2 Kings 17:1-23 — Hoshea and Israels’s Exile
2 Kings 17:24-41 — Samaria resettled
2 Kings 18:1-12 — Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
2 Kings 18:13-37 — Sennacherib Attacks Judah
2 Kings 19:1-13 — Sennacherib Defies the Lord but Isaiah Reassures
2 Kings 19:14-37 — Hezekiah Prays for Deliverance and Isaiah Prophesies
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
My prayer is for you to join me on this journey. Subscribe to this blog below to get an email when a new post is available.
Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Chapter 17 provides a list of offenses committed by Israel and 2 Kings 17:18-19 we read: “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 were literally removed, “So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria” (17:23) and replaced by foreigners who settled in Samaria. These people from many different nationalities and religious backgrounds worshipped their own gods. When lions ravaged the people, the Assyrian king had the Israelite priests brought to Bethel where they taught them how to worship the Lord so they “worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods” (17:33).
Compare Judah in Chapter 18, the latest king “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him” (18:5). Hezehiah did what was right, rare words in 2 Kings! As a result, Sennacherib taunts and threatens the people of Judah, but they remain resilient and trust in the Lord. They asked God for help and he sent a prophesy through Isaiah (see Isaiah chapters 36-37 for a parallel reading). “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” (19:35). Sennacherib was killed by the sword as Isaiah had foretold. The remnant of God’s people survived.
Those sent of to exile by the Assyrians probably had no idea what was going on, yet they paid the price for their sins. Perhaps they didn’t hear the words of the prophets or simply ignored them, the latter seems most likely. The song, “Slow Fade” by Casting Crowns comes to mind…”when black and white have turned to gray.” Lord I long to be in the remnant of your people, even if only a few who serve you and no other. We have a great mission at hand, to guide the lost, to show people that there is but one true God, one savior Jesus Christ. We have the Holy Spirit to help us and he is able if we are willing.