Faith’s Foundation of David and Solomon

1 Chronicles 3:1-24 

    1 Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess; 2 the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 3 the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.
    4 These six were born to him in Hebron. There he reigned seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 5 And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon—four by Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel. 6 Also there were Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine in all. 9 These were all the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.
    10 Solomon's son was Rehoboam; Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, 11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, 13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, 14 Amon his son, and Josiah his son. 15 The sons of Josiah were Johanan the firstborn, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum. 16 The sons of Jehoiakim were Jeconiah his son and Zedekiah his son.
    17 And the sons of Jeconiah were Assir, Shealtiel his son, 18 and Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 19 The sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam, Hananiah, Shelomith their sister, 20 and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-Hesed—five in all.
    21 The sons of Hananiah were Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, and the sons of Shechaniah. 22 The son of Shechaniah was Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah were Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat—six in all. 23 The sons of Neariah were Elioenai, Hezekiah, and Azrikam—three in all. 24 The sons of Elioenai were Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.

The families of David as recorded also in Matthew 1:6 and that of his son Solomon and his descendants in Matthew 1:7-11 are carefully described in detail here, to include mention of Solomon’s grandson, Jeconiah with his children and grandchildren.  This is all written that we might be able to trace the lineage of the Messiah from David to Christ Jesus as the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).  Without these facts being recorded for us, it would be difficult to know who Jesus was in the flesh, though certainly the works and words would demonstrate His divine nature.  The Jews especially needed this testimony of proof which they could look up to prove His line back to David that they had no excuse to deny Moses and the prophets as Luke 24:25-27 tells us of this Anointed Christ to come.  We also are encouraged by all the Scriptures to know God’s work and promises to be able to know the Father and His Son whom He sent for our deliverance from sin’s power and punishment by that promise of grace through faith by His sacrificial blood of substitutionary love for those He calls out of darkness (Psalm 107:14, 1 Peter 2:9) and into the light of His presence as 2 Corinthians 4:6 reminds us.  These seemingly bland historical accounts which begin 1 Chronicles should reinforce our faith and give its foundation a more solid joy in our souls, therefore.  By bringing us Faith’s Foundation of David and Solomon, as all the scriptures do from Genesis to the end of the book of these words of life, we are encouraged by overwhelming grace and peace. 

Genealogical Foundation of God’s Redemptive Work

1 Chronicles 2:1-55
    1 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
    3 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by the daughter of Shua, the Canaanitess. Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so He killed him. 4 And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.  5 The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 6 The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara—five of them in all.  7 The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the accursed thing.  8 The son of Ethan was Azariah.  9 Also the sons of Hezron who were born to him were Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. 10 Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, leader of the children of Judah; 11 Nahshon begot Salma, and Salma begot Boaz; 12 Boaz begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse; 13 Jesse begot Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, 14 Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15 Ozem the sixth, and David the seventh.  16 Now their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel—three. 17 Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
    18 Caleb the son of Hezron had children by Azubah, his wife, and by Jerioth. Now these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath as his wife, who bore him Hur. 20 And Hur begot Uri, and Uri begot Bezalel.  21 Now afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub. 22 Segub begot Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23 (Geshur and Syria took from them the towns of Jair, with Kenath and its towns—sixty towns.) All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. 24 After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Hezron's wife Abijah bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.  25 The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram, the firstborn, and Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26 Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. 27 The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. 28 The sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai were Nadab and Abishur.  29 And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. 30 The sons of Nadab were Seled and Appaim; Seled died without children. 31 The son of Appaim was Ishi, the son of Ishi was Sheshan, and Sheshan's son was Ahlai. 32 The sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai, were Jether and Jonathan; Jether died without children. 33 The sons of Jonathan were Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.  34 Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant whose name was Jarha. 35 Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife, and she bore him Attai. 36 Attai begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad; 37 Zabad begot Ephlal, and Ephlal begot Obed; 38 Obed begot Jehu, and Jehu begot Azariah; 39 Azariah begot Helez, and Helez begot Eleasah; 40 Eleasah begot Sismai, and Sismai begot Shallum; 41 Shallum begot Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begot Elishama.
    42 The descendants of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha, his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. 43 The sons of Hebron were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. 44 Shema begot Raham the father of Jorkoam, and Rekem begot Shammai. 45 And the son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth Zur.  46 Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begot Gazez. 47 And the sons of Jahdai were Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.  48 Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea. And the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.  50 These were the descendants of Caleb: The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, were Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim, 51 Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth Gader.  52 And Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim had descendants: Haroeh, and half of the families of Manuhoth. 53 The families of Kirjath Jearim were the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.  54 The sons of Salma were Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half of the Manahethites, and the Zorites.  55 And the families of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites. These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

More background facts of genealogical history continue in chapter 2 here.  Israel and his descendants are traced to the line of David to establish the truth of his line which would continue to the Messiah to come later.  Others are mentioned here also who are important links to more people mentioned in God’s unfolding channel of redemption through His people as promised to Abraham, father by faith of all nations and the one people of Him in Christ Jesus by that same faith (Genesis 15:6, Galatians 3:8-9).  There are many commentaries and historical explanations of each of the lineages here, and it is helpful to examine those as well to help understand those living out the stories of the Old Testament scriptures.  For us now, to understand the sovereign work of the LORD in documenting His work in His chosen people is most important, especially the crimson thread of salvation from the garden in Eden (Genesis 3:15) to the revelation of Christ in His prophetic birth in this genealogical thread, His suffering, death, and resurrection, and our inheritance promised by faith all along the way.  The fall pointed to our need of redemption, the people of Israel its channel, Jesus’ purchase of our redemption in the gospel accounts, the proclamation of that redemption in Acts, the explanation of the redemption’s mystery hidden in Christ in the epistles, and finally the consummation of redemption in Revelation.  It all is founded and worked out throughout the scriptures from beginning to end, so we learn from the examples of warning and hope here in these people chosen and used for God’s glory by grace. 

“The Events of the Times”

1 Chronicles 1:1-54

1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  5 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 6 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah. 7 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshishah, Kittim, and Rodanim.  8 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 9 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabtecha. The sons of Raama were Sheba and Dedan. 10 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 11 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 12 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and the Caphtorim). 13 Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth; 14 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 15 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 16 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.  17 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18 Arphaxad begot Shelah, and Shelah begot Eber. 19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 20 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.  24 Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 and Abram, who is Abraham. 28 The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
    29 These are their genealogies: The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.
    32 Now the sons born to Keturah, Abraham's concubine, were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan were Sheba and Dedan. 33 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
    34 And Abraham begot Isaac. The sons of Isaac were Esau and Israel. 35 The sons of Esau were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. 36 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek. 37 The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
    38 The sons of Seir were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 39 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan's sister was Timna. 40 The sons of Shobal were Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon were Ajah and Anah. 41 The son of Anah was Dishon. The sons of Dishon were Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 42 The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran.
   43 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before a king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 44 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 45 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. 47 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 48 And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place. 49 When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 50 And when Baal-Hanan died, Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai. His wife's name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 51 Hadad died also. And the chiefs of Edom were Chief Timnah, Chief Aliah, Chief Jetheth, 52 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 53 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 54 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.

The title of Chronicles in Hebrew is Dibere Hayyamim, meaning “The Words [accounts, events] of the Days,” or “The Events of the Times.  It is a record covered in Second Samuel through Second Kings, but from a spiritual perspective of the history of the spiritual significance of king David’s reign and Israel from a divine view instead of a historical one.  It begins with the lineage of Adam from Seth to Abraham, not following the line of Cain which would perish in the flood, but through Noah and onwards.  Ishmael and Isaac are then followed, as well as Seir and then the kings of Edom for a historical backdrop of the scene before Israel had a king of their own besides the LORD.  This sets the stage for the lives of David and the patriarchs so we see the work of God’s sovereign mercy and grace in calling a people for Himself, a tale of historical accuracy and spiritual significance.  The long lists of names and descriptions are to dissuade doubts of the truth of these writings before going on to describe the events and accounts of His work in and for them.  If these facts were left out, at best the the names would have little significance, and at worse would not convince us of the reliability of the Scriptures.  These people would be described in living their part in God’s sovereign plan as it unfolds and the Anointed Messiah announced slowly through David’s lineage which we see summarized and followed more distinctly in Matthew 1:1-17.  We tend to skim quickly through these accounts, but must realize they are the foundation of the gospel, a description and hidden account of the Christ to come (Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:26, Romans 16:25-26, Luke 24:26-27).  These first chapters give us assurance and understanding of the hidden mystery of Christ revealed to us by God’s Spirit of Christ and the need of His redemptive work (1 Corinthians 2:7, 9-10).  Romans 15:4 assures us that these things to be revealed are the wellspring of our hope, while also warning us (1 Corinthians 10:11) of the responses of God’s people because we fall into the same traps if we do not learn from their mistakes.  These events of those times lead to the cross and explain the events of God’s gospel throughout history and the events of our own days. 

Subjugated and Set Free

  2 Kings 25:22-30

    22 Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left. 23 Now when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."
    25 But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
    27 Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. 30 And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

Gedaliah was made governor over the remnant in Judah by the Babylonian king, but his appeals to subjugate themselves to their occupiers met with his murder instead.  The murderers then fled to Egypt, reminiscent of the constant looking back to the four hundred year captivity of their people to that land’s bondage.  Fear of the surrounding Chaldeans inspired them to flee there.  After a time, Jehoiachin the former king over Judah was set free in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar‘s successor and was give a place of honor in his court among other kings, most likely from other conquered nations.  There he lived out his life in peace and comfort along with his people among the Babylonians.  Their land was subjugated, but there was freedom in their captivity as well.  In a type of parallel, we who are in Christ have been set free from captivity to the bondage of sin, yet are slaves of righteousness in Christ - certainly not a bad thing, and surely with much privilege and honor (Romans 6:16-18, 20, John 8:35-36, 1 Corinthians 7:22).  Once subjugated to sin, now we have been set free from bondage to sin and find rest, joy, and peace with Him as willing bondservants of the heavenly King who rules over all (Psalm 103:19).  He is king of kings (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14) and Lord over all lords!  We then are truly subjugated to His righteousness in holiness and set free from the power and eternal consequences of sin, from eternal death, and from allegiance to any other who would rule over us. 

Spiritual Sedition of The Fall and Captivity

2 Kings 25:1-21
    1 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
    4 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.
    8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.
    11 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. 13 The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. 15 The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.
    18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 19 He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king's close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, finally came against Jerusalem as God’s hand of judgment and recompense for the continued sins of idolatry and spiritual sedition as its leaders continued to lead the people of God away from their LORD.  The enormous Babylonian force built a siege wall to trap the inhabitants and starve them out as they kept the assault going for well over a year.  Starvation ensued and all hope was abandoned by the people and their leader until the attackers broke through.  When the wall was breached, the king and his remaining fighters fled into the night.  Zedekiah was caught and witnessed the killing of his sons before his eyes were put out so that would be his final visual memory of defeat before being carried away to Babylon.  Then the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all houses of the mighty men in Jerusalem were burned to the ground as adding finality to the defeat.  The walls of the city were also leveled, leaving no stronghold to recover and resume the fight from.  Only the poor were left behind.  Of course, all the treasures of the temple and the king were taken out of the land as well, spoiled by war in judgment on those forsaking the LORD.  The captivity was complete and many were killed, but a remnant was taken hostage as slaves to Babylon until the time was right for God’s restoration.  We learn that the consequences of sin, of disobedience, disbelief, and the idolatry of putting other gods before the one God lead only to a final judgment.  God desires all to repent and seek His face of grace and mercy in His deliverance, the Messiah-Christ who alone can pay sin’s price, trusting in His work and righteousness alone and following in willing and holy obedience after being enabled by His indwelling presence to do so.  The alternative consequence is dire and certain, bit not just for a while in Babylon, but forever in eternity.  Who would choose such a fate once their eyes and ears were opened?  Trusting God’s work in Christ and receiving the reconciling grace is doing the work for deliverance as John 6:28-29 clearly reveals.  Today is the acceptable time (Isaiah 49:8, 2 Corinthians 6:2) to avoid eternal captivity from the Fall. 

Consequences of Disobedience

2 Kings 24:1-20
    1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.
    5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.  7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
    8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.  10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
    13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
    17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.  18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The kings progressed from Jehoiakim to Jehoiachin to Zedekiah (Mattaniah), but degenerated progressively further from obedience and holiness to the LORD.  God’s judgment then fell on the people as a nation as Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was sent to take them captive, back to bondage as in Egypt before once more.  These were the consequences of disobedience.  They had forsaken their Deliverer and broken the first commandment and their covenant made by mercy with them, and now the promised consequences were experienced.  Innocent blood had been intentionally spilled and not forgiven (2 Kings 21:2, 11; 23:26) in their idolatry and forsaking their only real God.  They now reaped the whirlwind as Hosea 8:7 reminds us, for planting empty things of no substance like the wind which passes by, things like dead idols and false hope to rely on, these things only earn the wrath and judgment of the LORD God.  Their spiritual and national fields of their hearts and minds were thus as empty as the wind as they left their first love, rejecting Him and obedience to His words of life (Leviticus 18:4-5).  The result was the dismantling of the nation, the house of God with its treasures, and the people, all taken into captivity into a foreign place far from where the LORD said He would put His name and meet His people in mercy and grace.  Only the poor remained behind, a picture of the Lord’s words in Matthew 5:3-6 where acknowledgment of spiritual destitution is shown to be the starting point of grace in mercy for the humble penitent who seek to worship and honor Him and no other.  As Revelation 13:10 says, “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Let us then not be double minded in following our Lord with all our heart, life, thoughts, and strength, learning from those who have gone before us who neglected so great a deliverance (Hebrews 2:1-3).

Bad Examples Corrupt Good Morals

2 Kings 23:28-37
    28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
    31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.
    35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Josiah was killed attacking the alliance of Assyria and Egypt, ending the reign of the only wholehearted king since David who was also a man after God’s own heart.  His son and heir Jehoahaz was crowned by the people, but was a bad choice due to his being an evil man.  Jehoahaz ruled for a very short while until the pharaoh jailed him and put Jerusalem under a heavy tribute tax and rule, yet the king’s son Eliakim (named Jehoiakim by Necho) was put in his place.  He also repeated the evil of his father while ruling Judah from Jerusalem as he ruthlessly squeezed tribute of Egyptian taxes from the people of God.  This one repeated the godless evil of many previous kings while Judah followed hard after the apostasy of Israel before them.  Only his grandfather Josiah interrupted the line of rulers who did such evil before the LORD; Josiah was a shining example to light the way, yet sadly none other took notice to imitate him in pleasing God with heart, soul and might as God desires for us still to do (Mark 12:30).  We can therefore learn to imitate godly leaders as Hebrews 13:7 and Philippians 3:17 instruct us, whether we lead of follow.  Each of us influences others to seek and please our Lord, or to dishonor Him in the disobedience of sin and compromise.  Let us lead by living example to be men and women after God’s own heart and store up treasures in heaven which can to be taken away (1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Matthew 6:19-20).  Bad company and their examples corrupt good morals as 1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds and warns us. 

True Worship and Impending Judgment

2 Kings 23:1-27

    1 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD.
    3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.
    10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
    15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said, "What gravestone is this that I see?"  So the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."  18 And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
    19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
    21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
    26 Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the LORD said, "I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.'"

King Josiah, the one with a heart for God, sought to reinstate true worship among the people of Judah, knowing that the LORD had already pronounced impending judgment on them for continuing sin in rejecting Him and serving what are not real gods.  He read the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the LORD to all the people, not just the priests or leaders.  He then went further to seal the intent by making a covenant with the LORD to follow Him and keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul.  He committed himself to perform the words of the LORD’s covenant as written in God’s book.  The people nodded in agreement by taking a stand for the covenant.  Josiah then cleaned house, burning the idols, taking down the pagan high places of false worship, destroying all the idolatrous altars and shrines made by previous kings who misled the people to turn their hearts away from their LORD who chose and called and delivered them from sin’s bondage.  He also eliminated the mediums, conjurers, male homosexual prostitution, and more, just as all these were banned by God in His word from the beginning (Leviticus 20:6-7) but had been done willingly in defiance to the LORD and His word and encouraged by evil leaders doing the same (Jeremiah 50:6).  They were to set themselves apart for God and to seek to be holy because He is and they were called to be likewise, and His word now reminded them of God’s original covenant with them which they had grossly broken before His face time and again.  They kept the Passover once more in a wholehearted manner not seen since the Judges, before the kings of Israel and Judah lost their obedience in worship from a willing and subservient heart.  They were apparently convicted and repentance, seeking to reestablish their relationship with their Sovereign and only King ruling them.  As it is written here, “there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.”  Yet the die was cast for promised judgment on the nation because of their past rejection with tears as Esau which we find pointed out to us in Hebrews 12:16-17.  God hates sin and offers certain judgment to those who reject Him (Hebrews 10:26-31), but grace and forgiveness to those believing and committing themselves to His grace and righteousness apart from their vain attempts to prove worthy to earn deliverance from it.  The certainty of accountability in the judgment day for those rejecting Christ the Messiah is as certain as the judgment on God’s people after Josiah died.  There was a remnant of those who kept faithful then, and the remnant of those who hear the gospel, the ones who truly believe by exercising the faith gifted to them (Ephesians 2:8, John 1:12), are the ones delivered from the wrath to come upon the entire human race.  Are we counted in that number (2 Peter 1:10) of true worship (John 4:23-24, Philippians 3:3)? 

Grace and Mercy to the Repentant

2 Kings 22:1-20
    1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
    3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying: 4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— 6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully."
    8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, "Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD." 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.
    11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."
    14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— 17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.'"' 18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD. 20 "Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah ascended to the throne of Judah after his evil father Manasseh, also a child king.  He endeavored to live as his ancestor king David, doing what God said was right, and staying the straight path instead of veering left or right from doing right.  But not until he was twenty six years old did he know that he did not have the written knowledge for complete understanding, for that is when Hilkiah the high priest discovered the book of God’s Law which had been lost from the sight of the evil rulers before him.  It was found as workers began restoring the damages of the LORD’s house and brought to the king.  It is also noteworthy that the workers were so trusted with the funds for the work that there was no written accounting of the money, just trust in faithful men to complete the necessary work.  Hilkiah gave the book to a scribe to read, who then brought it to the king and began reading it.  Then Josiah heard and was greatly moved to repentance with the knowledge of his and his people’s sin in neglecting God’s word.  He inquired of the LORD through the priest because he realized how their sinful disobedient ways had earned God’s great wrath and they needed to know what to do to make it right before judgement fell on them all.  He knew upon hearing that they were required to do all that was written (Deuteronomy 29:29) by God for them to live by, but had fallen ever so short of the glory they were called to (Romans 3:23).  A prophet was sought to reveal what God wanted and required them to do, but she said plainly that the consequences were coming for their worship of other gods and rejection of Him.  The king, however, had humbled himself and was repentant, so he would be spared the impending judgment.  We find a parallel in the gospel of grace to this covenant of works, not in that failing to do righteousness earns judgment, but that first of all judgment is for those not trusting God’s work of grace in Christ for our righteousness.   Secondly, that those who reject God’s word and work in Christ (John 6:28-29, 36) are still under that judgment as John 3:18-21 plainly states.  When a man or woman finds God’s word and reads it to conviction leading to repentance, God works His grace in them to believe with a faith which works based on His work and not their own for righteousness.  This is the good news of grace and mercy to all who He calls (John 6:44, 65). 

Evil Examples and a Broken Covenant

2 Kings 21:1-26
    1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My name." 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them." 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
    10 And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 "Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.'"
    16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.  17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
    19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. 22 He forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.
    23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house. 24 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.  25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh reverted to the kings before in Judah as Israel had done already and give Judah a bad example.  He did evil before the LORD, imitating the ungodly nations around God’s people which they neglected to drive out of the promised land for this very reason of evil and idolatrous influence (Numbers 33:52, 55, Joshua 23:13).  Manasseh added to the sin of the people by undoing all that Hezekiah his father had put straight, twisting it by reinstating the idol worship, going so far as to desecrate the temple of the LORD with such practices.  Where God promised to put His name to be met and worshipped, this evil ruler put lies and perverse substitutes to worship (Romans 1:23-25).  They turned their backs completely against the LORD who had delivered them from bondage and gracefully given them a good land to live in and to serve Him in; instead, they hardened their necks in disobedience and their hearts in loving the world and evil thoughts as demonstrated in these actions.  They broke God’s covenant of grace and suffered the consequences.  Their abominations of idol worship, witchcraft, and fortune telling led by Manasseh gave God no choice but to forsake this remnant by wiping the plate of the land clean and hand them over for destruction as we do to the unrepentant in 1 Corinthians 5:5 with the hope of repentance and restoration.  To make matters worse, his son and heir Amon repeated the same sins of idolatrous sin and refused to follow the LORD.  He was killed shortly into his reign, and then those who murdered him were executed, leaving the grandson of Manasseh to rule Judah.  This line of sin in serving any god but the LORD God only leads to a bitter end, and in both Israel and Judah we see the tragic results, reminding us we all are born sinful and none is capable of complete righteousness apart from the redemptive work and imputed grace of Christ in us.  We are all accountable to God of the New Covenant as well, the difference being that we will not suffer condemnation in the final judgment as those outside of the covenant.  But we are still to lovingly obey and live righteously as He sanctifies us until that day.  Let us not lead others away from Him by our continued disobedience of the sin of the world as 1 John 2:15-16 tells us, but do God’s work as 1 John 2:17 commands by plea to our souls.  Remember these examples of evil kings and their influential examples lest we imitate them to mislead others. 

Pride, Peace, and a Legacy of Betrayal

2 Kings 20:12-21
    12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
    14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?"  So Hezekiah said, "They came from a far country, from Babylon."  15 And he said, "What have they seen in your house?"  So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
    16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: 17 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 18 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
    19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!" For he said, "Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?"  20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

The foolish pride of Hezekiah allowed him to be taken in by the Babylonian plot to conquer Jerusalem.  His pride in the midst of God-given peace and grace for a longer life led him to not only answer the letter of the foreign king, but also accept presents and invite the representatives to a tour of all the riches and defense of Judah in the armory and treasury!  He opened the door wide to the spy for future conquest because of his blindness in the present peace.  When the prophet Isaiah heard the story from the king’s own mouth, he brought God’s message of defeat for the nation to come as a result.  The price would be the loss of all Judah had built up to date, a complete loss for a foolish pride and boasting without regard for protection from spying and reconnaissance of a godless enemy.  Even when Hezekiah found out that the captivity would be after his prolonged life ended, he still was not remorseful, but only relieved that he would not have to suffer that fate personally.  Though he was remembered for doing good such as tunneling to bring water into Jerusalem, his bad decisions and actions outweighed that good by losing the whole nation and the very house of the LORD in which to worship and sacrifice.  How foolish pride can topple leaders who do good, overwhelming the impact with loss instead of gain!  This continues even today when power goes to the head of leaders both without and within the church.  May our checks and balances under Christ as head lead us to do better and not give entry for a breach of the enemy.  We should not desire a legacy of betrayal. 

Grace for Life

2 Kings 20:1-11
    1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.'"
    2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
    4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David."'"
    7 Then Isaiah said, "Take a lump of figs." So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.  8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?"
    9 Then Isaiah said, "This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?"  10 And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees."  11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

Hezekiah was dying.  Isaiah the prophet confirmed this and told him to set his affairs in order for his death, making a will of sorts and determining what will be passed on to his posterity.  Yet because the king was devastated by this sudden news, he prayed bitterly with overflowing sadness and pleaded with the LORD.  Hezekiah reminded God how he had tried to live in a way which honored Him from his heart driving the direction of his life in actions.  The LORD heard this sincere prayer and stopped Isaiah as he was on his way out from the king that he would bring good news from the word of the LORD.  He had heard the prayer and felt the tears of a broken and contrite heart (Isaiah 57:15, 66:2).  God promised healing as a reprieve from death and added fifteen years to his life, giving him more time to deal with a gradual loss of mortality and serve his LORD further.  God also promised deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian attackers, making it clear that the victory was for His own glory and for the promise made to king David long before in His covenant which would bring the ultimate redeemer from his descendant, the Messiah.  Hezekiah was still hesitant to believe all this for healing and continued ability to worship and serve, and asked for a sign to confirm these promises; the LORD gave him the option of slowing down or speeding up time by moving the sun or earth to do accomplish this.  Hezekiah chose a longer day in reversing time by backing up the shadow cast by the sun.  This indicates that he longed for just a few additional minutes to live as well as proving the promise after narrow escaping an immediate demise.  We learn from this account that nothing is too difficult for God to work by His great hand (Jeremiah 32:17, 27, Matthew 19:26).  We can trust that He will answer sincere prayer and give grace for life in His way for His glory and honor by our worship from the heart.  This is the example set by king David as a reference point for our own hearts, and is reinforced by Hezekiah in this passage.  We can plan our way, but God guides our lives we walk out (Proverbs 16:9).  Let us then live wholeheartedly for our Lord Jesus Christ in that grace as we remember Hezekiah and the mercies of the LORD’s answer to him and His people because of a contrite and sincere heart beating for Him (2 Chronicles 16:9) in prayer and holy obedient living. 

God’s Word of Defeat and Death

2 Kings 19:20-37
    20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.' 21 This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him:

'The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind your back!

22 'Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against the Holy One of Israel.

23 By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: "By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.

24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of defense."

25 'Did you not hear long ago
How I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.

26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

27 'But I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.

28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
By the way which you came.

29 'This shall be a sign to you:
'You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.'

32 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.

33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,'
Says the LORD.

34 'For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"

    35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

The Word of the LORD was brought by His messenger, the prophet Isaiah, to let Hezekiah know that his prayer for deliverance was heard and would be answered in God’s way.  This way was given in this metered response covering prophetic action and judgment for defeat and death to the enemy of His people, specifically the Assyrians amassed against Judah with boasting blasphemous threats.  It begins with ridicule for the one set against the LORD and His people, shaking the head at the threats and their consequences.  The real threat and attack is clearly shown to be against the holy LORD of Israel and not merely the nation, revealing the true danger of certain judgment for the slanderer.  The pride in false hope of worldly might is put down, reminding the king of Assyria who has power over all nations to set them up and tear them down by His divine right and ability, not an upstart mortal king set against His people or their cities.  There is only powerless confusion and dismay in the face of such divine sovereign provident power when He and His people are opposed.  God knows the rage against Him and will lead the rebellious into captivity and to a swift end, turning the oppressor away from his intended objective.  The Assyrians would be ruined back where they came from and Judah would be restored and fruitful once more; they would put down roots in their LORD and the land He gave them, growing upward once more in Him.  This was the remnant of Jerusalem as the LORD’s zeal would accomplish, not their might or efforts.  God defended their city by driving the enemy away before he could begin the attack.  He sent the Angel of the LORD into the enemy camp and killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers in the night as they slept.  They awoke to the decimation and left to go home without the spirit to fight against the LORD of hosts anymore.  The king Sennacherib of Assyria then met an untimely death by his own sons, ending the blasphemous boasting and fighting against the LORD and His people.  We know that in Christ the victory is won already and certain judgment will fall on His enemies who refuse to submit in trust of His work and will in His Son.  Those who oppose will face Him in judgment at the end, and many will be turned back from destroying His people whom He chooses to deliver in His sovereign will of grace according to His honor and glory.  No matter how many sabers are rattled by earthly armies, His is the victory (Revelation 19:11, 19-21, Isaiah 11:4).  The battle and victory are the LORD’s, for His word of truth, the gospel, brings defeat and death to the enemy, and life with Him to the overcomer who trusts the word of Christ as true for eternity.  God’s Word of Defeat and Death is for those who make themselves His enemies by disobedience and disbelief in His sovereign rule and acknowledgement of His glory and honor.  Grace for His people is seen here.

Deliverance From a Threat by Prayer

2 Kings 19:1-19
    1 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
    5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: "Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."'"
    8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Look, he has come out to make war with you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?'"
    14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: "O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone."

When King Hezekiah heard the boasting threats from the Assyrian, he humbled himself with sackcloth in the house of the LORD.  He then sent to Isaiah the prophet who assured him of God’s sovereign control and power as the answer to this blasphemous boasting.  Hezekiah was worried that the nation was growing as if just being born in returning to the LORD, only to be found powerless to come into the world.  The king saw it as day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy, and so prayed for the remnant of God’s people to be saved by prayer that God should hear and act on their behalf.  Sennacherib threatened to overthrow them because he had done so to many other nations with their gods, but he underestimated the power and authority of the true and living God of Israel and Judah.  Hezekiah knew these things and prayed directly to the LORD for deliverance from this threat.  He trusted God in what little faith he had, knowing that his times were in His hands (Psalm 31:15).  He knew that the LORD was the only God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and pleaded to Him to open His eyes and ears for deliverance, but most of all to honor and glorify His holy name.  He wanted the world to observe the work of His mighty hand and realize He alone was God.  We can learn from this to honor God in Christ by faith, trusting His sovereign power in any and all situations, praying for deliverance from threats against us which blaspheme Christ.  We believe God for salvation, deliverance, for eternal reconciliation, but also for the good fight of the gospel until the day of final judgment.  The world will either bow now to honor Him as God alone, or before the throne.  May many more find the throne of grace before facing the throne of final judgment with eternal defeat as we pray for them and show them His glory by the words of this grace in which we stand for victory over this world (1 Corinthians 15:57, Romans 5:2, 1 John 5:4-5).  We are delivered from sin and death’s threats by prayer and reliance on the only true God in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Our enemy will be defeated forever and God will no longer be dishonored and blasphemed.  This is our message and certain hope.  We can learn much about God’s honor and our trust in dire circumstances from this example.

Boasts Against the LORD, Perseverance of the Saints

2 Kings 18:17-37
    17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller's Field. 18 And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?"' 23 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land, and destroy it.'"
    26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."  27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?"
    28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."' 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us." 33 Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'"
    36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

The king of Assyria sent messengers with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with boasts against the LORD as they flaunted their power and might.  The threats began with a mocking of Hezekiah trusting in Egypt for help, then taunting that the LORD sent Assyrian troops to conquer Jerusalem and God’s people if they did not surrender.  He even had the gall to say that the LORD was with him and sent him to destroy the city and conquer Judah.  He had done so to Israel in Samaria, and must have thought that was enough to fool or persuade Hezekiah.  The emissary even argued that the king of Assyria sent him to talk to the defenders  on the wall and not king to king in order to move them to giving up.  They kept silent and brought the news back to Hezekiah instead of falling for the psychological operations.  The messenger then tried to dissuade those on the walls of Jerusalem that Hezekiah could not deliver them, nor even the LORD!  He said that the LORD could not do so because none of the gods of other nations were able to save them; he turned from saying that their LORD sent them for surrender to the LORD being just another diety among the plethora of all other nations.  He blasphemed God.  Those on the wall reported all this to king Hezekiah when the ranting and posturing threats of boasting against the LORD ended.  This example teaches us to stand firm in the deliverance, the salvation, which we have in Christ to not be persuaded to give up the battle for the gospel and souls of men, nor our own eternal security in Christ Jesus our one and only Lord of lords and King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14).  We who are called to and in Him are saints made holy by Christ’s righteousness, and we will persevere to the end by His promise, power, and authority in His finished work from the cross to the resurrection.  We know the threats and boasts by the deceiver and are unmoved from victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).  Battles may appear lost at times, but the war is certainly won forever in eternity because He who is in and with us is greater than he who is in the world with a temporary rule.  Let us go on in this certain hope as Romans 5:1-5 reassures us. 

A Man After God’s Heart

2 Kings 18:1-16
    1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.  3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.

    4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. 7 The LORD was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
    9 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.
    13 And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay." And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah, the new king of Judah, meaning “Jehovah is my strength,” came to power and brought righteousness to the throne.  He followed the example of his ancestor king David in that he set his heart to to right according to the word of the LORD as He saw right, not rationalizing or excusing any misrepresentation of God’s commandments for any other purpose than God’s stated ones as it was written and as the prophets confirmed.  This meant that he not only did what was right before the LORD as others before him, but he went further to take down the offensive things, the high places of “hidden” pagan worship and altars (pillars) located away on mountain tops from public view.  It is interesting that the word for high places, בָּמָה ḇâmâ, mainly meant altars of pagan worship on mountains, but also had a meaning of a funeral mound (see Joshua 7:26), which hinted at the dead pursuit of false and empty worship on these high elevations of cultic practices.  They were dead ends.  Hezekiah tore these down, taking the additional step which his predecessors stopped short of in pursuit of being a God-pleaser like David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22).  Hezekiah was a good and godly ruler over Judah as his name described him, for he relied on the LORD Jehovah to enable his rule and judgment.  We can learn much in imitating such an example of a God-pleaser, just as we can be edified by studying the life and Psalms of David to direct our hearts toward the LORD by the compass of His word to guide our steps along life’s paths where He leads us.  When opposition came from the king of Assyria who had taken Samaria of Israel and then came against Judah, Hezekiah paid him off with the treasury of the houses of the LORD and the king.  Even the gold covering the temple doors was taken off and handed over for a tribute payment as was done before with Syrian and Assyrian oppressors (1 Kings 15:18-19, 2 Kings 12:18, 16:8).  He bought time for God’s people by giving away earthly treasure.  We can learn a parallel to this in focusing our hearts on treasures of eternal value in God’s people and gospel work of deliverance and disciple making.  What is the government’s is made by them and for them, and we can freely hand that over as is due (Mark 12:16-17).  Our lives should be wholeheartedly handed over to our Lord daily as we reflect on our death to self in co-crucifixion with Christ (Galatians 2:20, Luke 9:23). 

Consequences and Judgment

2 Kings 17:24-41
    24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. 25 And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals 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 However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.
    34 To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the LORD had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, 35 with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying: "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; 36 but the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. 37 And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. 38 And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. 39 But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." 40 However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

Consequences and judgment.  Assyria filled the cities of Samaria with others to displace conquered Israel.  These then feared the LORD, yet still disobeyed, serving their own gods according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.  They brought godlessness to the land where the LORD was to be feared, honored, and obeyed in true worship.  Idols and empty rituals of evil temples followed the nations replacing Israel and filled the land because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people.  Where a vacuum of righteousness grew, idolatry filled the space quickly as a consequence and judgment.  These had no fear of the LORD and did not follow His word in the commandments as evidenced in such disregard and distain of the first commandment.  Israel herself had forgotten their great deliverance out of bondage and the judgment of the golden calf idol.  They shrunk back from driving out and destroying the ungodly who both represented sin and led them back in to it.  They began to fully reap what they sowed, tasting defeat in place of promised victory, and the nations around Israel no longer had the influence of His people to turn them from their lifeless and hopeless images of worship.  We are given this account as a sober reminder of the need to deal decisively with sin in and around us as God’s people called out of sin’s bondage in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The alternative is worldliness (1 John 2:15-17) without His word and willing obedience for our holiness in sanctification to be conformed to the image for which we were designed (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6).