The northern nation of Israel was defeated by Assyria and all of the citizens were carried away and forced to live in other countries. Foreign people were then brought into the land and settled in their homes. The destruction was so complete that people still talk about the “lost tribes” of Israel when referring to this nation. This unusual passage is the explanation of Scripture itself.
Word: 2 Kings 17
This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the Lord their God…. 8 They had followed the practices of the pagan nations … .as well as the practices the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the Lord their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city. 10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles at the top of every hill and under every green tree. 11 They offered sacrifices on all the hilltops, just like the nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of them. So the people of Israel had done many evil things, arousing the Lord’s anger. 12 Yes, they worshiped idols, despite the Lord’s specific and repeated warnings.
13 Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”
14 But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.
16 They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven. 17 They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire. They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.
18 Because the Lord was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence.
As a nation, they completely forgot! They forgot Moses and Joshua. They forgot Samuel and David. They forgot Sinai, and they forgot Jericho. And they had filled the place of those things forgotten with what they saw around them.
They saw big, wealthy nations who worshipped “all the forces of heaven”—nature, science, material things! They saw powerful nations who sacrificed their sons and daughters—seeking success, control, prestige! They turned to the occult, giving preference to karma and zen and crystals and auras. They practiced sorcery—deception, calling things true that are false, and calling false things true!
And they sold themselves to evil—were addicted to it, enslaved by it, and profited from it. These were the worthless idols and sinful practices that brought the nation to a place where the King of All Nations could not tolerate them any longer. He swept them away from his presence.
What should we as a nation do so that we do not forget what the King of All Nations has done for us? What do those of us do who remember?
Prayer: Lord, what have we forgotten? Restore our memory of all that you have done for us. Restore our memory of all the words your prophets and priests have spoken to us for you. Do not let us be deceived by what we see around us, by nations who believe in wealth or raw power or revenge or other gods. Help us to recognize evil, Father, and deliver us from it. Do not sweep us away, but continue to show us mercy until we remember! AMEN.
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