They Feared God and Served Their Graven Images
Blessings Folk!!
Assyria had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel.
The king of Assyria brought men in from other portions of his kingdom to live in the cities of Samaria...a common practice to establish presence.
As you read, watch for…
- what happened when they first lived there?
- why did the Lord cause this?
- what did the people do?
- what was the response of the king?
2 Kings 17:24-41
24 The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.
25 At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them.
26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land."
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into exile and let him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land."
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
So, those imported to live in the cities of Samaria did not fear God. Therefore, the Lord sent lions among them to kill some of them!!
Even these pagans realized that something was happening. They spoke to the king. The king provided the solution by sending back a priests who knew “the custom of the god of the land”. The priest taught them how they should fear the Lord.
Some interesting things here.
The Lord God is the God of the land.
There is punishment for not adhering to the custom of the land.
Even those who did not “believe”, who were not of the “children of the Lord”, were to fear the Lord.
Now, watch what happens...this is important...
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.
30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places.
33 They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.
34 To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel;
35 with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying, "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them. 36 "But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.
37 "The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods.
38 "The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.
39 "But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."
40 However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom.
41 So while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
NASU
Those of the nations did fear the Lord, yet they served their own gods.
Again, they feared the Lord yet served their own gods according to the custom of the nations.
I believe that many do that today.
Many fear the Lord, yet serve their own gods. They will acknowledge that God is real, yet they have not confessed nor repented unto salvation. They continue on as children of the nations, as offspring of the world, serving the gods of the evil one, destined for eternal separation from the Most High God…
Some others are like those that we see in verses 34-40. There is a shift of attention here. It looks like the Lord is speaking to the children of Israel who were refusing to walk in the covenant of Lord. They are not observing the ordinances and the law and the commandment of the Lord. They are tempted by the idols. They are not fearing the Lord. They are fearing the other gods!!
The Lord told His people to fear Him and to fear not the other gods - the idols.
They did not listen.
Many within the professing church do likewise. They claim a fear of the Lord, yet they are tempted by idols. They do not truly fear and serve the Lord.
They fear other gods rather than the Lord.
The nations feared God and served their idols.
The children of Israel did not fear God and feared the idols.
Be certain today to fear the Most High God.
Fear not the things of the world.
Blessings!
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Today’s reading from the “So That’s Why” Bible consists of pp. 815-820.