The Exile of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-23)

Introduction

Biblical Timeline

United Kingdom under the Kings of Saul, David, and Solomon.

Divided Kingdom - The nation of Israel split into two different nations; Israel in the North, Judah in the South.

Exile of Israel

2 Major events in the history of the Israelite people are:

Exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel - 722 B.C.

Exile of the Southern Kingdom of Judah - 587 B.C.

In our reading we are still in the time of the divided Kingdom, but the northern Kingdom will be going into exile.

God has been sending the Israelites warnings of the Exile through the prophets and his actions (as we saw in Amos).

Fall of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-6)

Hosea King of Israel (1-2)

2 Kings 17:1–2 (ESV)

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

“HOSHEA, KING OF ISRAEL (הוֹשֵׁעַ, hoshea'). The son of Elah and the last king of the northern kingdom (2 Kgs 15:30; 17:1–6). Hoshea was the 19th king of Israel and, according to 2 Kgs 17:1, a contemporary of Ahaz, the 12th king of Judah.” (Persons, Nancy. “Hoshea, King of Israel.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag. Print.)

“Son of Elah and the last of the 19 kings of the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kgs 17:1–6). He reigned for 9 years (732–723 BC) before being taken captive by the Assyrians.” (Harrison, R. K. “Hoshea.” Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988: 1005. Print.)

Shalmaneser King of Assyria (3)

2 Kings 17:3 (ESV)

3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

“King of Assyria from 727–722 BC. Responsible for the siege of Samaria and possibly the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria.” (Meeks, Charles. “Shalmaneser V.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag. Print.)

2 Kings 17:3 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up to attack him; so Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute.

vassal - subordinate (title) ⇔ servant n., a title of humility for someone in a position of lower authority or stature; whether in a relationship between two people or between a person and God (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Events leading up to the fall of Israel (4-6)

Treachery (4a)

2 Kings 17:4 (ESV)

4a But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year...

When a king was in a vessel role, they were not to communicate with other kings. If the king was having trouble with another king they were to seek aid from their superior king.

Hoshea seemed to be going to So for aid against the King of Assyria.

Kings reaction (4b-5)

2 Kings 17:4–5 (ESV)

4b Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

Israel Demise (6)

2 Kings 17:6 (ESV)

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.

Sin of Israel resulting in the Fall (2 Kings 17:7-12)

Reason for the Fall (7-8)

2 Kings 17:7–8 (ESV)

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.

The conquest of Israel was not about the strength of Assyria or military weakness of Israel, but a judgment of God against His people because of their sins.

They have lived worshiping and walking in the ways of the false gods of the nations. They are not living in relationship with their God, who delivered them from slavery in Egypt to the land in which they live. They are serving the gods of the nations that God removed from the land for them to settle there.

Sin of Israel (9-11a)

2 Kings 17:9–11a (ESV)

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.

High Places - high place n., an elevated pagan worship center where offerings were made to pagan gods. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Pillar - pillar memorial n., a pillar (made of stone) set up as a memorial. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Asherim - Asherah pole n., a wooden pole that was used in the worship of the false deity Asherah (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

God’s anger of their Sin and call to repent (11b-13)

Lord is angry by the sin of Israel. (11b-12)

2 Kings 17:11–12 (ESV)

11b 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.”

Provoke to anger - “The root meaning of kāʿas is to vex, agitate, stir up, or provoke the heart to a heated condition which in turn leads to specific actions. This term, as well as the synonyms for anger and wrath are used anthropomorphically and anthropopathically of God. They refer to God’s inner self as vexed and provoked by rebellion or sin. ” (“1016 כָעַס.” Ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1999: 451. Print.)

Lord warns Israel of judgment. (13)

warn - to admonish v., to warn or counsel in terms of someone’s behavior. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

2 Kings 17:13 (ESV)

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.”

Continued Rebellion of Israel (2 Kings 17:14-18)

Continued Sin (14)

2 Kings 17:14 (ESV)

14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God.

Stubborn - to harden (make stubborn) v., to cause to be hardened or make stubborn. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

We can become hardened or grow hardened.

Defiance and Sin can lead to our hardness to God.

Life experiences can cause hardened hearts towards God.

“Why would you allow this to happen?”, “How could you do this to me?”, “Why did they die?”

How we process through the experience can lead us toward God (seeking understanding, comfort, healing, etc.) or hardened towards Him (distrust, unbelief, hatred, etc.).

The Bible addresses often the topic of hardness, and warns against growing hardened or being hard hearted.

It seems from our text and testimony of Scripture, the Israelites grew hardened to God in their sin, worship of false gods, listening to false prophets and false priest, and continual rejection of the messages of God through His prophets.

Despised the Lord and His covenant with them. (15)

2 Kings 17:15 (ESV)

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.

despised - to reject (spurn) v. — to reject with contempt. (Biblical Sense)

Abandoned the Lord (16-17)

2 Kings 17:16–17 (ESV)

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.

Abandon - to abandon v., to forsake or leave behind. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Lord Judged (18)

2 Kings 17:18 (ESV)

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.

God’s fulfillment of His promise of Judgment (2 Kings 17:19-23)

Warning to Judah (19)

2 Kings 17:19 (ESV)

19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced.

The fall of Israel is a warning to the nation of Judah, who are living the same way Israel is.

Judgment on Israel (20)

2 Kings 17:20 (ESV)

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.

God is amazingly gracious, patient, loving and longsuffering. However, He will get to the point of judging our continual rebellion.

God fulfills His promise of Judgment (21-23)

2 Kings 17:21–23 (ESV)

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.

Lessons from the Exile of Israel.

Living in covenant relationship with God requires loyalty to God.

Israel was not living loyal to God, but worshiping and walking according to the customs of the nations around them. They continued in the sin of their first King Jeroboam.

We are in covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ and are required to live loyal to Him.

When God’s people are disobedient, God is faithful to send warnings and discipline to lead them to repentance.

God was faithful to send prophets with His warnings and call to repent and return to Him. The people of Israel continued in their sin, ignoring the warnings of God, and growing hardened to His call to return.

We can grow hardened to the things of God when we continue to ignore the warnings and instructions of God.

If we continue in Sin, God will be faithful to His warning of judgment.

Israel was sent away into Exile because they ignored the warnings of God and finally received the judgment of God.

May we live a way that we are sensitive the the words of God that he will not have to judge us in our continual rebellion.

Benediction

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.