Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 265
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| 17:5-20
SAMUEL–KINGS
253
Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and for three years he
besieged the city of Samaria. Finally, in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s
reign, Samaria fell, and the people of Israel were exiled to Assyria. They
were settled in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in
Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other
gods. They sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them
safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt. They had followed the practices of the pagan nations the
Lord had driven from the land ahead of them, as well as the practices
the kings of Israel had introduced. The people of Israel had also secretly
done many things that were not pleasing to the Lord their God. They
built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest
outpost to the largest walled city. They set up sacred pillars and Asherah
poles at the top of every hill and under every green tree. They offered sacrifices on all the hilltops, just like the nations the Lord had driven from
the land ahead of them. So the people of Israel had done many evil things,
arousing the Lord’s anger. Yes, they worshiped idols, despite the Lord’s
specific and repeated warnings.
Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both
Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and
decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and
that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”
But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. They rejected
his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they
despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became
worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around
them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.
They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two
calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and
all the forces of heaven. They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters
in the fire. They consulted f ortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold
themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.
Because the Lord was very angry with Israel, he swept them away
from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land. But
even the people of Judah refused to obey the commands of the Lord
their God, for they followed the evil practices that Israel had introduced.
The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel. He punished them by
handing them over to their attackers until he had banished Israel from
his presence.