Reading: II Kings 16-17
In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods (II Kings 17:6-7).
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations (I Sam. 8:4-5). Over three centuries earlier, the elders of Israel had stood before God’s appointed judge and demanded a king. In His permissive will God had acquiesced to their demand, but He had also issued a stern warning as to the possible consequences of their choice. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers (12:14-15).
For the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom of Israel, those terrible consequences were now being realized. From the moment that Jeroboam made the fateful decision to turn his back on the commandments of God in order to strengthen his political position (I Kings 12:27-33) until the last days of the ‘doomed from the start’ reign of Hoshea, the northern kingdom of Israel had been bereft of godly leadership. Not one of the 19 kings that occupied the throne of Israel after the split from the southern kingdom of Judah is remembered in the Word of God as a king that wholly did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. As the years passed in terrible succession, the nation slipped further and further away from God until, finally, they could no longer reach Him at all. In fulfillment of His promise, the Lord expelled them from the Promised Land. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone (Deut. 28:36).
Although the history of God’s chosen people continues on in God’s Word through the nation of Judah (the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and many of the Levites, later referred to collectively as Jews) the recorded history of the ten tribes that comprised the northern kingdom of Israel ends with their capture by the Assyrians. The Lord had promised them a paradise on earth; the only thing He asked in return was that they be faithful to Him. In the end, that was the one thing that they refused to do. They willfully and repeatedly broke the Covenant that they had made with God; He regretfully allowed them to suffer their chosen consequences.
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against Me, therefore hid I My face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword (Ezek. 39:23).
Thought for Today: To choose between God and the world is to choose between salvation and destruction.
Christ Revealed: Through the original Brasen (brass) Altar made by Solomon (II Kings 16:14; II Chr. 4:1). The Brasen Altar is a type of the cross on which Christ, our whole Burnt Offering, offered Himself to God (Heb. 9:14). Unlike the necessary daily sacrifices offered by the priests on the Brasen Altar, this He did once (once for all), on the cross, when He offered up Himself (7:27).
Word Studies: 16:11 against King Ahaz = before King Ahaz arrived; 16:13 meat offering = meal or grain offering or unleavened bread, oil, and a portion of incense
Pray for Government Officials: Rep. Ted Deutch (FL), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO), Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL) • Country: Mauritius (1,322,238) Indian Ocean • Major Languages: Creole, Bhojpuri, French, English • Limited Religious Freedom • 48% Hindu; 23.6% Roman Catholic; 16.6% Muslim; 8.6% Protestant; 2.5% Other; 0.3% Unspecified; 0.4% None • Prayer Suggestion: Ask the Lord to fill you with love for the unlovable (I John 4:7-8).
Optional ReadingRomans 10.