Bible Study - God's Story - God Disciplines HIS People - 2 Kings 17 - July 14, 2013

Bible Study – God’s Story - GOD Disciplines HIS People – July 14, 2013

This is lesson seven in our series entitled “GOD’S Story.”

Our scripture is 2 Kings 17:7-15, 18-20.

GOD is love and HE loves HIS children but as any loving father, HE disciplines HIS children. HE does not discipline for discipline’s sake but HE disciplines to correct, keep them out of deeper trouble and bring HIS chosen back to HIM. HIS desire is for them to stay focused upon HIM because HE chose them to be HIS chosen people and they accepted. GOD confirmed that relationship making a covenant with them. HE has a plan for HIS chosen and HE cares for them. Humans think they make and are in charge of history but GOD is in charge of history.

If you are interested, look back at our Bible Study – Minor Prophets – Habakkuk: A Message of Faith – January 13, 2012, where GOD makes it clear that HE is in charge of history.

GOD warned HIS chosen to repent and change their ways or else they would end up in trouble as a people and a nation. GOD made it clear that HE would allow the ungodly to capture them and carry them off into exile if they did not repent of their sins. The Israelites did not change and as GOD warned them, through the prophets, HE allowed the Assyrians to defeat the Northern Kingdom and years later for the Babylonians to defeat the Southern Kingdom.

The difference was that when the Northern Kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians, they also destroyed many of the Jews and relocated many into other regions of Assyria. The surviving Jews married with non-Jews, which resulted in them losing the pure Jewish bloodline.

Years later, the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom. The captured Jews were sent into exile. However, they did not inner marry, thus maintaining the bloodline and the race. After years in exile the Jews began to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple.

Let’s go back a few years to GOD continuing “the line of promise.” The “line of promise” came through Jacob. GOD established the nation of Israel through Jacob’s ancestry.

GOD changed Jacob’s name to Israel when Jacob wrestled with GOD as recorded in Genesis 32:28-30:

28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” He said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.” But He answered, “Why do you ask My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 Jacob then named the place Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.”

Jacob’s descendants, now called Israel, were called the children of Israel. When his descendants grew into a kingdom, it was called the kingdom of Israel, which King David and Solomon ruled. The Kingdom of Israel contained all 12 tribes of the Israelites. At the death of King David, Solomon became king of Israel but when King Solomon died, ten of the tribes separated and became the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom retained the name Israel.

The remaining two tribes Judah and Benjamin formed the Southern Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom is referred to as Judah.

Both kingdoms were defeated by hostile kingdoms. Israel was defeated by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and Judah was defeated by the Babylonians in 586 B. C.  

Let’s read 2 Kings 17:1-6: (Background, which leads into our focus scripture and deals with the downfall of the Northern Kingdom.)

Israel’s King Hoshea (hoh SHEE uh)

1 In the twelfth year of Judah’s King Ahaz, Hoshea son of Elah (EE la) became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned nine years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. 3 Shalmaneser (SHAL muh NEE zurh) king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute money. 4 But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea’s conspiracy. He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

The Fall of Samaria

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah (HAY luh) and by the Habor (HAY bohr), Gozan’s (GOE zan) river, and in the cities of the Medes.

First and Second Kings along with the books of Joshua through Esther are books of history. They were written looking back over 400 years of history in Israel. This provides an opportunity for us to examine Israel’s history from a theological viewpoint. Verse 6 describes the fall of the northern kingdom. Verse 7, in our next scripture reveals why it happened.

In essence, we have the opportunity to view the working of GOD. We see HIS love, grace, mercy, pleading and patience. Then, we get to see that HE does what HE says. GOD keeps HIS word.

We have the opportunity to see GOD deal physically with HIS chosen as a nation and a people to bring them back into fellowship with HIM. HE also deals with Christians individually and collectively to bring about the best for them and where they live. America pay attention while it is still time. Obedient Christians are the most powerful force in a country.

Let’s read 2 King 17:7-11:

Why Israel Fell

7 This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh King of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods. 8 They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did what was not right against the Lord their God. They built •high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and •Asherah (ash EH rah) poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord.

The One true GOD, Yahweh, had revealed Himself to the Israelites when HE delivered them from Egyptian bondage and slavery. GOD heard their cry for deliverance. HE delivered them, led them to Mount Sinai and revealed Himself to them in very graphic ways. GOD gave them the opportunity to become HIS chosen. They had agreed and GOD established a covenant, which HE presented to them and they agreed to it. The Israelites continued to follow and worship GOD. GOD guided them to the Promised Land, where they thrived. As time passed, they compromised their relationship with GOD. They had abandoned the One true GOD to worship various gods that were nothing but wood, stone and some images humans had created.

The Israelites knew their One true GOD but refused to worship HIM because these false gods offered them things they wanted. Instead of worshipping GOD, they worshipped Asherah (uh SHEE ruh), the female goddess who the Phoenicians and the Canaanites worshipped and her supposedly offspring, Baal.

According to the beliefs of those who worshipped Asherah, she was the wife of El and the mother of 70 gods. Baal was one of her more popular offspring. The Israelites built sacred places in nature to honor of Asherah and to pay homage to this false goddess. Basically, they were worshippers of nature.

Such worship was a clear violation of the first and second commandment GOD gave to the Israelites. GOD is jealous, in a good way, and does not share. Sin blocks our relationship and fellowship with GOD.

Notice, they did this in secret. People often believe that they can sin and hide their sins from GOD.

We see the love of GOD toward HIS chosen because HE gave them ample warning about what would happen if they did not wake up, repent and worship the only true GOD, Yahweh. We have their recorded history to ponder as we see the events unfold.

Today, we can get an idea of where we are headed as a nation and a world. The ideologues want to create utopia upon earth but it will not happen because the One true GOD of all is being diminished and the gods of materialism, fame, government, self-sufficiency and power are being elevated.

Let’s read 2 Kings 17:12-17:

12 They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.” 13 Still, the Lord warned Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and statutes according to all the law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God. 15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate. 16 They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God. They made cast images for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole. They worshiped the whole heavenly • host and served • Baal. 17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire and practiced • divination and interpreted omens. They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked Him.

The Israelites rejected GOD’S statutes and covenant. Statutes are GOD’S design for living in harmony with HIM and others. The Israelites broke covenant with GOD. GOD did not break covenant with them. When GOD made humans, HE gave them freewill. HE does all HE can to appeal to every human regarding the decisions they make regarding their relationship with HIM. But the decision is theirs to make whether or not to repent and turn from their evil ways. Repentance involves the heart. It involves conviction, confession and acknowledging the wrong they are doing. GOD’S part is to forgive, cleanse and restore.

GOD’S chosen knew the truth but they chose to embrace their neighbor’s pagan lifestyle. GOD sent prophets to appeal to them to repent, yet they refused. Notice verse 15, they followed worthless idols and as a result they became worthless themselves. True value, in a person’s life, comes from having a personal, obedient relationship with GOD through faith in CHRIST. That relationship sustains true Christians through various circumstances in life upon earth as they journey to the Promised Land.

The very heart of sin is unbelief and it is clear that the Israelites had abandoned GOD but GOD never abandoned them. HE does not abandon HIS children today regardless of what you may think.

Let’s read 2 Kings 17:18-20:

18 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained. 19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. 20 So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until He had banished them from His presence.

As stated earlier, the heart of sin is unbelief. The wages of sin is death but the gift of GOD is eternal life through faith in CHRIST. Sin still brings the wrath of GOD into our lives. HE hates sin and death but HE did something about it. HE allowed HIS only Son, JESUS, to come to earth and live as a human and give HIS life for all who will place their faith in HIM, so they may have eternal life.

The wrath of GOD is one thing but the love of GOD is another. The scripture states that “HE removed them from HIS presence.” GOD did not abandon them but HE did lift HIS protective hand and disaster came upon them. Sin is a barrier to fellowshipping with GOD. That is why those who seek HIM must confess their sins and ask HIM to forgive them. GOD does not move but we do and when we do, we will suffer the consequences. Consequences are to get our attention and to bring us back into fellowship with GOD.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

As history reveals, judgment came to the Israelites. In 721 B.C., the Northern Kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians. In 586 B.C., the Southern Kingdom of Judah was defeated by the Babylonians.

The Assyrians were especially brutal and many of those in the Northern Kingdom vanished into the landscape. The survivors intermarried and became the despised Samaritans because they had not maintained a pure bloodline. Fellow Jews considered them “half-breeds.”

The Southern Kingdom (Judah) was defeated but they were exiled to Babylon. Remember “the line of promise.” The promised Messiah (the line of promise) would come through the ancestry of Judah. As a result of their exile in Babylonia, the Jews maintained a pure bloodline and returned to Jerusalem to rebuild it and the temple. GOD’S plans and purpose will be implemented because HE is sovereign. GOD saved a remnant to carry out HIS plan and purpose for the salvation of all who will place their faith in CHRIST.

GOD disciplines HIS chosen but not to be mean. It is to shepherd them into the Promised Land and to experience the joy of salvation through fellowship with HIM. It is for HIS children to experience the abundant life through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

JESUS said it best in John 10:10-11:

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

DO you know JESUS as your Savior? If not, ask HIM to forgive you for your sins and to come into your life now. Blessings!!!