Read 2
Kings 15-17 & John
6:1-21
To discover:
As you read consider the
particular sins Israel
are judged for.
To ponder:
Azariah of Judah (also known as
Uzziah, 15v5 and 32) did “right,” except for the high places, but was afflicted
by God with leprosy (for sin, 2 Chr 26v19-21), causing his son Jotham to act as
co-regent.
From
Zechariah, we read he and each subsequent king of Israel
do “evil” by “not turning away from the sins of Jereboam.” This theme of
continuing or turning from the sins of one’s forefather demonstrates how the
acts of one generation can influence subsequent ones – for good or evil. Most kings
that follow are assassinated. So God’s promise of Jehu’s line continuing for just
four generations is fulfilled, and we see how far the kingdom has fallen from
its original stability under David.
Shallum
follows Zechariah, and then Menahem, who does great evil against an Israelite
city that didn’t seem to accept his rule. At this time we read of the rising
empire of Assyria that Menahem paid off with taxes from Israel,
and with no sense of turning to the LORD for help. Menahem’s son Pekahiah
succeeded him, and then Pekah. At this time Assyria took
much land and deported some of the people. This loss should have rung alarm
bells with respect to God’s promise that Israel
would only remain in the land if faithful.
During
Pekah’s reign, Jotham reigned in Judah,
doing “right” but for the high places. Ahaz succeeded him. He not only followed
the evil ways of the kings of Israel,
but the ways of the Canaanite nations, even sacrificing his son. However, although
Aram and the Edomites then gain land, Aram can’t take Jerusalem, no doubt
because of God’s commitment to David (2 Sam 7). Yet rather than look to God for
salvation, Ahaz offered himself as a vassal to the Assyrian king and paid him
off so he would “save” him. He even redesigned the temple “in deference” to the
king, replacing the altar that had been made according to God’s instructions
with one patterned on the altar of Assyria’s gods, and using God’s altar for
“seeking guidance” – probably the occult practice of divination! Ahaz’s
wickedness shows that what was about to happen to the northern kingdom because
of her sins could well happen to the south too. It also teaches how easily
seeking help or salvation from man can lead to sin in order to gain their
favour.
Hoshea
follows Pekah as king of Israel.
His reign wasn’t as evil as that of previous kings, showing that what followed
was primarily punishment for what had preceded it. Hoshea sought to change his
allegiance from Assyria to Egypt,
so the Assyrian king Shalmaneser imprisoned him, besieged Samaria
for three years, capturing it and deporting the Israelites. This key event is
known as the exile of the northern kingdom (722BC), and we are left in no doubt
why it occurred: Israel had “not trusted” God, rejecting him and his covenant to
follow even the most wicked practices of the other nations, and not turning
from Jereboam’s sins. They had received many warnings through God’s prophets
and seers, but refused to listen, being “stiff-necked” and so disobeying his
commands, especially with respect to idolatry. So “the LORD was angry” and
“thrust them” from his all important “presence;” and therefore from the
blessing he could give. And this was, of course, all according to his covenant
(Deut 28v36-37, 64-68). It’s all a sober reminder we cannot treat God’s
warnings lightly.
The
space given to recounting how the foreign peoples who replaced the Israelites
were attacked by lions for not worshipping the LORD, affirms the land remained
the special place of his presence (17v26). The mix of true and false religion
that followed shows how offensive the state in the north then was for God. In
noting the Gentiles acted just as the Israelites did, we also see Israel’s
history condemns all humanity who would have done no better (Rom 3v20).
Praying it home:
Praise God for his readiness to
help and save. Pray that you would look to him in your time of need, and not
sin against him in order to gain the favour of others.
Thinking further:
None today.
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