314. DECLINE AND CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES
"Yahweh was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight"
In our last lesson we considered the life of Jonah and his message to the Ninevites. It was this nation of Assyria that would take Israel captive some 100 years after Jonah's preaching. Despite Jehu's thoroughness in destroying the worshippers of Baal, he still continued in the "sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin", as did the kings of Israel who followed him, and the nation continued to decline spiritually. Finally, during the reign of Hoshea, Israel was conquered by Assyria and taken into captivity.
Our aim in this lesson will be to trace the causes of Israel's decline and to observe the punishments which came on them so that we might avoid them.
2 Kings 17
DECLINE OF ISRAEL.
The establishment by Jeroboam of apostate worship, under the direction of priests "of the lowest of the people, and which were not of the sons of Levi", was the beginning of Israel's decline. Many fled the northern kingdom, seeking the religion of their fathers in Judah and Jerusalem. Twenty years after the division, Israel had an army of 800,000 (2 Chron. 13:3), but by the reign of Ahab this had declined to 7,232 (1 Kgs. 20:15). Judah on the other hand commenced with 180,000 (2 Chron. 11:1) and grew to 1,160,000 in the time of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17:14-18).
There was a complete lack of stability in the northern kingdom. Unlike Judah which had a continuous line of kings from the house of David, Israel had six dynasties from the days of Jeroboam. The capital city was also changed twice, from Shechem to Tirzah and later from Tirzah to Samaria. This instability was symptomatic of their real problem € disobedience to God. In the reign of Hoshea, the last king of Israel, it is recorded that "he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him" (2 Kgs. 17:2). This is certainly not an enviable record, but it is the best of all the kings of Israel. Every other king of Israel is said to have followed the sins of Jeroboam, to have sinned against Yahweh and to have made Israel to sin. Let us now trace the latter end of the kingdom of Israel until its ultimate captivity by Assyria.
THE GROWING THREAT OF ASSYRIA (2 Kings 15:8-31).
The wickedness of Israel is emphasised in the reigns of its last five kings. Each of them (except for Menahem) was overthrown by violence and intrigue. Zachariah the son of Jeroboam II, of the line of Jehu, ascended the throne and continued the corruption commenced by Jeroboam I. He reigned for only six months and was slain by Shallum (v.10). This fulfilled the word of Yahweh in 2 Kings 10:30 (cp. 15:12). But Shallum's conspiracy was shortlived, for in the space of a month he, too, was slain by Menahem (v. 14).
Menahem reigned for ten years. They were years of turmoil within Israel, due to the unsettled state of their rulers. The eye of faith would have seen these troubles as indicative of Yahweh's displeasure with His people, but most of the faithful had long since fled to Judah. There was, however, a greater threat to Israel than internal strife. The growing power of Assyria was beginning to make itself felt. Menahem was forced to pay tribute to Pul, the king of Assyria, to dissuade him from attacking Israel (w. 19-20). In fact, Chronicles tells us that, from this time on, portions of the northern tribes began to be taken into captivity (1 Chron. 5:26). Instead of seeking the riches of faith and trust in Yahweh, Menahem sought to buy off the Assyrians, but to no avail. Israel's doom was sealed.
Menahem was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who reigned for two years, continuing the corruption of his father (vv.23-24). He was over thrown, in violence, by Pekah, who then reigned for twenty years (vv.25-27). Pekah sought to strengthen Israel. His efforts were entirely in his own strength € he neglected the source of real strength. He sought an alliance with Rezin, king of Syria, and came against his brethren in Judah, successfully defeating them under the weak leadership of Ahaz. He was forced by the prophet Oded to return his captive brethren back to Judah (2 Chron. 28:6-11). He was, however, in the words of Isaiah, only "a tail of smoking firebrand" (Isa. 7:4) and was in due course extinguished as such. During his reign Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, continued the ravages of his predecessor, taking many in Israel captive to Assyria (v.29). Israel still continued in wickedness. Pekah was overthrown in the same way that he had come to the throne € by conspiracy and violence (v.30).
ISRAEL'S LAST KING € HOSHEA (2 Kings 17:1-6).
Hoshea ascended the throne and reigned for nine years. Israel's doom had been sealed and Hoshea made only a half-hearted attempt to effect reform. He was not as wicked as the kings before him (v.2), but by this time only outstanding faith and ability could have averted the pattern of decline. Hoshea sought an alliance with So, king of Egypt, and stopped sending tribute to the king of Assyria (v.4). Israel, which had come out of Egypt under the hand of Yahweh, now turned back and sought an alliance with that broken reed. Like "a silly dove" they sought an alliance with the power of darkness, for says Hosea, "Israel hath forgotten his maker, and buildeth temples . . . but I will send a fire upon his cities and it shall devour the palaces thereof" (Hos. 7:11; 8:14). That fire was Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, who came upon Israel and utterly devastated them (vv.5-6, 23). The kingdom of Israel was no more.
THE CAUSE OF DECLINE AND CAPTIVITY (2 Kings 17:7-23).
The reasons for Israel's captivity are clearly set forth in this section of the record. God is full of compassion and mercy, but He will not leave the wicked unpunished. Israel had ample opportunity to repent, but had hardened their necks against His prophets. Look at the catalogue of sins in these verses:
€ they walked in the statutes of the gods of other nations and not in the law of Yahweh (vv.7-8).
€ they secretly, as well as openly, performed abominations against their God (v.9).
€ they set up groves and built idols to worship in defiance of God's law (vv.10-12).
€ they refused God's prophets, hardened their necks and would not believe in Yahweh their God (vv. 13-14).
€ they followed vain things, worshipped the two calves, and served Baal (vv. 15-16).
€ they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire (v.17).
Yahweh was not prepared to bear with them any longer. They had defiled His land, rejected His prophets and so He "removed 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" (v.23). Again in 2 Kings 18:12, God emphasises the reason for their captivity: "because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God but transgress ed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them".
THE BEGINNING OF THE SAMARITANS (2 Kings 17:24-41).
The Assyrians had a practice of settling their conquered victims in other lands. Their objective was to stifle the spirit of nationalism from growing in the lands they controlled and so to forestall revolt. The rest of chapter 17 is an account of this practice in the cities of Samaria; many peoples from distant lands were deported to Israel, and settled there, along with their idolatry. Yahweh caused lions to come against these settlers from other nations (vv.25-26). The Assyrians then brought back one of the priests of Israel to instruct the foreigners in the ways "of the God of the land". The resultant confused and corrupt form of worship became known as the religion of the Samaritans. Note verse 32-33; "They feared the Lord 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. They feared the Lord and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence". As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4:22, "Ye worship ye know not what".
ISRAEL YET TO BE REGATHERED.
The northern kingdom was scattered to all nations of the earth and, unlike the southern kingdom of Judah, has remained that way until our generation. The time is approaching when the northern kingdom of Ephraim will become the arrow and Judah the bow of Yahweh (Zech. 9:13-14). Both Israel and Judah have yet to be joined together as one under their rightful king, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ezek. 37:16-28). Even Hosea, who wrote so much concerning the wickedness and apostasy of Israel, prophesied of this time (see 1:10-11; 3:4-5; 6:1-3). We see a token of these prophecies with Israel back in the land, but they will have their complete fulfilment when Jesus Christ, through Elijah, brings them back "as in the days of old" (Micah 7:14-15; Ezek. 20:33-44).
LESSONS FOR US:
€ Israel failed initially by corrupting the worship that God had established through Moses. We must be careful to maintain a purity of doctrine and worship before God (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 Pet. 3:15-18).
€ Israel established harmful practices, both in public and in secret, offering their children to the fire; and replaced the true God with heathen idols. We must keep ourselves from idols, i.e. anything that would divert our singleness of heart from serving God to serve some lesser purpose (1 John 2:15-17; 5:21).
€ Israel was stiff necked, refusing to listen to the voice of Yahweh's prophets, and hardened their hearts against His commandments. We must be prepared to receive God's Word and not to rebel against His precepts (Isa. 57:15-17; 66:1-2).
€ Like the Samaritans we come from a confused and corrupt system of religion and the words of Jesus are particularly relevant € "true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23).
REFERENCE LIBRARY:
"The Ways of Providence" (R. Roberts) € Chapters 19, 20
"The Story of the Bible" (H.P. Mansfield) € Vol. 5, Nos. 11 and 12, Pg. 175-186.
"The Minstry of the Prophets" (R. Roberts and C.C. Walker) € Pg. 95-98.
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:
1. How did the Samaritan religion commence?
2. Contrast in general terms the kings of Israel with those of Judah.
3. What fate befell the kingdom of Israel? Give brief details.
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1. Explain the part that Israel's kings played in the decline of the kingdom of Israel.
2. What were the basic reasons for the decline and captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel?
What lessons do we learn from the decline of the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel and its removal into captivity?