The Song Israel Never Learned (2 Kings 15:8-31)
The Song Israel Never Learned
2 Kings 15:8-31
I do need to forewarn you at the outset this morning that
We are going to be covering an enormous amount of Scriptural text today.
Now you probably already noticed that we are going
To deal with 6 kings in the nation of Israel this morning.
I would also note to you that these 6 kings are the end of the line.
Our text ends with Hoshea on the throne and he is the last king
To ever sit on the throne of the northern kingdom.
It was during his reign that the nation was completely destroyed
And carried into exile in Assyria.
And so (as the writer intends it) we are sort of looking at
These final kings in a rapid fire fashion.
And in doing so we see just how far Israel has finally fallen.
A nation that was delivered out of Egypt and given this land
And this is where they end up.
It is indeed a sad story when seen in it’s entirety.
To really put the tragedy of this story in to perspective
We need to rewind about 680 years.
TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 31:14-22
You are familiar with the setting to the book of Deuteronomy.
• The children of Israel have wondered in the wilderness now for 40 years.
• All that were of the generation that failed to enter the Promised Land have died and Israel is about to enter.
• However Moses would not be allowed to enter with the people.
• And so before Israel crosses the Jordan, Moses must die and hand the reigns over to their new leader; Joshua.
The book of Deuteronomy is the final sermon of Moses
In order to instruct Israel on their new life in their new land
With their new leader.
However, the book of Deuteronomy is not entirely a celebratory book
The passage we find here is really a rather discouraging one.
(Read Passage)
And hopefully you noticed several things that the LORD revealed to Moses.
First was a prophecy of God that Israel would turn away from Him.
(16) “The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
So if you want God’s prophecy regarding Israel,
He said they would do three things.
1) The people will arise and play the harlot
2) [The people] will forsake Me
3) [The people] will break My covenant
God knew what was in the heart of Israel.
He knew they would be unfaithful to Him and worship other gods.
Then we saw God’s promised response to such rebellion.
(17-18) “Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ “But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.”
And so we learned that in response to the rebellion of Israel,
God would respond in 5 different ways.
1) ANGER – “My anger will be kindled against them”
2) FORSAKE – “I will forsake them”
3) HIDE – “and hide My face from them”
4) CONSUMMED – “they will be consumed” (give over to enemies)
5) AFFLICTION – “many evils and troubles will come upon them”
When Israel eventually turns away from God,
Then God will turn away from them, hide from them,
Give them over to their enemies and subject them to much affliction.
This was what Moses told them
Before they ever entered the Promised Land.
But that was not all God told Moses.
In verses 19-22 we find that God commanded Moses
To write a song and teach it to the children of Israel.
Take this sermon, put it into song form, and teach it to them.
That will make this point easy to remember and easy to learn.
(22) “So Moses wrote this song on the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.”
Now, I know it is a long song, but it is also necessary we take a look at it.
TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 32:1-47
And let me break this song into 6 verses so you can easily see the point.
1) THE CHARGE OF GOD (1-6)
This is simply the opening introduction to the song
In which God indicates what this song is about.
This song is about how the faithless children
Abandoned the faithful God and how that was not deserved.
Next comes the meat of the song:
2) THE GOODNESS OF GOD (7-14)
He starts with “Remember the days of old”
Think with me back over all the good that God has done for you.
And you can see throughout these verses a reminder
Of all the grace and mercy and favor God showed to Israel.
But then comes the problem
3) THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL (15-18)
Regardless of all the good God had done, for no reason whatsoever,
They turned away from God and began to serve other gods.
The reason they did so is found in verse 15
“You are grown fat, thick, and sleek – then he forsook the God who made him.”
Isn’t that what Moses promised in the earlier chapter?
Deuteronomy 31:20 “For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant.”
God knew they would not be able to handle their prosperity
And when they got comfortable they would turn away from God.
And they did.
(18) “You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth.”
So despite all that God had done, Israel would turn away from Him.
4) THE MISFORTUNE OF ISRAEL (19-27)
Moses said that if Israel turned away from God
Then God would get angry and end up
Smiting them with many evils and troubles.
Here they are.
(20) “I will hide”
(21) “provoked Me to anger”
(23) “I will heap misfortunes on them”
And we see that God will harshly judge them
For turning away from Him for no reason at all.
In fact the only reason God doesn’t completely remove them
Is so that foreign nations won’t get too arrogant.
VERSES 26-27
But when they turn away from God they bring upon themselves severe misfortune.
5) THE IGNORANCE OF ISRAEL (28-33)
I hope you notice the desire of God in these verses.
It pictures a God that wished Israel would pay attention
To the song they were singing and not travel down that path.
But they didn’t.
(29) “Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would discern their future!”
And God wishes that Israel would realize that
The only way other nations could have conquered them is if God allowed it.
But Israel would be too thick headed to pay attention and turn to Him.
And indeed we have seen that in our study of kings.
Regardless of the curse, famines, wars, battles, and hardships,
Israel has failed to recognize that God might be angry with them.
And because of this hardship God is forced
To completely give Israel over into the hand of foreign nations.
But all of that comes with a purpose.
6) THE DESIRE OF GOD (34-43)
You notice that God pictures a day
When there will be deliverance from the foreign nation.
But when Israel will cry out for help, please notice God’s response.
(37-38) “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? ‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place!”
God says why don’t you turn to those foreign gods you love so much.
And of course that won’t work.
Then comes the point.
(39) “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”
God wants Israel to realize that He alone is the God they need,
And to never again turn to a foreign god.
And then God promises deliverance.
That is the song Moses was to teach Israel.
It was to be in their hymnal, it was to become familiar.
And then Moses had this to say about the song.
VERSES 44-47
This was to be the most important song in Israel.
And they were to learn it before they ever entered the Promised Land.
Everyone should have known this.
But you may have noticed, I called this sermon:
“The Song Israel Never Learned”
Because now, over 600 years later we see Israel living out that song.
I want to take you through these final six kings
So that you will see the faithfulness of God to His promises.
Not just His faithfulness to bless, but His faithfulness to punish.
Back in 2 Kings 15, there are 3 main points I want you to see.
Now as we study these 6 kings,
There are some similarities that I want you to notice.
1) Most of these kings died by assassination
2) None turned away from the golden calves
You may remember that the writer of kings has tunnel vision.
There is one sin in the southern kingdom he can’t get over
And there is one sin in the northern kingdom he can’t get over.
In the south it is the high places
In the north it is Jeroboam’s calves
And so despite the wickedness of these kings,
The one sin that he consistently points out is that
These kings would not turn away from other gods
And so let’s look at these kings.
#1 A COMPLETED PROMISE
2 Kings 15:8-12
Here we see the king named Zehariah.
• And of course he did evil because he would not turn away from Jeroboam’s calves.
• And after he reigned 6 months he was publicly assassinated and his killer reigned in his place.
But the writer of kings does give one significant statement.
(12) “This is the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.”
And I hope you notice the insinuation of the writer here.
It is, “There, God did what He said”
You will remember that Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel
And so God promised him that his sons would sit as king
To the fourth generation
And despite the fact that none of them
Turned from the sin of Jeroboam, God honored that promise.
For at least 4 generations Israel’s punishment was put on hold
While God fulfilled a promise to Jehu’s boys.
But that time was over.
“And so it was.”
God did what He said,
Now Israel has no more promises of blessing to sit under.
That promise, that blessing, is completed and now Israel is in trouble.
A Completed Promise
#2 A CHAOTIC PERIOD
2 Kings 15:13-26
Remember what Moses said would happen if Israel turned away from Him.
Deuteronomy 31:17 “Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’
God specifically promised “many evils and troubles”
Look at what Israel is getting.
First we see that Shallum didn’t last long as king.
VERSES (13-15)
He assassinated Zechariah and now he was assassinated.
And the man who killed him also seeks to reign in his place.
That third king in this period is a man named “Menahem”
But it is under his reign that true unrest begins to break out.
It is obvious that the people of Israel
Are not all that eager to anoint him king.
In fact, look at verse 16
“Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, because they did not open to him; therefore he struck it and ripped up all its women who were with child.”
It is apparent that the city of Tiphsah did not want Menahem to be king
And would not consent to his rule.
So he conquered the city and as payment for them not opening up
He opened the womb of every pregnant woman.
Israel is falling apart.
They now have a tyrant as a king.
He is afflicting his own people and ruling by force
Although the nation doesn’t desire it.
But that is not all Menahem would do.
VERSES 17-20
Now we have a king who could care less about his own people.
He actually hired the local enemy to help secure his kingdom.
That is most likely the only way he was able to reign for 10 years.
Assyria (the world power at the time) protected him
Because Menahem stole from his people to pay him off.
What a horrible time to live in Israel.
We call it “many evils and troubles”
Then Menahem would die and his son, Pekahiah would become king.
VERSES 21-26
But Pekahiah was not as important to the king of Assyria
And was no doubt not under his protection.
And because the people hated Menahem,
They were more than happy to support anyone
Who would overthrow his line.
In steps “Pekah son of Remaliah”
He killed the king and reigned in his place.
Pekah’s platform was that
He did not want to be such a pushover for Assyria,
And no doubt the people who had been taxed so heavily
Were in agreement.
Pekah found favor, he killed the king and reigned in his place.
And hope you see the time of chaos it was.
Israel had turned away from God and they were getting
The “many evils and troubles” that God promised.
A Completed Promise
A Chaotic Period
#3 A CAPTIVE PEOPLE
2 Kings 15:27-31
There again we see a king who would not turn away
From the sins of Jeroboam and thus an evil king.
And then we get another significant fact about his reign.
(29) “In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.”
Remember God’s promise to a people who forsake him.
Deuteronomy 31:17 “Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’”
And here it is fulfilled.
And then Pekah suffers the same fate as the kings before him.
(30) “Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him and put him to death and became king in his place”
There are some Assyrian scrolls that indicate that the king of Assyria
Aided Hoshea in this plot and is responsible for putting him on the throne.
And incidentally Hoshea would be the final king of the northern kingdom
Before they were carried into exile.
BUT YOU SEE THE POINT.
Nearly 700 years earlier God had taught His people a song
Promising this very thing if they forsook him.
But it was the song Israel never learned.
And now they were suffering it’s consequences.
God’s faithfulness doesn’t just concern
His promised blessings but also His promised judgments.
WE CAN LEARN FROM THIS LESSON
God has made His plans very clear to us,
And He has given us His written word in order to guide us
And to help us escape a certain judgment.
The hope is that you and I not be as ignorant and arrogant as Israel was.
I WOULD LEAVE YOU THIS MORNING WITH
THE MAIN POINT OF THE SONG
GOD WANTED THEM TO LEARN
Deuteronomy 32:39 “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”
Put another way in the New Testament we read this:
Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
In other words God started it all, and God will end it all.
God was there when it began,
And God will be there when it is all over.
And in between that time we are charged to learn this one thing.
“See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”
You were not created to live this life in whatever manner you deem best.
Nor were you created to do all that you desired whenever you wanted.
You were created to give glory and honor to the God who created you.
You were created to find Him, to love Him, and to be faithful to Him.
If you miss that, you will find yourself in the same boat that Israel did.
A nation under hardship and judgment.
This morning I want to encourage you
To devote yourselves wholly to the Lord.
To put away all things that you have placed before Him.
To love Him with all your heart and soul and strength.
It is what Israel failed to do, and they were judged because of it.
Deuteronomy 32:47 “For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
