Refusing to Face the Consequences

KEY VERSE: “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD” —II Kings 17:2

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: II Kings 17 and 18

SEVENTEEN years before the death of the patriarch Jacob, his descendants found themselves in Egypt, whither they had gone to escape the drought that afflicted the land of Canaan. Here, in course of time, they grew to be a mighty nation, but as a subject people under a cruel Pharaoh. When they cried to the Lord, Jehovah heard them, and sent Moses to deliver them from their bondage. After escaping the pursuing hosts of Pharaoh’s army through the Lord’s overruling power, they came to Mount Sinai, where God made a solemn covenant with his people Israel.

Outstanding among the terms of that covenant was the provision that they were to honor and worship Jehovah God alone, and to make no graven images. When Moses presented before the elders and the people the conditions of that covenant, “all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.”—Exod. 19:5-8

Our lesson for today takes place during the partially over-lapping reigns of Hoshea, king of Israel, and Hezekiah, king of Judah, and presents an illuminating contrast between obedience by some to the Lord’s commandments, and disobedience by others. Our introduction to King Hoshea, who, as it turned out, was the last king of Israel, leaves us in no doubt as to what to expect of his reign. “In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.”—II Kings 17:1,2

Seemingly, Hoshea was not altogether as wicked as some of the kings who had preceded him, but nonetheless the nation was still steeped in idolatry, in express violation of their covenant with God.

As a result of their heathenish transgressions, Jehovah God permitted their enemy Shalmanesser, king of Assyria, to invade and conquer Samaria, and take the Israelites captive into Assyria. “Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” Thus did Hoshea reap the evil harvest of his own sowing.—II Kings 17:18

But how differently did Hezekiah, king of Judah, act in very similar circumstances! “Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea, … king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. … And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it. … He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him.” What a glowing testimony the historian here bestows on the good King Hezekiah!—II Kings 18:1-7

But just as it had been with Hoshea so shortly before, Hezekiah is now threatened with attack by the king of Assyria, this time, King Sennacherib. We are told that Hezekiah “went into the house of the Lord” (no doubt to pray), and later sent his servants to Isaiah the prophet for advice. Isaiah told them, “Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. … I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” And sure enough, that very night the angel of the Lord went out and smote one hundred eighty-five thousand Assyrians, compelling King Sennacherib to return to his own land, where he was slain by his own sons.

In his great wisdom the Lord God of heaven has permitted evil to reign for a time, and for a purpose—to let humankind in general learn by experience the futility and the exceeding sinfulness of sin. (Rom. 7:13) But when Christ’s millennial kingdom is established in the earth, evil-doing of every kind will be utterly abolished, and all the obedient of the resurrected world of mankind will then learn the everlasting peace and joy of doing God’s righteous will.—Acts 3:19-23; Rev. 21:1-4

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