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Israel’s Sin and Punishment - The Book of 2 Kings · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. But the Lord your God ye shall fear,
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  Speaker 1: and he shall deliver you out of the hand of
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  Speaker 1: all your enemies. 2 Kings 17.39 Lord, because you have
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  Speaker 1: created me to live in freedom, I will not hand
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  Speaker 1: the keys of my life over to ungodly relationships and traditions,
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  Speaker 1: so that I remain captive to their harmful and manipulative tactics.
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  Speaker 1: I will not be immersed in evil like the children
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  Speaker 1: of Israel. I will not go into a cycle of
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  Speaker 1: unfaithfulness because of a false promise of abundance. Even if
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  Speaker 1: I fall, I will be quick to call on your
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  Speaker 1: name to deliver me and bring me to a place
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  Speaker 1: of rest and restoration. No matter what the situation looks like,
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  Speaker 1: I will remind myself that you are never too far.
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  Speaker 1: I will remind myself that you were just to forgive
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  Speaker 1: and to forget my shortcomings. When others seek to take
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  Speaker 1: advantage of my vulnerable moments and mistakes, I thank you, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: for sending people in my life like the lions of
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  Speaker 1: 2 Kings 17 who will roar and fight on my behalf. Today,
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  Speaker 1: I confess that the hooks of the enemy are being
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  Speaker 1: removed from my mouth. and that I will speak your
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  Speaker 1: praises for the rest of my life, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for making prayer a priority in your life. To
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  Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life, stay tuned for The
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  Speaker 1: Bible in a Year, brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Israel's Sin and Punishment In our last story, we learned
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  Speaker 2: about the wicked king Ahaz. He ruled Judah with idolatry
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  Speaker 2: and evil. His twisted practices and unstable mind made Judah
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  Speaker 2: vulnerable to attack. Now we learn about the tragedy of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: Its walls would crumble, its cities would burn, and its
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  Speaker 2: people would suffer. We witness the downfall of Israel as
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  Speaker 2: people are carted away like cattle to the slaughter. Naked, afflicted,
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  Speaker 2: and alone, Israel still clings to its idolatry, inspired by
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  Speaker 2: the book of 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us for today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. This is Jack Graham. In
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  Speaker 3: our previous episode, we heard about King Ahaz and his
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  Speaker 3: complete rebellion against God. He did despicable things. killing his
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  Speaker 3: own children to sacrifice to pagan gods. Ahaz suffered God's
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  Speaker 3: judgment as Syria and Israel both went to war against
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  Speaker 3: Judah and took land, devastated Judah's army, and plundered its cities. Still,
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  Speaker 3: Ahaz refused to humble himself and turned to God. He
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  Speaker 3: bowed to more and more foreign idols until he finally died,
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  Speaker 3: never experiencing peace or salvation. Today, we'll turn north once
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  Speaker 3: again to the kingdom of Israel. They too are plunged
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  Speaker 3: into deep darkness, and God's anger will burn against them,
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  Speaker 3: leaving devastated cities, suffering people, and citizens taken as slaves
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  Speaker 3: of the enemy. Yet, just as Ahaz did, they will
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  Speaker 3: not release their idols or turn from their evil, because
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  Speaker 3: these foreign gods grip their hearts. Let's listen now to
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  Speaker 3: today's reading of God's Word.
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  Speaker 2: Violence and bloodshed marked the beginning of King Hosea's reign.
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  Speaker 2: He led a coup against King Pekah of Israel and
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  Speaker 2: seized the throne. Pekah's blood cried out in condemnation against Hosea.
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  Speaker 2: He was a cowardly and evil man, although not an
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  Speaker 2: idol worshiper like his forefathers. Rather than degrade the God
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  Speaker 2: of Israel, idolatry, and false sacrifice, Hosea sinned politically. He
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  Speaker 2: compromised the safety and integrity of Israel by pledging allegiance
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  Speaker 2: to Shalmaneser, king of Assyria. Every year, Hoshea would give
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  Speaker 2: a tribute to Shalmaneser in exchange for safety and favor.
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  Speaker 2: To Hoshea, it seemed like he was protecting his people.
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  Speaker 2: In actuality, he was sending them into their doom. One night,
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  Speaker 2: Hoshea sent his servants with an important message. The message
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  Speaker 2: was for So, king of Egypt. In it was a
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  Speaker 2: lengthy plea to wage war against Syria in exchange for
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  Speaker 2: Israel's loyalty. After hundreds of years of freedom, Hoshea was
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  Speaker 2: about to make Israel slaves to Egypt once again. The
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  Speaker 2: messengers rode fast under the cover of midnight. Their horses
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  Speaker 2: huffed under the darkness, and only the moon lit their way.
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  Speaker 2: As the riders drew closer to Egypt, they were interrupted
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  Speaker 2: by a band of Assyrian spies. They surrounded the messengers.
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  Speaker 2: Inch by inch, they drew closer. Then, with one scoop
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  Speaker 2: of their spear, they killed them. The message was received
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  Speaker 2: by Shalamein Seir. Livid, he mounted his chariot and began
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  Speaker 2: his journey to Israel. Hosea was walking in his gardens,
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  Speaker 2: he paced among the rose bushes, hoping to hear word
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  Speaker 2: back from the king of Egypt. He could hear footsteps
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  Speaker 2: behind him. Perhaps his messengers had returned. Hosea turned around
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  Speaker 2: to the blunt side of a blade against his temple.
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  Speaker 2: Hosea fell to the ground unconscious. When he awoke, he
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  Speaker 2: was in an Assyrian prison. Chains choked at his throat,
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  Speaker 2: and the darkness of the cell was broken by only
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  Speaker 2: one torchlight. Hosea would never see his kingdom again. The
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  Speaker 2: king of Assyria unleashed a tidal wave of hate and
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  Speaker 2: fury onto Samaria. The people of Israel were taken captive.
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  Speaker 2: They were stripped of their clothes, beaten, and then taken
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  Speaker 2: away towards Assyria. Thousands of Israelites winced in pain as
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  Speaker 2: the Assyrians put fishhooks through their lower lips and tied
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  Speaker 2: them to strings attached to the horses. Tied by fishhooks,
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  Speaker 2: the Israelites marched through the wilderness naked and helpless. They
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  Speaker 2: were dispersed around Assyria to Halal, Habor, Gozan, and Medes.
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  Speaker 2: In all their suffering, so many people refused to cry
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  Speaker 2: out to God. Their idolatry was impeded deep in their hearts.
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  Speaker 2: They feared other gods and had forgotten the God that
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  Speaker 2: saved them from the fist of Pharaoh in Egypt. In
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  Speaker 2: the last 200 years since King Solomon, they had erected
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  Speaker 2: pillars for other gods. They had condoned human sacrifice. They
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  Speaker 2: even gave their own children as burnt offerings. They had
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  Speaker 2: forsaken charity, kindness towards foreigners, and humility. They served idols
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  Speaker 2: and themselves. The Lord had sent countless prophets to warn them.
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  Speaker 2: He warned them of how unstable they were becoming. He
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  Speaker 2: warned them that their might as a nation was only
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  Speaker 2: as strong as their relationship with Him. But they would
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  Speaker 2: not listen. They were stiff-necked. They hated the law of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord. They adopted the practices of other nations. As
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  Speaker 2: a result, they were captured like other nations. So the
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  Speaker 2: Israelites were given to their own desires. Now they were
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  Speaker 2: truly like other nations. They faced the demise and humiliation
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  Speaker 2: of kingdoms that lived in a chaotic world. All but
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  Speaker 2: Judah were carted off like cattle to Assyria. Their pain-filled
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  Speaker 2: moans echoed across the canyons, as did the screams of
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  Speaker 2: fishhooks being ripped off of children's lips. The sight filled
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  Speaker 2: God with sorrow. and he waited for them to cry
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  Speaker 2: out to him, but they did not. As the people
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  Speaker 2: were being taken away, the city of Samaria was destroyed.
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  Speaker 2: Its walls were crushed and its homes were burnt. All
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  Speaker 2: that remained were palaces and buildings that the Assyrian people occupied. However,
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  Speaker 2: the Assyrians were unaware that the city belonged to God.
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  Speaker 2: As they drunkenly laughed in the temple halls, a roar
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  Speaker 2: could be heard from the city streets. God sent a
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  Speaker 2: pride of lions from the wilderness to drive out the Assyrians.
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  Speaker 2: King Shalmanesir was a brutal man, but wise and inquisitive.
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  Speaker 2: He appointed some priests to teach him and his men
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  Speaker 2: about the ways of God. Yet this did not sway him.
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  Speaker 3: We open today's passage to find a bloody coup as
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  Speaker 3: Hosea overthrew Israel's king, Pekah. Hosea was a faithless king,
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  Speaker 3: though as we learned his idols were not carved images
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  Speaker 3: like so many of the kings worshipped before him. No,
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  Speaker 3: King Hosea worshipped at a different altar, that of political
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  Speaker 3: alliance with a foreign nation. Rather than trust God for
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  Speaker 3: provision and protection, Hosea turned to the king of Assyria,
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  Speaker 3: submitting himself and his nation's security to him. To Hosea,
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  Speaker 3: this seemed like a wise choice. Assyria was, after all,
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  Speaker 3: a mighty nation. But as Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, soon discovered,
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  Speaker 3: Hosea's loyalty was not to him but to his own interest.
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  Speaker 3: But even as he pledged loyalty to Assyria, Hosea engaged
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  Speaker 3: in treachery. He sent messengers to the king of Egypt,
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  Speaker 3: pledging loyalty to Egypt if they would attack and conquer Assyria.
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  Speaker 3: As you might imagine, Shalmaneser was not too pleased when
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  Speaker 3: he discovered this plan. For this, Hoshea and all of
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  Speaker 3: Israel paid dearly. Hoshea was bound in chains and thrown
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  Speaker 3: into prison, and for three years Israel was besieged by Assyria.
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  Speaker 3: In the ninth year of Hoshea's reign, Samaria fell to
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  Speaker 3: the Assyrians and the people were captured and enslaved. It's obvious,
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  Speaker 3: isn't it, when a nation and its leader turn from God,
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  Speaker 3: there is judgment that follows, always, and people suffer. The
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  Speaker 3: very idols that people turn to today can ultimately enslave
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  Speaker 3: and torture us. Our idols are not made with stones
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  Speaker 3: or political alliances. but often those things that we love
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  Speaker 3: or serve or worship more than God. After so many
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  Speaker 3: years of unfaithfulness and idolatry, Israel faced the consequences of
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  Speaker 3: their great sin. This was not the result of one
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  Speaker 3: sin or even one generation of evil. Since they had
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  Speaker 3: left Egypt, Israel had lived in a pattern of rejecting God,
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  Speaker 3: desiring to be like other nations, rather than being set
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  Speaker 3: apart and holy as God's people were designed to be.
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  Speaker 3: Time and time again, God has sent prophets and leaders
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  Speaker 3: to warn them and call them back into a relationship
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  Speaker 3: with him. We see this in 2 Kings 17 verse 13.
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  Speaker 3: Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet
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  Speaker 3: and every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways and
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  Speaker 3: keep my commandments and my statutes in accordance with my
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  Speaker 3: law that I commanded your fathers and that I sent
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  Speaker 3: to you by my servants the prophets. But rebellious people
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  Speaker 3: continued to go further and further away from God, embracing
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  Speaker 3: the cultures, the customs, and the carved enemies of the world.
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  Speaker 3: So Israel's people were dispersed as slaves to cities throughout Assyria.
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  Speaker 3: The very thing that Hosea had hoped to avoid with
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  Speaker 3: his dishonest dealings and foolish allegiances was now a reality. Ultimately,
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  Speaker 3: God gave his children what they wanted, to be just
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  Speaker 3: like the other nations. They exchanged what was truly good,
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  Speaker 3: a covenant relationship with their Maker, for a lie. The
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  Speaker 3: lie that they could have a better life apart from
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  Speaker 3: God and His ways. In reality, it's the same lie
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  Speaker 3: that the devil told Adam and Eve in the garden,
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  Speaker 3: questioning the Word of God and suggesting that God is
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  Speaker 3: holding His perfect good away from His children. But even
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  Speaker 3: in their rejection and in the midst of exile and humiliation,
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  Speaker 3: God never stopped loving his own. He still had a
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  Speaker 3: plan for Israel to one day break the chains, and
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  Speaker 3: not only theirs, but the chains of all the world,
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  Speaker 3: and the terrible grip of sin. He would do this
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  Speaker 3: through the Savior Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear God,
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  Speaker 3: thank you that the promise is still true that it
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  Speaker 3: is always good to trust in you, to not rely
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  Speaker 3: upon the way of this world, but to always trust
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  Speaker 3: in your ways. Thank you that you never stop loving
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  Speaker 3: us or giving us an opportunity to repent and return
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  Speaker 3: to you. May we never exchange truth for lies. May
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  Speaker 3: we never listen to the enemy, but always listen to you.
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  Speaker 3: In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to today's
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
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  Speaker 3: Download the Pray.com app and make prayer a priority along
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  Speaker 3: know because it can truly make a difference in someone
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  Speaker 3: else's life. And if you want more resources on how
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  Speaker 3: you can know the Bible and live the Christian life,
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  Speaker 3: contact me at jackgraham.org. That's jackgraham.org for many resources that
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  Speaker 3: will help you in your walk with God. God bless you.