Worship Only God

By Mary Vee
II Kings 17

From the Journals of Isaiah

To remind you what is happening, Hoshea, king of Israel made Shalmaneser, king of Assyria angry. 

Shalmaneser put Hoshea in jail, conquered the land of Israel (not Judah), and dragged the people off to Assyria to be servants.

To keep wild animals from taking over the Israelite land, Shalmaneser brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to live in the Israelite homes. 

These Assyrian people took over the businesses and everything in the the Israelite towns. They even brought their gods with them to worship. 

The problem now became that no one, not even one person remained in the land who still worshiped God. Even though there were people living in the towns, God allowed lions to come into the homes. They killed some of the people.

A messenger took the news to Shalmaneser. He said, "The people you sent to live in the towns in Samaria, Israel do not know what the god of that country wants. He has sent lions, which are killing them off because the people do not know what he wants."

"Hurry," Shalmaneser said. "Take one of the Israelite priests back to Samaria Israel to live. Have him teach the people I sent what needs to be don to please the god of the land."

The servants obeyed and brought an Israelite priest to Bethel to live. He taught the people how to worship the Lord.

Unfortunately, the new people not only worshiped the Lord, the one true God, but they also worshiped their own gods. Men from Babylon worshipped Succoth Benoth. The men from Cuthah worshiped Nergal. The men from Hamath worshiped Ashima. The Avvites worshiped Nibhaz an Tartak. The men from Sepharvites offered their children to their god Adrammelech.

So, although they worshiped the Lord, they also worshipped these other gods. What kind of worship is that? 

God said, "Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. Bu the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. Always keep his commands. Do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God. It is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies. 

But they would not listen.

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1.  Hoshea was king of ________________
2.  Where was he taken?
3.  Who took over the Israelite land?
4.  Where were the Israelite people taken and what did they have to do?
5.  Why did lions come?
6.  Did the new people worship the Lord?
7.  What did they do wrong?

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?