Hoshea Wouldn't Listen To God

By Mary Vee
II Kings 17

From the Journals of Isaiah

Photo Courtesy

As one of the prophets in Israel, God gave me the job to warn the kings when they made bad choices. 

Hoshea was king of Israel. He led the people to worship many gods and to not obey the laws God had given them. 

During Hoshea's time, the people of Israel had to pay Assyria money to keep them from attacking.

Making the king of Assyria angry would not be a wise move. Assyria had a strong and powerful army, riches, and could easily win a battle against Israel. 

After years of paying money to Assyria, Hoshea decided to stop giving them anything.

When the money didn't arrive, Shalmanesser, king of Assyria had his soldiers spy on Hoshea. They came back with this report: "He is a traitor. Hoshea sent messengers to Egypt asking for their protection against us. He also paid them money. The money that should have been sent to us."

Shalmanesser became very angry. "Capture Hoshea and throw him in prison." 

While the king sat in prison, Shalmanesser ordered his army to march against Israel. For three years Assyria attacked Israel. They battled in every part of Israel's land and won.

Shalmanesser's army took the Israelite people as prisoners and sent them to be servants in Halah, Gozan, and cities of the Medes.

God told me this happened because the Israelites had sinned against Him. They worshipped gods that weren't real instead of the true God who saved them from Egypt and the power of Pharaoh. 

God had sent them many warnings to turn from their evil ways. To obey God's commands. I wasn't the only prophet He sent to tell them.

The people wouldn't listen to the warnings. They insisted their way was good.

The only way to make them stop, and to hopefully help them understand what they did wrong, was to take everything away from them. 

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1.  Hoshea was king of ________________
2.  What did he lead the people to do?
3.  Israel had to pay money to ____________ to keep them from attacking.
4.  One year, Hoshea decided to _____________
5.  Who did Hoshea ask for help?
6.  What did Shalmanesser, king of Assyria do?
7.  What could Hoshea have done to stop all of this from happening?