the worship
of Yahweh, along with the worship of all their other gods.
Lesson
All or nothing
These people were trying to have the best of both worlds, yet in reality
they had none of either.
They wanted to keep all their old gods.
They also wanted to just “add” this new god, Yahweh.
Some of the most miserable people in the world are those who want to follow
the Lord, but aren’t willing to do it completely.
Illustration
When Thomas Aquinas visited Rome, and was shown the gorgeousness of the
papal palace, the pope, it is said, remarked to him, “Well, Thomas, the church
in our day can not say, Silver and gold have I none.”
“No,” replied Aquinas, “neither can she say, In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk.”