Sunday, December 22, 2013
am
THE RELIGION OF SAMARIA
2 Kings 17:24-41
We are
told in Romans 15:4 that the writings of the Old Testament are there for
our learning. While not
under that law anymore, there are many lessons we can learn from it –
including the nature of God, general principles of morality and many
other things. One thing we
learn is how God feels about false religions.
It is seen throughout the Old Testament.
Not only are the idols of the nations around Israel and Judah
condemned, we read of the condemnation of Israel as they sought to
follow the ways of the gods around them.
There are many examples of false religions that we can learn
lessons from. There is the
religion of Jeroboam that caused Northern Israel to fall and live in
continual rejection of God (calves at Dan and Bethel), there is a the
worship the Baals that prompted the Lord through Elijah to challenge the
many false prophets in the land, and there is the example of the
Samaritan’s religion which we want to discuss this morning.
In the
text we read of Samaria having been resettled after the Assyrian
captivity. The way that
Assyria dealt with its captives was to carry away the majority of them
to another land far away. In
this they would disseminate their captives to wherever they wanted them
so that they could control them.
We are told that Israel was carried away to Assyria and placed in
the cities of the Medes and other places (2 Kings 17:6).
But people from Babylon and other cities were brought to Samaria.
These foreigners brought with them their gods and beliefs which
were contrary to the teachings of the Lord God of Israel.
We are told at the beginning that they did not fear the Lord so
He sent lions among them. (2
Kings 27:25) The displaced
nations then inquired of Assyria noting the problems and requested to
know “the rituals of the God of the land.” (27)
A priest is sent to Samaria and “taught them how they should fear
the Lord.” (28) BUT, we are told
that the nations continued to worship their own gods and built shrines.
Vs. 32-33 say, “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. They feared the Lord, yet
served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among
whom they were carried away.” The
RESULT: “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,” (2 Kings
17:34) The text concludes, “However
they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. 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.” (2 Kings 17:40–41)
As we can see, we have a
religion that is NOT acceptable to God.
This morning I would like to make some observations about the
religion of these Samaritans and make some application to our service to
God.
a.
When displaced to
Samaria these nations had no intention of submitting to YHWH.
IN fact, vs. 25 says, ““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.” (2 Kings
17:25)
b.
But after they faced consequences
of lions which killed some of them they determined the need to
acknowledge God in order to survive. They feared His retribution.
(NOTE: From the context it is clear they never really followed the LORD,
but because this was HIS land, He demanded at least an acknowledgment.
This seems to be what HE expected of foreign nations, though it
was NOT enough to please Him and to save them.)
Vs. 32-33 says that they feared the Lord, and appointed priests from
every class of people and served their own gods.
IT is repeated again in vs. 41 that they feared the Lord yet
served their own carved images.
In between (vs. 34-40) there is a discourse on what it means to
fear God. IT involved
obeying the commandments and statutes of the Lord and NOT fearing
foreign gods nor bowing down to them.
Vs. 36 gives a pretty good summary of what was expected of
Israel, “…Him you shall fear, Him
you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice.”
c.
Fear is where our faith begins
–
i.
Psalm 111:10 says, “The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have
all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”
Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (see also
Prov. 9:10)
ii.
When we realize our
sinful condition and condemnation before Him, it ought to provoke us to
fear as we realize that one day we will give an account for our lives
before Him. (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 14:10-12).
Heb. 10:31 says, “IT is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.”
Matt. 10:28 says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell.”
iii.
BUT, our fear ought not to paralyze us.
Rather it ought to provoke us to respond.
When the Philippian
jailer feared in Acts 16:29-30, he fell down trembling and said, “Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?”
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in
satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23)
iv.
Proper fear will lead to obedience!
Eccl. 12:13-14 says,
“Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.”
Philippians 2:12 tells us to work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling.
2 Corinthians 7:1
says, “Therefore, having these
promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Sadly this was NOT the fear of the Samaritans as we shall see.
v.
Proper fear will KEEP us faithful –
One of the observations of the fear of the Samaritans is that it was
ONLY there because of consequences.
How many today fear God when facing some serious trial where they need
Him, but as soon as it goes away, so does their fear of Him?
They revert back to their ungodliness!
Heb. 4:1, “Therefore,
since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of
you seem to have come short of it.”
1 Pet. 1:17, “And if you call
on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s
work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;”
d.
BUT, perfected faith is
NOT the product of fear, but of reverence.
i.
It is interesting how
fear and reverence are related.
Not the words, but the concept.
When we think of fear we think of terror.
This terror leads to a respect of that which we fear.
BUT when we learn more about that which we fear and we begin to
overcome it, our fear is less terrifying and more about respect.
For example: You may have a fear of power saws.
At first you totally avoid it because of its danger.
BUT as you learn to use the power saw properly, you become less
terrified of it.
BUT you still respect its ability to
hurt you and that means you always practice safety measures around power
saws. Accidents usually happen when you become careless and quit
respecting the danger.
ii.
Think of our fear of God
in these same terms. When we
first obey the gospel it might be out of fear.
But as we continue to serve God and enjoy His blessings, we learn
to serve Him not out of fear, but because we love Him and realize He is
worthy of our service. That
is why we respect Him (i.e. reverence Him).
Eventually, that reverence (or respect ) replaces our terror at
the thought of standing before Him.
BUT, we must still be cautious and render to Him the reverence He
is due.
Consider the following passages:
Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have
grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear.”
2 Tim. 1:7“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power
and of love and of a sound mind.”
1 John 4:18-19, “There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We
love Him because He first loved us.”
iii.
As you study the fear of
the Samaritans, this attitude was lacking.
a.
When the nations in
Samaria inquired of the king of Assyria for instructions about the
rituals of the God of the land, they were wanting to know what they
needed to do. They are sent
a priest who had been taken captive.
NOTE: Was this an actual priest
from the tribe of Levi OR was it a priest after the order Jeroboam
established? IF it was the
latter, their instructions were just as ignorant as they were.
And based upon their response, this seems likely.
2 Kings 17:32-33, “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.
They feared the Lord, yet served
their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among
whom they were carried away.”
b.
What they did, (much
like the religion of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:31), is they appointed
priests from the various classes of people and altars in the high
places. They went through
rituals, but their heart was NOT in it.
We are told they continued to serve their own gods.
c.
Can we be guilty of this
today?
i.
WE have specific
instructions as to HOW we are to worship God.
In scripture, we are given directions for every act of worship.
Singing (not playing), praying, the Lord’s Supper, giving and
preaching/teaching. That we
must follow the pattern has been clearly established.
ii.
Even as individuals, we
have responsibilities – James 1:27
iii.
While it is important
that we serve God according to the pattern He has given, it is equally
important that we worship and serve Him with a proper heart.
1.
Matthew 15:7-9 (Isa.
29:13) – their heart is far from Me.
2.
“I will praise You
with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You.”
(Psalm 138:1)
3.
Every act of worship
involves the heart (cf. Col. 3:16, 2 Cor. 9:7, 1 Cor. 11:27-29, etc.)
d.
It is when we disregard
proper motives that we begin to change the pattern.
While leads us to our next point.
a.
Not content with serving
the Lord God in the land, they added their own shrines and continued to
serve their own gods.
Vs. 29-33 even names some of the gods they worshiped and erected shrines
to. In fact, as you read the text they PREFERRED their own gods to the
Lord God of Israel/Judah. So
what they really wanted was the God of Israel to accept them along with
their own gods.
b.
We are living in times
of great religious compromise.
i.
There are many who want to serve God and the world at the same time.
Even among Christians far too many seek to serve God on Sunday
and the world the rest of the time.
We have continually emphasized the problem with this.
Matt. 6:24 – you cannot serve God and mammon.
James 4:4 says that friendship with the world is enmity with God.
ii.
Others are seeking religions that are compatible with each other.
WE are living in a time of extreme ecumenicalism (the seeking of
cooperation and understanding between religions).
For some it is a denominational concept (as long as you
accept Jesus you are fine), for others it is seeking an
interdenominational fellowship (e.g. community churches,
mega-churches where doctrinal issues are simply avoided), for others it
is based upon a simple belief in God (any God – Muslim, Hindu,
Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, etc.), and for others universalism
(God is going to save all of mankind).
iii.
There are also brethren who are seeking to compromise the truth of God’s
word.
Preachers, churches, elders and members that used to be “sound”
and dependable to defend the truth are now seeking unity-in-diversity
among brethren. Issues of
morality, the work of the church, worship, fellowship, and even
doctrinal teaching are now being dismissed as unimportant, so long as we
get along with each other. There
are brethren who expect to be accepted even though what they are doing
or some relationship they are in is unscriptural.
c.
God has NEVER accepted
compromise!
i.
In fact, He was very
specific in both HOW He was to be worshipped and that He be worshipped
alone.
ii.
Deut. 6:4-5 demands that
we love God (and no other).
Deut. 6:14 “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the
peoples who are all around you”
iii.
Jeremiah 25:6 says, “Do
not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not
provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm
you.”
iv.
Matt. 4:10, Jesus speaking to Satan said, “you shall
worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”
v.
Gal. 1:6-9 – Paul warns
of those who follow after a different gospel.
Cut them off!
vi.
1 Cor. 10:14-22
- you cannot drink the cup of the Lord (fellowship) and the cup
of demons.
And thus we can see some of the qualities of the religion of
the Samaritans. Vs. 41 of
our text tells us it continued for generations.
In the New Testament we read of Samaritans with their own
religion (still a mix) (Jn. 4).
We find Jesus teaching the Samaritan woman at the well and on
other occasions. The
Apostles were told they would be witnesses in Samaria (Acts 1:8).
When Philip left Jerusalem after persecutions, he went to Samaria
and some obeyed the gospel there (Acts 8:5-13).
The point is that even if one is in a false religion, they can
still be converted. Rather
than giving in to false religions, let us stand true to God’s word and
serve Him only. That is your
ONLY hope of heaven!