God Judges

First Thoughts

Oct 21, 1868, a severe earthquake hit Hayward, CA

10 days later, J.D. Cooper, a San Fran physician, wrote a newspaper article recommending an ‘earthquake bell’ on a tower in the center of the city. Detectors were to be placed from 10-100 miles radiating from the city. If shocks occurred, notice by telegraph would be sent. Other detection systems were developed through the years. Intent: to save lives. The warning was to give people an opportunity to get to safety before the impending danger hit.

Context

Israel, both the northern and southern kingdoms, having been doing evil in God’s eyes. King Hoshea of Israel had been paying tribute to Assyria, but he stopped paying, and was trying to set up protection with the King of Egypt. Shalmanaser, king of Assyria found out, and had King Hoshea jailed., and then invaded Israel, and laid seige to Samaria for 3 years. Samaria was finally captured, and the people were deported to Assyria.

2 Kings 17:7–8 (NIV)

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.

How ironic here! 724 years before this event, God, with great power, led Israel out of Egyptian bondage, plundering them as they went, and led them to their own promised land. Now, Israel is caught trying to get Egypt’s help to fight against Assyria.

Why did this happen? ‘BECAUSE (v7) the Israelites had sinned against the Lord. The northern kingdom abandoned God and consequently was now receiving His judgment.

The text tells us of two general sins that Israel was guilty of:

1. Worshipped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out of the promised land. Deut 12:2-3 “Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” Israel was not to adopt any of their ways, but they never forced out all of the inhabitants, and all too quickly mixed with those other nations, and adapted to their ways, including their gods.

2. Israel followed the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. Jeroboam, Israel’s first king after the nation divided, took steps to make sure Israel and Judah remained distinct. Golden calves were put in Dan and Bethel, and the people were to worship there rather than Jerusalem. Festival dates were changed from when God said they were to be celebrated, and priests from tribes other than Levites were appointed, thus corrupting the manner of worship as God had ordained. Jeroboam’s successors continued that evil example.

2 Kings 17:9–13 (NIV)

The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.” The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

Funny, isn’t it? They SECRETLY did things. How could they do them secretly? Secret from God? Must have been secret from other people. Such as if I’m here every Sunday, but I don’t tell anyone here that I go on Tuesday to a Jehovah’s Witness service, and on Thursday night I go to a Hindu service.

In our text, the writer gives some specifics.

They built high places in all their towns. High places refers to elevated spots where they worshipped deity. High so they got closer to the deity. God had said to NOT worship in such places, but only where He said to. ‘All their towns’ is illustrated by the statement - ‘From watchtower to fortified city’. Small villages would only have a watchtower to keep an eye out for approaching enemy, whereas big cities would have walls and gates all around to keep out the enemy. This problem was prevalent throughout the nation.

They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles. Sacred pillars, often made of stone, and sometimes having the image of a god on them were worshipped as representative of some god. Even Jacob worshipped God using a pillar (Gen 28 & 35), but God later prohibited the use of pillars in His worship. Asherah poles, made of wood, represented Asherah, the mother of the Canaanite god Baal. Asherah was a goddess of fertility, and worship of her often included sexual rites that the Law of Moses forbade.

These practices were so prevalent that the writer says they were done on ‘every high hill and under every spreading tree’.

3. Also, at every high place they burned incense. The problem with this is that even if they were doing this as genuine worship of God, it was not in the manner that God had described. The Law of Moses specified that sacred incense was to be burnt continually by the priests, in the tabernacle and temple. The incense was to be a certain mixture used only for that purpose, and the people were not to burn incense to God or any other god as an act of private worship. Didn’t mean they couldn’t bur incense, just not as worship. Make your house smell good, no problem.

God wanted Israel’s worship of Him to be unique, and not to be parallel with anything that the other nations did in their worship of false gods. God knew all to well how easy it is for people of different nations to ‘blend’ when they do similar things, even if not for the same purpose. These other nations were supposed to be driven out, but Israel failed to do that. Now the effect of those nations still living among the Israelites were the curse that God told them they would be.

The worshipped idols alongside worshipping God. This is called syncretism, meaning the borrowing of cultural ideas, practices, and beliefs and combining them with one’s own.

v11 - They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. What they did was not secret from the Lord. God saw it all, and had repeatedly sent prophets and seers (same as prophet), telling the people to stop their evil ways, and return to obeying God. God was faithfull to His people, and patient with their idolatry over many generations. He gave them His laws and commands so they knew how to serve Him, and sent prophets to remind them, and turn them back to Him.

God still calls people today to repent and turn to Him. The gospel is not about making bad people good, but making dead people alive. What does that mean?

Twice in the chapter so far, the text mentions the nations that God had driven out of the land. Why would Israel think that if they do the things that those nations did, that God wouldn’t do the same and drive them out? Their reaction was:

2 Kings 17:14–15 (NIV)

But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

Stiff-necked? Standing defiantly against God, and refusing to bow their heads in submission. Just the same as multiple generations before them. Generally, they, like us today, disobey God because we do not believe His ways are truly best. God wants us to trust Him in everything. Do we?

Israel rejected God’s decrees and the covenant he made with their ancestors. God commands parents to teach their children God’s ways. Each generation needed to learn from the former generation. All it took was for one generation to stop teaching their children about God

They followed worthless idols, became worthless themselves. We only have value because God has a purpose for each one of us. When we don’t fulfill that purpose, then we lose the value that God intended for us to have. 1 Cor. 3:11-15 “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

Are we using the spiritual gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit, to accomplish the things that God has called us to do? If yes, then we can anticipate Christ telling us, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. If not, then we have become worthless. We won’t lose our salvation, but who wants to enter heaven as a ‘worthless’ Christian?

2 Kings 17:16–17 (NIV)

They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

Forsook all the commands of the Lord, and....invented their own standards for living. Israels first king, Jeroboam began this, and the following generations continued it.

Bowed down to the starry hosts - how many people today follow astrology charts?

Worshipped Baal. Sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. Jeremiah, in Jer 7, condemned Judah for doing this horrific practice. God is a God of life. Psa 127:3-5 “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. “ Today we don’t burn them in a fire as some form of deity worship, but for the god of convenience, we kill them before they are even born. It is heathen.

They also practiced divination and sought omens. These were attempts to contact the spirit realm, which people still do today (medium, psychic). What they actually connect to, if anything, is evil spirits.

Through these actions, the people sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. What are you when sold to someone else? A slave. Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—”

Rejecting God leads to greater problems and evil. People who reject God typically also reject the Bible, because if there is no God, then the Bible is not His Word, so why follow a standard that has no merit. So they live as they please, falling deeper and deeper into sin. Moses said: Deut 30:19-20 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Today, God has set before each one of us death and life, cursings and blessings. Worded that way because death and curses are what we are naturally born with, but God made has given us the opportunity to follow Him, and change from death to life, and from curses to blessings. We each make our own choice. Not each in our own way, but in the one and only way that He created for us, through our personal belief and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God, our creator, made only one path to make us righteous before Him. Jn 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

2 Kings 17:18–20 (NIV)

So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.

Removed them from His presence = out of the promised land. He used the Assyrians to do that. The year 722/21 BC was the end of the Northern Kingdom. It had started in 930 BC, continued for over 200 years, with 19 kings, all who failed to follow the Lord.

Judah lasted a little longer, but even after having seen God’s judgement on the Northern Kingdom, they still followed their idolatrous practices, so that God rejected them also. Gave them into the hands of plunderers, which means that enemies came in, and took whatever they wanted. Not just treasure, but possessions of all kinds, and the people, too. Worst, though, is how it is expressed as: until He thrust them from His presence. ‘thrust’ indicates a forceful flinging. Think of the alarm clock that goes off on a Saturday morning, and you forcefully throw it against the wall on the far side of the room.

Application

In Revelation, John assures his readers of the future awaiting believers: Rev 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Rev 22:5 “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

But judgement awaits all who reject God. Matt 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Understand that we by our very sin nature have rejected God. We don’t have to make that choice. That is your future unless you seek God.

Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”