2 Ki. 17: Pictures of the Gone World

2 Kings 17:15 "They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do."

This chapter paints a bleak picture of Israel's past, present and future. It's a pretty disheartening read. Hoshea is the last king of Israel, imprisoned by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who found out Hoshea had paid tribute instead to So, king of Egypt. With their king captured, and no God behind their army, Israel was an easy target for seige and conquest. It is at this point that God removes his hand of protection from Israel.

His covenant was direct and simple. Don't follow the other gods. Follow only the LORD. This, though simple in theory, apparently was very difficult in practice. Israel had a good time completely annihilating other nations, but I think they missed the point as to why they were doing it. Not only to be God's hand of judgement on sinful nations, but to keep their gods and practices out of sight, and out of mind.

But this appears to only work to a point. Time after time, the Israelites spared certain nations, spared certain people, made deals, and intermarried with those with other religions. Intended for strict monotheism, Israel gradually accelerated a slide into ardent polytheism. The invisible God was not enough for them. The tangibility and immediacy of graven images were quick answers. The invisible God had very visible and tangible power, ironically, while the idols had none whatsoever.

It's sad that not even one person or tribe could be mentioned as noteworthy in their devotion to God, whereas Noah was at least one person in the entire world.

The Israelites practiced their idolatry right alongside their worship of God. They were aware of the LORD. They had some sense of a need to worship Him. But it was a general sense, evidenced by their dual-purposed worship. The word says that they worshiped God along with their idols. Everywhere there were altars and incense and asherah poles.

Why would God allow this to happen? No, Israel chose this fate. A holy God requires holy devotion. God is simply not content to share the throne, share the temple, share offerings or altars. It is God and God alone.

Israel had no reason to be surprised, God made it clear numerous times through their history what would happen if they turned away, and it all came to pass. The death, the captivity, the scattering. What's next?