The Fall of IsraelWhile the stories of the nation of Israel throughout the Old Testament continued to fluctuate between following God and not following God, these lessons are for us today.
17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Exile Because of Idolatry
7 And this occurred because the people 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 had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.”
[Even then, as they "walked in the customs of the nations," God, in his mercy, does not give up on them...]
13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.
19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
[This next passage is a look at mixed worship, where the people wanted to worship the Lord, but also continued the idolatrous practices of the nations. This is called syncretism, and has the same results as flat-out idolatry, as it is equally offensive to God. This syncretism that is described below is the same sinful mixing of pagan and religious traditions we see in Christmas traditions today, even if it is performed under the intent to worship the Lord.]
Assyria Resettles Samaria
24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.”
[Even the worldly wisdom of the king of Assyria demonstrates an understanding of respecting the "god of the land." But this worldly acknowledgment is not sufficient to maintain the level of obedience that God desires.]
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
[In God's eyes, this mixed worship is the very same as unbelief; notice, in v. 34 it says: "They do not fear the LORD...]
35 The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.41 So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
[Are we not leading our own precious children down the same path, if we continue mixing the myths of pagan traditions and religiosity at Christmas within our families?]
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
[Again, while it does not look like mercy, God demonstrates mercy to Israel by raising up a king who was zealous for God's own honor, that Israel would be spared further immediate judgment from the nations around them; namely, the Philistines.]
4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor. 10:11-12I believe that God is just as equally opposed to idolatry in this day and age as he was in this previous day and age with Israel
"For I am the LORD, I change not..." Mal. 3:6The God of the Bible may not be the national God of this nation today, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords, he is no less the God of us individually, and this same cleansing of repentance from wicked works is necessary today just as it was then. I am not advocating we break into people's homes and remove their idolatrous Christmas trees and trappings of the season. What I am saying is the responsibility is ours to conduct this cleansing in our own lives, not to wait for or attempt to raise up some sort of godly leader to conduct this housecleaning for us. Only godly individuals standing up for God's honor can accomplish this type of transformation today through the power of the holy Spirit and by resting squarely on God's word. We must physically, mentally, and spiritually depart from the practices of the world around us. We need to break down our own altars, our own idols, and remove ourselves, not from the world, but from the ungodly worldly practices of the nation around us.
Start with your own household and be the light of Christ to those around you as you demonstrate faithfulness to God! Explaining to others why you have no Christmas tree, or why you do not participate in the day will absolutely create opportunities to witness to those around you, I guarantee it! God doesn't want us to smash trees, he wants us, through the power of his holy Spirit, to smash the blindness covering the eyes of those closest to us!
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Cor. 4:3-4
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 2 Tim. 2:24-26Brothers and sisters in Christ, that's how evangelism works, and there is rarely a better opportunity to create discussions of commitment when you are committed to drastic actions yourself! This principle is active all year long, not just at Christmas! Be gentle toward others, but hard on yourself! Then you can speak the truth as one who knows the truth by experience, not just by understanding it to be true, and those who listen will understand that you actually believe what it is you preach.
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