seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Kings 17:24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”
27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
29 Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. 30 The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
34 To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. 36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. 37 You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. 39 Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.
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Here's a link to the commentary I read.
Then the king of Assyria brought people: The policy of the Assyrian Empire was to remove rebellious, resistant people and to resettle their former lands with people from other parts of the empire.
“Not only did the Assyrian monarchs hope to make the repopulated and reconstituted districts more manageable, but they hoped to train and encourage the citizenry to transfer their loyalties to the Assyrian Empire.” (Patterson and Austel)
They did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them: This shows that there was not only something special about the kingdom of Israel, but also something special about the land of Israel. God demanded to be feared among the people of the land, even if they came from other nations.
Because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land: These Assyrian officials seemed to know what the recently-conquered kingdom of Israel did not know — that they had to honor the God of Israel. Yet, any faith in God among these resettled people was founded in simple fear of the lions — leading to an inadequate relationship with God.
Taught them how they should fear the LORD: The priesthood of the kingdom of Israel was corrupt, but the king of Assyria did not know and was not interested in the pure religion of Israel. Therefore this nameless, corrupt priest taught the new inhabitants of the land a corrupt religion.
Every nation continued to make gods of its own: The priest-for-hire brought in by the Assyrians did not tell the new inhabitants of the land that they must only worship the LORD God of Israel. He did not teach it because, coming from Israel, he did not believe it.
They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods: This described the pagan peoples that the Assyrians brought in to populate the area of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They gave a measure of respect to the God of Israel — after all, they did not want to be eaten by lions. Yet they also served their own gods and picked and chose among religious and spiritual beliefs as it pleased them.
To this day they continue practicing the former rituals: The area of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was not re-occupied by Judah before their own subjugation and conquest by the Babylonian empire. This mixed religion first promoted by the Assyrians continued for many centuries in Samaria, existing even until New Testament times.
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Lions, God used lions! Real honest to God, lions!
Now I bet there are some fake preachers out there who will preach that this is about the "lion of David".
I bet some fake preacher will say this is about the "lion" that was sewn to a flag to be unfurled in battle.
I bet some fake preacher will teach that it's ok to have idols as long as you have God!
Look at verse 41. See how a moderately talented public speaker could cherry-pick that one verse out of this whole section and cause it to be the rallying cry to "go buy more crosses or statues because God wants to be inclusive!!!!
Let me set my record straight.... I do not think God wants us to include any [not one] other religion in our worship of Him.
I told you about the church that I visited in Prince Frederick whose preacher wanted to stop preaching "Christ Crucified". She explained to us that it was so she could offer a more "inclusive" church. She claimed it was "too messy" and turned people off. She also said a more "inclusive message" would attract a larger census. It would help cover the church's mounting debt. More people, more income. Maybe the reason her "church" is drowning in debt was because it is fake!
When Ahab and Jezebel built the first fake churches it was also for money... the workers could stay in town and worship instead of going all the way to Jerusalem for every Jewish holiday. The workers could work and worship "conveniently" and support the economy at the same time.
Some preacher has already preached that the lions were just a "metaphor". God wouldn't really send lions to devour "His people". It's too messy. It's just a metaphor, so it's easy to swallow.
God sent real lions! I don't care how hard it is to believe!
Real lions ate real people and the king hired fake priests to keep the people working.
Lions and fake priests!
