Hoshea is now king of Israel in the north, 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.
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.
Shalmaneser 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.
Some think that Hoshea had refused or neglected to pay tribute to Assyria, and this was the reason for Shalmaneser’s invasion and 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, 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.
Here we read about the tragic end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, all because they refused to listen to God and keep His commandments.
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.’
In these verses, we read about the reason why God punished Israel and why they are now going to be taken into Assyrian captivity. There are three main reasons given.
1. Because of their idolatry, Exodus 20:2-3 / 2 Kings 17:9-21.
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.
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.
As a result of their sin, they were carried away to Assyria. 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.
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim, 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. This is the result of different cultures and religious beliefs coming together in one place.
The writer then goes on to give us a list of Babylonian gods who were worshipped by these people.
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.
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.
The good news is that many didn’t listen to the errors being taught, they listened to the Levites but put their faith in God. 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.
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."