Because of Israel’s unrelenting idol worship, the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians during the reign of King Hoshea. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away into captivity and brought people from other nations into their cities in Samaria. These new peoples did not fear the Lord until He sent lions among them. Then they began to fear Him, but it was the wrong kind of “fear.” They never would have thought of God had it not been for the lions; and when they did think of Him, it was only to be afraid of Him.<\/p>\n
Many people only think about God when they are in trouble, like during a serious sickness; but they never think of Him when they are healthy. They consider God only in the storm, never when life is sunny and warm. They cry out to Him when faced with problems, but never when enjoying prosperity. Many a soldier in combat has had a foxhole conversion, making radical promises to God at the moment; but when the battle passes, so does their commitment. They wanted \u201cfire insurance\u201d rather than an active, personal relationship with the living God. Their worship was in form only, meaning their hearts were not in their service to God.<\/p>\n
Such worship is found much too often today. As believers, we are guilty of such worship when we sing, \u201cI can sing of Your love forever,\u201d but in our hearts we are wondering when the service will end. We sing, \u201cI’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about You,\u201d while in reality we are thinking about ourselves. Mixing God Almighty with other gods will never work because the God who is God will never share worship with an idol. When we go to a worship service, do we go to have an encounter with God, or do we miss the whole point? Many years ago, The Wall Street Journal<\/em> carried this 2-sentence news story that perfectly illustrates this problem:<\/p>\n The elms in, South Park, Pa., must be cut down because they are obstructing the monument to Joyce Kilmer. They have lifted their leafy limbs so high that passersby can no longer read the inscription that begins,”I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What great irony it is to lose sight of what is most important and begin worshiping idols.<\/p>\n “LORD, we turn our hearts to You and ask that You give us undivided hearts to worship and serve You this day.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Kings 17 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And he did\u00a0that which was\u00a0<\/em>evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. 3<\/sup>\u00a0Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as\u00a0he had done\u00a0<\/em>year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 6<\/sup>\u00a0In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor\u00a0by\u00a0<\/em>the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7<\/sup>\u00a0For\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the\u00a0LORD\u00a0cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And the children of Israel did secretly\u00a0those\u00a0<\/em>things that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>not right against the\u00a0LORDtheir God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:\u00a0\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as\u00a0did\u00a0<\/em>the heathen whom the\u00a0LORDcarried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to anger:\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0For they served idols, whereof the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.\u00a013<\/sup>Yet the\u00a0LORD\u00a0testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets,\u00a0and by\u00a0<\/em>all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>round about them,\u00a0concerning<\/em>whom the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had charged them, that they should not do like them.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And they left all the commandments of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God, and made them molten images,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, to provoke him to anger.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.\u00a019<\/sup>Also Judah kept not the commandments of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.\u00a020<\/sup>And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21<\/sup>\u00a0For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the\u00a0LORD, and made them sin a great sin.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Until the\u00a0LORD\u00a0removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 24<\/sup>\u00a0And the king of Assyria brought\u00a0men\u00a0<\/em>from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>it was at the beginning of their dwelling there,\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>they feared not the\u00a0LORD: therefore the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent lions among them, which slew\u00a0some\u00a0<\/em>of them.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.\u00a028<\/sup>Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the\u00a0LORD.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0So they feared the\u00a0LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.\u00a033<\/sup>They feared the\u00a0LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the\u00a0LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0With whom the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:\u00a036<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.\u00a037<\/sup>\u00a0And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.\u00a038<\/sup>\u00a0And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.\u00a039<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.\u00a040<\/sup>\u00a0Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.\u00a041<\/sup>\u00a0So these nations feared the\u00a0LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children\u2019s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Because of Israel’s unrelenting idol worship, the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians during the reign of King Hoshea. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away into captivity and brought people from other nations into their cities in Samaria. These new peoples did not fear the Lord until He sent lions among them. 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