2nd Kings 17:22-24, “For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the LORD 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. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.”
2nd Kings 17:33, “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.”
2nd Kings 17:41, “So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.”
1st Kings 12:12-14, “So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
An easy way to always remember who fled north, and who stayed in Jerusalem, is this helpful catchy saying: “Jeroboam journeyed, but Rehoboam remained.” Jeroboam journeyed north with 10 of the tribes, to start their own new kingdom; whereas Rehoboam (Solomon's son) remained with the tribes of Benjamin and Levi in Jerusalem in the south.
The New Northern Kingdom of Israel
Sadly, Jeroboam was a bad king, leading the people to commit wickedness. The Jewish people worshipped idols, practicing witchcraft to summon devils, sacrificing their children in the fire to the pagan gods of Moloch and Baal. They greatly provoked the Lord to anger.
God sent Isaiah the prophet to preach to the northern tribes, pleading with them to repent toward God. Isaiah's indictment of Israel reminds me so much of the United States today:
Isaiah 1:4-7, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.”
America today has gone backwards. In his sermon titled: “Titanic,” Evangelist Lester Roloff rightly says: “America was great when she was good, and she was good when she had great churches!” Great churches are just about a thing of the past. I thank God for soulwinning churches today, like the Clays Mill Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. Their faithful senior pastor is Jeff Fugate, one of my favorite preachers. This is a great church!!!
In the Old Testament, the country of Assyria (which was a world power at the time) invaded the northern kingdom of Israel. God raised up the nation of Assyria against Israel in judgment. The capital of northern Israel was Samaria; the capital of the southern kingdom was Judah. Northern Israel was conquered in 722 BC (southern Israel was conquered by Babylon 136 years later in 586 BC). After the Assyrians conquered Samaria in the north, they took the Jews captive to Assyria. Soon thereafter, the king of Assyria decided to send settlers back to Samaria, from multiple nations which they had conquered:
2nd Kings 17:22-24, “For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the LORD 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. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.”
The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser, sent back captives from many nations to resettle in Samaria. Consequently, the Jews who resettled in Samaria became corrupted by the heathens. The Bible says that the Samaritans feared God and served him with idols! How do you fear God while serving graven images? When I first read this Scripture, I thought I had read it wrong. I read it again and again, and then wondered why it said that the Samaritans “feared the Lord,” but also served “graven images.” Let's see what happened.
Shalmaneser (the king of Assyria) also took captives from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath and from Sepharvaim, putting them in Samaria with the Jews he had taken captive. Shalmaneser removed the Jews (the ten tribes) from Israel's northern kingdom, and put them in Assyria. Soon thereafter the king took captives from a bunch of countries, and he moved them to live in Samaria. These people became known as the “Samaritans” (named after Samaria, the former capital of northern Israel). So now you know where the Samaritans originated.
The Samaritans worshipped idols. God sent lions to eat them as judgment (2nd Kings 17:25-26). So to remedy the problem, the heathen king of Assyria returned one of the captive Jewish priests to Samaria, to teach the Samaritans how to worship God properly. It's funny when you think about it. You couldn't make up a better story. Truth is stranger than fiction!
I love this true story. God sent lions to eat the people for worshipping other gods. So the king of Assyria panics and sends a corrupt Jewish priest to teach the pagans how to worship the God of Israel. The Samaritans are genuinely scared to death and want the lions to go away. So in fear of being devoured by a wild beast, the people begin to worship the God of Israel while serving their graven images. They didn't know any better. It is to this confusion that Acts 17:29-30 makes reference to: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” The people sincerely thought that the way to worship God was with graven images.
Today people have the testimony of creation, the witness of conscience, the conviction of the Holy Spirit within our soul, the complete inspired Word of God and the witness of Calvary. So people today have multiple witnesses concerning the truth. Unlike the Samaritans, we can clearly see what Jesus Christ did for us through the cross—His death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). We have the truth. We are so blessed to have the complete Bible. We have NO excuses today not to repent toward God.
The Samaritans did fear God, but the Bible says they also served their idols. God in His mercy winked at their ignorance. By sending lions to chastise the people, God was showing mercy to the Samaritans, trying to compel them to repent. Notice that the Bible says in 2nd Kings 17:41 (our text Verse) that the Samaritan's confusion continues “UNTO THIS DAY.” That is, they continued to worship the God of Israel, while serving graven images simultaneously. Jesus confirmed this several hundred years later when He said to the Samaritan woman at the well: “YE WORSHIP YE KNOW NOT WHAT...”
John 4:22-24, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”The Samaritans were sincerely confused; but the Jews were arrogantly rebellious! The Jews knew full well what God expected from them, but they were stiff-necked and rebellious, even unto this day in 2012. The Samaritans (Gentiles); on the other hand, were sincere and wanted to worship God, but they were ignorant and tried their best, based upon what the corrupt Jewish priest had taught them. Remember that God judged the northern kingdom of Israel for their gross idolatry. So this former priest in Israel was probably full of idols in his mind.
The Samaritan's native culture dominated their religious mindset and worship. They brought the false religion of their native cultures with them to Samaria. Yet, God winked at their ignorance because He is a merciful and loving God who is fair, just and righteous. Albeit, consider yourself warned my friend, because the Bible says that God no longer winks at anyone's ignorance. The reason why is because WE HAVE THE TRUTH today. The Bible says:
Titus 2:11-15, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”Americans today are far more like the rebellious Jews, than we are like the ignorant Samaritans. We say “IN GOD WE TRUST” on our currency, but then we superficially serve God with sycophantic praise worship instead of heartfelt hymns, psychology instead of theology, and entertainment instead of preaching in our churches. We commit woeful wickedness; including the sins: covetousness, being respecters of persons, indifference toward false doctrine, arrogance, adultery, abortion, lust, drunkenness, corporate stealing, homosexuality, idolatry, violence, lying and cursing in the dear Lord's name, et cetera. If people are confused in today's modern times, it is only because they have foolishly chosen to follow some other way, than that of Bible Christianity. THE TRUTH crieth from the rooftops and out in the streets, but few people are wise enough to listen!
If a person desires the truth, our good God is obligated to PROVIDE the truth. Man's obligation is to DESIRE the truth. If a person does not desire the truth, than God is not obligated to bring them the truth. God searches the hearts of all men. 1st Chronicles 28:9, “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.” God knows you better than you know yourself my friend. God knows the thoughts, intents and works of all mankind. Nothing escapes the eyes of God (Hebrews 4:13; Psalms 139:1-6). The Lord searcheth all hearts and ponders our every thought (Proverbs 24:12). I am glad to know that God sees all things.
Unlike during the Old Testament before the Messiah came, God doesn't tolerate people's ignorance today. The Lord DIDN'T wink at their wickedness in the Old Testament; but rather, their ignorance the Bible says. God never tolerates evil. Howbeit, there is no excuse for ignorance today, because we have the inspired truth of God's Word in the Holy Scriptures. We understand who Jesus is. The saving Gospel is plainly visible for all to see. The whole world today knows that Jesus died, was buried and rose up bodily from the dead the third day. Jesus di that for you and me, so that we could be rescued from Hell. No one can go to Heaven unless they become born again (John 3:3).
The Samaritan people in the Old Testament couldn't see that truth. Acts 17:30, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” People have no excuse today not to get saved. Jesus was crucified, buried and risen from the dead, which was a supernatural miracle of God. I hear many preachers foolishly telling people to “trust Jesus” or “follow Christ” to be saved, but that is not how a person gets to Heaven. You need to understand that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and that He died in your place on a cross to pay your debt of sin (and mine). It is not enough to just “trust Jesus,” without understanding that you are a guilty sinner deserving of the Lake of Fire; and that Jesus is the Christ who died FOR YOU on the cross, was buried, and raised up bodily from the dead three days later. This is “the Gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4.
Jesus greatly loved the Samaritan people, even though Jews avoided associating with the Samaritans, because the Samaritans were not pure ethnic Jews, Christ went to them with the Gospel. John 4:4, “And he must needs go through Samaria.” When Jesus approached the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well in John chapter four, she was awestruck that a Jewish man would even take the time to speak with her. When she found out that He is the Messiah, the Bible says that she left her waterpot. Her mind was blown! John 4:28-29 “The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” I commend this Samaritan woman, who greatly wanted her own people to hear the Messiah, so they could be saved too.
You need to understand that every Samaritan and Jew had been eagerly waiting for millenniums for the promised Messiah to come. That is why we read in Luke 2:23, “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)” Every time that a Jewish woman became pregnant, joy filled her soul wondering if perhaps she might be the mother of the promised Messiah.
Of course, what those Jews failed to understand is that the coming Christ would not have an earthly father. God Himself was Jesus' biological Father. Joseph was Jesus' Dad who raised Him, but God was Jesus' biological Father. That is what the Bible means when it refers to Jesus as God's only “begotten” Son of God (e.g., John 3:16). The Devil's modern Bible perversions wickedly remove the word “ begotten” from John 3:16 and all other passages in the Holy Bible, which is a brutal attack on Jesus deity (i.e., Jesus is 100% almighty God).
God never touched Mary. The perverted Mormon cult errantly teach that God had carnal knowledge with Mary, and that Jesus had multiple wives on earth. There is not a more blasphemous, damnable, dangerous and satanic religion than Mormonism! Please RUN from this deadly cult that will take you to Hell with them forever. Do some research and you will find that Mormon theology errantly denies Jesus' deity. Mormons foolishly believe that as Christ achieved godhood, so also will every Mormon by adhering to the Mormon lifestyle. The entire religion is rooted in sex. That in itself should tell you that something is very wrong with Mormonism.
2nd Kings 17:41, “So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.”
1st Chronicles 16:10-11, “Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”
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