Irreverent Fear
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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.” 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. 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.
Background on the Downfall of Israel (19 Kings all evil)
The common theme of this whole passage is:
“The Fear of the Lord”
In verse 25 - They did not fear the Lord
V. 28 - taught them how they should fear the LoRD.
V. 32 - They also feared the LORD
v. 33 - They feared the LORD
v. 33 - They do not fear the LORD
v. 36 - but you shall fear the LORD
v. 39 - but you shall fear the LORD your God
v. 41 - So these nations feared the LORD
Image of the usage of the word fear here.
Reverent Fear.
We see that the first usage is that they were merely afraid… because the Lord sent lions to kill them.
It is a reactive fear.
Reactive Fear
We’ve seen this kind of fear of God before on a national scale..
The days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 we saw this kind of reactive fear among many people in America. I remember churches were packed..communities lighting up candles in solidarity
How fearful are people now with the onset of the pandemic?
Going about business as usual.. elaborate.. let us embrace the New Normal
Maybe because of the advent of social media..
There has been a change in the mindset of people, there were over 3000 people who died in 9/11 and for many days America went back to their Christian roots, there are over 200,000 who had already died from this pandemic and there was not the same return to or searching for faith..
There seems to be a desensitizing in the hearts of people.
There is the fear that maybe, perhaps God brought some fear in their hearts but the majority of the world is turning to other means just to retain the status quo.
What about the Christian? I would watch a video of a preaching or a recording of the service, I’ll post Psalm 91 and memorize it but in the meantime..
There is no real surrender to the Lord, they live like they are the rulers of their souls.
There is no true repentance , life at home remains the same, fathers and sons dabble in their old secret sins, there is disunity and strife in homes.
There is belief in God, even respect, but no true worship of Him.
There is no True Worship
The people that were settled in Samaria were so unaware and unfamiliar with the things of the One True God that they just look at God as just one among many small gods, so they have to be familiar with the god of the land.
Christians have treated Almighty God like a small god that can be appeased.
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.”
SO the King of Assyria ..
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.
You see this kind of fear is not the true worship of God, what this is is just a recognition that Israel has a god, and He is the god of the land we live in and so therefore we must respect this god so no calamity will fall upon us.
You have heard of reverent fear taught from this pulpit, but there is also an
Irreverent Fear - It is a kind of respect for God that is only a recognition in one’s mind but is not seen in the kind of life he lives.
Are there a multitude of gods in your life?
I grew up in a country that is animistic. (explain)
No pastor, I revere God, I believe in Jesus and I worship Him but in the meantime I also revere the saints, I need a patron saint for every situation..
If I am missing something and I cannot find it I go to St. Anthony the patron saints of missing objects.
There’s a patron saint for anything.
If you’re an accountant the patron saint is St. Matthew
If you’re a nurse you can pray to St. Agatha.
Do you know that places have patron saints too? Las Vegas Nevada has as its patron saint Our Lady of Las Vegas, maybe you should pray to her before you enter the casino...
You see the problem here is that worship of God is meaningless if He is just among other gods that you revere!
This is called pluralism.
Pluralism
We live in a pluralistic society, to explain what pluralism is I’ll just ask you if you have seen this bumper sticker before...
Image of Coexist here.
You may ask pastor Ramon, what is wrong with the different religions coexisting?
We want peace, we are against hatred or bigotry, but the problem is when the world portrays some form of equivalency of all these beliefs with Christianity.
There is One True God and there is One True Faith.
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.
They feared the Lord but they served other Gods… how is that even possible?
Maybe you fear the Lord but you are serving someone else..
That fear is a recognition of Who He is, even belief in Him but you haven’t really given your life to Him.
You are serving other gods, worse you are enslaved by them!
Is it money? your job? Career? Your dreams? your car? your house? your wife? your kids?
What is the main driving force that gets you out of bed every morning?
Whatever it is, God will not share His glory with another!
That kind of irreverent fear will be passed to your next generation.
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.
talk.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.