Doctrine: Idolatry (Lesson 16)

Big idea: Wholehearted worship of God vs the folly of idolatry

Doctrine: idolatry

Passage: 2 Kings 15–20; 2 Chronicles 26–32 .

Attribute: Jealous

INTRODUCTION:

Worship...

One of my goals today is to help you see the heart of this passage while also to help you organize the large amount of scripture.

So to help keep us organized, we are going to divide our scripture into to parts.

Israel’s Worship- 2 Kings 15:8-31; 17

Judah’s Worship- 2 Kings 15:1-7, 32-38; 16; 18-20; 2 Chronicles 26-32

Go ahead and open with me to 2nd Kings- we will stay here as we talk about the N. Kingdom Israel.

DIVISION 1: ISRAEL’S WORSHIP- Journey to Destruction 2 Kings 15:8-31; 17

of Idols- 2 Kings 15:8-31

in 2 Kings 15, starting in vs 8, we see multiple kings of Israel. And we see the familiar phrase… “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord…He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam...”

now…1st- let’s clear something up…how many of Israel’s kings followed in the ways of the Lord to date....

if you can’t think of any…thats because up North, in Israel- the kings never followed the Lord, but always in the ways of…Jeroboam...

Now- it’s been a little while so let’s refresh on who Jeroboam was and what from his reign continued that resulted in it being mentioned over and over...

After Israel split into 2 Kingdoms, Jereboam was the 1st king of Northern Israel.

God had instructed His people to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, well, that was in the Southern Kingdom.

So to keep the people from leaving the Northern Kingdom and going to the Southern, he set up 2 alternative places of worship...

1 in the Northern part of the kingdom and 1 in the Southern

but not only that…he placed 2 golden calves at each worship center for the people to worship, which was a direct violation of the Mosaic covenant which said in Exodus 20:4:

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

This jealousy that God has for his people is one of protection- when we pull away from Him we are vulnerable and headed for destruction instead of life.

So if we go back and look at the kings of Israel in 2 Kings 15- we learn that what they continued in....was idolatry-

This journey of worshipping idols didn’t happen over night. It was a slow roll…starting with just 2 idols- but, they only sort of broke God’s law..I mean, God had said never to make a graven image, but the images were supposed to represent Him—so it was probably ok right?

But, as we read through the kings of Israel…we are constantly reminded that they continued in the path of idolatry started by Jeroboam...

and if we go back and read the prophets Amos and Hosea- who specifically prophesied during this time- we see them repeatedly charge Israel with the sin of idolatry as they brought charges and exposed the depth of the idolatry that was rampant in Israel.

But- in his grace and love- God was patient- and sent prophet after prophet to warn them over and over again that if they continued to worship other Gods- then God’s judgement and wrath would come upon them.

Comes with Consequences 2 Kings 17

…the story of Israel picks up again in chp. 17:1-6…where we find Hoshea- the last king of Israel…

Hoshea revolts against the Assyrian Empire by refusing to pay the annual tribute.

So, the King of Assyria, considered him a traitor and threw him in jail.

in 725 B.C.- Assyria invaded Israel- deported the population and the Northern Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist.

Take just a moment and let that sink in.

An entire nation- 10 tribes. Completely Gone. Just. like. that.

chp 17:7-23 tells us why..

we learn that they had sinned against God by worshipping other gods...

this statement sums up the rest of this section.

The reason that Israel was being led into captivity was because they had rejected the God who had delivered them from slavery and exchanged their living Redeemer for gods of wood and stone.

vs 9 tells us they even went as far as to worship idols in secret- as if God doesnt know- and then would turn around and worship Him in public.

God had warned them…he had sent prophet after prophet…he even had Hosea marry a prostitute in an attempt to beg them to return to him..to show his love for them…and yet...

in vs 14. it says that they. did. not. listen.

and because of that, they became worthless- just like what they were worshipping.

The idols they clung to…1st enslaved their hearts and eventually....enslaved their lives.

What idols are currently enslaving your heart, and also maybe, your life?

success.

Money.

approval of man.

having the perfect house

marriage- the one you have or wish you had

your kids...

Food..

entertainment

social media

exercise

health

We could sit here all day listing off potential idols in our lives.

And if you are like me- as you start to dig up potential idols- you will probably find there are well more than just 1 that you are clinging to.

Idols never deliver what they promise- they kept Israel from living a life wholeheartedly devoted to God..from living a life fully satisfied in Him.

Our idols will never deliver what they promise- they will only bring sorrow.

As we move into the last verses in chp. 17…24-41… The Assyrians bring in their own people to inhabit their newly acquired land.

It was customary to deport conquered people so that they didn’t revolt…the Assyrian’s settled in the area of Samaria and became known as Samaritans.

So they get there- doing their normal thing- worshiping their gods…and they are attacked by lions.

Now- we are far enough into our study that this should no longer surprise us. We have studied God as a roaring lion so foreign people..worshipping other gods..in the land that was set aside for His people to worship Him…would of course cause God’s anger to be aroused.

The Assyrians think the problem is that they are not worshipping the God of the land..so the King of Assyria gets a deported priest from Israel and send him back to teach the people about God.

At first this might sound awesome- except for the priests of Israel were also engaging in continued idolatry.

The people of Samaria may have started worshipping God but they did NOT get rid of their other Gods.

You cannot worship God and __________. Only the one true God is worthy of all of our praise and worship.

Principle: A heart full of prideful defiance leads to destruction and life separated from God.

DIVISION 2: Judah’s Worship 2 Kings 15:1-7, 32-38; 16; 18-20; 2 Chronicles 26-32

We are now going to transition away from Israel- they have been exiled by Assyria due to their sin- our focus for rest of today will now be on the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

go ahead and flip your Bibles over to 2 Chronicles 26…while I am going to reference the King’s passage, I am going to primarily stay in 2 Chronicles.

Of Idols...