II Kings 17:24 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.
25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So 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.
33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35 With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
39 But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
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.
Israel, the northern tribes, were eventually captured by the Assyrians. They continued to rebel against God and He brought the Assyrians in to capture and plunder the north.
Many Jews were killed and others were left behind to intermarry with the Assyrians. They had no moral compass and they assimilated with the pagans. They were already pagan in their hearts.
With the Assyrians in charge, there were no true priests there. The Word of God was not taught. Yet it was still God’s land. God punished the messed up culture of the north by sending lions to roam the streets. This made the people afraid. They were not safe to go out into the streets for fear of the lions. They did not want to fear God, thus He sent them lions to teach them a lesson.
The Assyrians did not like what was happening. There were some compromised Jews who knew enough that the north was to serve the Lord. They did not want to serve Him in sincerity but they understood the need to include Him in their lives.
In verse 26 the people came to the king of Assyria and pointed out the problem to him. The mixed people, the Samaritans, did not know how to live for God and the land was polluted. They understood the lions were a judgment from God. Their solution is found in verse 27. The king of Assyria would bring in some corrupt priests to teach the people the manner of the God of the land. They would not teach the people the fear of the LORD, just the manner of the God of the land.
We have many religions today that teach the manner of the true God, but they do not teach the fear of the LORD. Thus we have scripture readings, we have communion, we have baptisms, we have singing, but all of it is in corruption.
In verse 29 we read the result of this compromised arrangement. Every nation made gods of their own. They had them in the high places in Samaria.
New Evangelicalism has many gods. Just do a short examination of the different denominations and notice the confusion found within them. This is the result of playing religion and not accepting anything as absolute truth unless it comes from humanism.
Verses 30-31 names some of the false gods they had. Verse 32 tells us they feared the LORD and made themselves priests of the lowest places. This tells us what kind of fear of the LORD they had. It was extremely compromised. It was not a surrender to the authority of the LORD. It was not a repentance and a turning back to God. It was a mixture of truth and error. It was a mess. It was just like the New Evangelicalism of today. It is a mess. You have people who have rejected Bible doctrine, but have the skill of coercion. These are the “pastors” and “spiritual leaders” being consulted and followed. Even president Trump has an extremely corrupt spiritual leader guiding him in his decision making.
We read in verse 34 that this compromised situation carried on for a long time. In fact it is still the common religion in Israel today. There are a few Christians in Israel, but the majority have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of true godliness. Thus there is much immortality and partying that takes place in that land.
In verse 35 we read that God had made a covenant with Israel. He commanded them not to fear other gods, nor bow to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.
They were to serve the true God. God has brought them out of Egypt with a powerful hand. He gave them commandments, but they were not following them.
In verse 40 we read that they chose not to fear the LORD. They chose to follow the paganism they had adopted long ago. Verse 41 sums up the spiritual health of the nation. They feared the LORD and served their graven images. This corruption passed on from generation to generation. They followed in the footsteps of their fathers.
We see the influence that fathers have over their children. It is much more common for water to run downhill than uphill. It is much more common for children to follow the path of sin than of righteousness. The path of righteousness is contrary to the old nature. When that path is followed it will cause tension with the world. It will cause divisions. The lost can become quite hostile to the truth.
We see that with the intent behind Bill C9. It is hostile people who want to silence the truth. They protect terrorists, but do not want anyone telling them they are sinners headed for hell.
Bill C9 may become law. However, God’s Word is still greater than man’s laws. Those that are truly saved need to understand that we cannot mix truth and error and think we can win. Those who are saved do not need to form an alliance with ungodly politicians just because they might agree with some things God says are right. Ungodly politicians have nothing to add to God’s law. We do not need ungodly politicians to grant us the freedom to serve God. Ungodly politicians, regardless of their stripe, will also limit the truth. The current push to fight bill C9 with the aid of Muslims and secular Jews and Catholics and other lost groups, is not good. Muslims hate God as well. They do not want the truth taught. The secular Jews nailed Jesus to the cross. They arrested Peter and John and they also stoned Paul. They are not the friends of true Christianity.
Peter and John and Paul were imprisoned and eventually killed for their faith. However, the Gospel of Christ was clearly preached and true churches were established. People still knew where to go to find truth. If we take a compromised position now, where will people go to find truth. They will not hear it from the politicians. When pastors try to hide behind politicians they do the people a great disservice. God wants a clear voice. He is a clear voice. His voice roars like the thunder. He will shake the earth one day soon. I want to be on His side. I do not want to be shaken due to compromise. Are you interested in Truth, or are you content to mix God’s law with the secularism that is so popular today? As Joshua declared:
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Pastor Bartel