Hoshea is now king of Israel in the north, he reigned nine years, 2 Kings 17:1, and he is the last king of Israel, he reigned from 732 B.C. to the time of the fall of Samaria in 722/21 B.C. 2 Kings 18:9-12. Although he did evil in God’s eyes, he wasn’t like any of the kings who were before him, 2 Kings 17:2.
Jeroboam went all out to try and discourage people from going to Jerusalem for the temple sacrifices by building alternative altars at Bethel and Dan, 1 Kings 12:25-33. As a result of building these altars, he ultimately caused division between God’s people, the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The kings who followed Jeroboam, continued with this same practise, hence why they are often referred to as continuing ‘in the sins of Jeroboam.’ One reason why Hoshea wasn’t like any king before him, was because he allowed the people to go to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices at the temple for the Passover, 2 Chronicles 30:10-27.
Shalmaneser2 Kings 17:3, was the son and successor of Tiglath-Pileser. He is called Shalman by Hosea, Hosea 10:14, and Hoshea became his servant and paid tribute to Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:3. Some think that Hoshea had refused or neglected to pay tribute to Assyria, and this was the reason for Shalmaneser’s invasion. Others think that this coming up of the Assyrian king was merely an expedition of conquest, growing out of the ambition of the new sovereign, and not from any provocation of Hoshea.
Because Israel had great confidence in their alliance with So, the king of Egypt, 2 Kings 17:4, it appears that some people in Israel convinced Hoshea to stop paying tribute to Assyria. Sadly, their confidence was misplaced because their alliance with Egypt failed and Hoshea ended up being a prisoner of the Assyrians, 2 Kings 17:4.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He had endeavoured to shake off the Assyrian yoke, by entering into a treaty with So, King of Egypt and having done so, he ceased to send the annual tribute to Assyria.’
Here we read about the tragic end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings 17:5-6 / Hosea 13:16 / Micah 1:6, all because they refused to listen to God and keep His commandments, 2 Kings 17:7.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Samaria was a powerful stronghold, and it is a credit to the builders and defenders of that city that it withstood a siege for such a long while. It is evident that Assyria scattered her captives among the provinces and that they were not carried to Nineveh, the capital. It was also their policy to place them in small groups so that they would lose their identity and mingle with the local populations. It is not certain as to the exact location of the places mentioned here, but scholars generally suppose that the captives were placed in northern Mesopotamia.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Thus ended the kingdom of Israel, after it had lasted two hundred and fifty-four years, from the death of Solomon and the schism of Jeroboam, till the taking of Samaria by Shalmaneser, in the ninth year of Hoshea after which the remains of the ten tribes were carried away beyond the river Euphrates.’
In these verses, we read about the reason why God punished Israel, 2 Kings 17:7, and why they are now going to be taken into Assyrian captivity. There are three main reasons given, 2 Kings 17:7-23.
1. Because of their idolatry, Exodus 20:2-3.
They were offering their children as a sacrifice to their false gods, 2 Kings 16:3. They built high places, as places of worship, Jeremiah 32:35, when they should have destroyed them, Numbers 33:52 / Deuteronomy 12:2-3. They built two calves, in order to stop people from going to Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices at the temple, 1 Kings 12:25-33. They made images of their gods and bowed down to them, 1 Kings 12:28. They bowed down and worshipped the starry hosts, 2 Kings 21:3 / Deuteronomy 4:19 / Deuteronomy 17:3 / Acts 7:42.
2. Because they rejected God’s law, Hosea 2:13 / Hosea 4:13 / Isaiah 65:3.
3. They disregarded the warnings from God’s prophets, Isaiah 55:6-7.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘God raised up a succession of prophets and seers, who repeated and enforced the warnings of the Law, and breathed into the old words a new life. Among this succession were, in Israel, Ahijah the Shilonite, 1 Kings 14:2, Jehu the son of Hanani, 1 Kings 16:1, Elijah, Micaiah the son of Imlah, 1 Kings 22:8, Elisha, Jonah the son of Amittai, 2 Kings 14:25, Oded, 2 Chronicles 28:9, Amos, and Hosea, in Judah, up to this time, Shemaiah 2 Chronicles 11:2 / 2 Chronicles 12:5, Iddo 2 Chronicles 12:15 / 2 Chronicles 13:22, Azariah the son of Oded, 2 Chronicles 15:1, Hanani, 2 Chronicles 16:7, Jehu his son, 2 Chronicles 19:2, Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, 2 Chronicles 20:14, Eliezer the son of Dodavah, 2 Chronicles 20:37, Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, 2 Chronicles 24:20, another Zechariah, 2 Chronicles 26:5, Joel, Micah, and Isaiah, besides several whose names are not known. Some of these persons are called ‘prophets,’ others ‘seers.’ Occasionally, the same person has both titles (as Iddo and Jehu the son of Hanani), which seems to show that there was no very important distinction between them.’
As a result of their sin, they were carried away to Assyria, 2 Kings 17:24 / 2 Chronicles 34:9. The good news is that Israel learned a really tough lesson here because when they finally came out of captivity, they never again committed idolatry. This should have sent a clear message to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, that God won’t tolerate sin, but as we know, they never learned anything from the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Sargon is probably the king of Assyria intended, not (as generally supposed) either Shalmaneser or Esar-Haddon.’
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim, 2 Kings 17:24. These are all lands which the Assyrians had conquered. Notice that they spread them out throughout their entire empire and moved people into the lands they had conquered.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He removed one people entirely, and substituted others in their place and this he did to cut off all occasion for mutiny or insurrection, for the people being removed from their own land, had no object worthy of attention to contend for, and no patrimony in the land of their captivity to induce them to hazard any opposition to their oppressors.’
They did this so that they could mix the cultures and the religious beliefs of the people, which would then reduce the threat of any kind of revolt against them. The mixing of these people would result in what we now know as the Samaritans. They were basically a cross raced people, those who were left behind in Palestine and those who were put together with them by the Assyrians.
Notice that when they first got there they didn’t worship God, and so God sent lions amongst them, 2 Kings 17:25. Those who had been brought into the land didn’t know God and didn’t fear God and so God allowed the population of lions to increase, 2 Kings 17:26, which meant the land now became a very dangerous place.
It’s clear that the Assyrians believed that the lion attacks were a punishment from the God of the land, and so the king commissions a Levite priest to go to the land to teach the people about the commandments of God and how to worship God, 2 Kings 17:27-28. This one Levite put faith in the hearts of the Samaritans, which must have remained with them until they were freed from their captivity.
It appears as if the Levites were encouraging some people to put their faith in God, there were others who were promoting idolatry, 2 Kings 17:29. This is the result of different cultures and religious beliefs coming together in one place.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The ‘Samaritans’ here are the Israelites. The temples built by them at the high places, 1 Kings 12:31 / 1 Kings 13:32, had remained standing at the time of their departure. They were now occupied by the new-comers, who set up their own worship in the old sanctuaries.’
The writer then goes on to give us a list of Babylonian gods who were worshipped by these people, 2 Kings 17:30-33. We don’t know much about the Babylonian god, Succoth-Benoth. Nergal was a male god, who was originally associated with the sun and fire, but later he was then made the god of war and hunting, and later still, he was made the god of disasters.
Ashima was the god of the Hamathites and may have been associated with the Asherah. We don’t know a lot about the Babylonian gods, Nibhaz and Tartak, although some commentators suggest that Nibhaz originated from Elam and that Tartak was a Syrian goddess. Adrammelek was a god associated with the Sumero-Akkadian god, Anu, which was associated with human sacrifice.
These different gods give us an insight into the religious practices of the Babylonians, but instead of allowing God to influence their lives, they allowed these man-made images to direct and influence their lives. As a result, the God of heaven became like all the other gods, they just mixed their religion to cover all bases, Acts 17:23.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They did not relinquish their own idolatry but incorporated the worship of the true God with that of their idols. They were afraid of Jehovah, who had sent lions among them and therefore they offered him a sort of worship that he might not thus afflict them but they served other gods, devoted themselves affectionately to them, because their worship was such as gratified their grossest passions, and most sinful propensities.’
To this day they persist in their former practices and they neither worship God nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that God gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel, 2 Kings 17:34.
When God made a covenant with the Israelites, He commanded them not to worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them, 2 Kings 17:35 / Exodus 20:3 / Deuteronomy 5:7. It was God who brought them up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, Deuteronomy 26:8, and He is the one they must worship, only He is to be bowed down to and have sacrifices offered to, 2 Kings 17:36.
They needed to be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands God wrote for them, they must not worship other gods, 2 Kings 17:37. God says they shouldn’t forget the covenant He made with them, and they mustn’t worship other gods, rather, worship God because He is the One who will deliver them from the hand of all their enemies, 2 Kings 17:38-39 / Deuteronomy 20:4 / Psalm 34:22.
They would not listen to what God said and persisted in their former practices, 2 Kings 17:40. Even while these people were worshiping God, they were serving their idols, 2 Kings 17:41 / 2 Kings 25:27. It appears that all attempts by the Levites to teach the Samaritans God’s laws were only partially successful.
This is understandable, especially when we think that these people who were brought here by the Assyrians to mix, had their own religious baggage, baggage which for some was too much to let go of. It’s no wonder people get confused, as they hear a mixture of truth and error. Sadly, some added the God of heaven to their long list of gods and served them all, which their children and grandchildren continued to do, 2 Kings 17:41.