2 Kings 17:32 KJV
So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
Assyria had defeated Israel and carried the people away captives. However, if they were to maintain their possession of the land they would need to occupy it. The king of Assyria therefore sent people from various other nations under his authority to dwell in the land.
These people superstitiously believed that the difficulties they faced in the land (though no doubt God did make their way rough) were because they did not know how to worship (fear) the local deity. They did not want to convert to the worship of the one true God; they simply wanted to pacify whatever local god was irritated with their presence.
They found a priest who would teach them Israel's ways(vs 28)
There will always be a supposed man of God who is willing to prostitute himself
Either for fear of men
Or else for the gain of money
Or else for the desire of success
Or else for the convenience of living where he wants (this seems to be a part of the case with the priest of vs 28)
They may be able to teach people a kind of worship. They might even be able to develop in people an outward standard that looked much like the real thing. But it is not the real thing.
They began to worship (lip service) the Lord and their own gods(vs 33)
Many of us have a form of fear of the Lord, but we also are still practicing the acceptable manners and customs of our world and those around us.
We come to church and we think like the world
We sing God's songs and we enjoy the music of the world
We read the Word of God and we buy into the philosophies of worldly authorsWe are every bit as worldly as anyone we know who does not go to church and we know it.
They then put their own god's in the Lord's house
(vs 29-31)
At first people make the distinction between the spiritual and the secular, accepting both as having a viable place in their lives, but eventually they will incorporate what is in the world into their so called worship.
And God said they never really worshipped Him at all(vs 34)
And here is the warning we need to heed today;
Even if we feel as if we have appeased the local deity
Even if we feel good about ourselves and the fact that we call ourselves Christians
Even if in our own observation some of the difficulties we had before we learned how to "fear" the local deity
Yet God does not accept any form of worship other than the worship of Him and Him alone.
So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
Assyria had defeated Israel and carried the people away captives. However, if they were to maintain their possession of the land they would need to occupy it. The king of Assyria therefore sent people from various other nations under his authority to dwell in the land.
These people superstitiously believed that the difficulties they faced in the land (though no doubt God did make their way rough) were because they did not know how to worship (fear) the local deity. They did not want to convert to the worship of the one true God; they simply wanted to pacify whatever local god was irritated with their presence.
They found a priest who would teach them Israel's ways(vs 28)
There will always be a supposed man of God who is willing to prostitute himself
Either for fear of men
Or else for the gain of money
Or else for the desire of success
Or else for the convenience of living where he wants (this seems to be a part of the case with the priest of vs 28)
They may be able to teach people a kind of worship. They might even be able to develop in people an outward standard that looked much like the real thing. But it is not the real thing.
They began to worship (lip service) the Lord and their own gods(vs 33)
Many of us have a form of fear of the Lord, but we also are still practicing the acceptable manners and customs of our world and those around us.
We come to church and we think like the world
We sing God's songs and we enjoy the music of the world
We read the Word of God and we buy into the philosophies of worldly authorsWe are every bit as worldly as anyone we know who does not go to church and we know it.
They then put their own god's in the Lord's house
(vs 29-31)
At first people make the distinction between the spiritual and the secular, accepting both as having a viable place in their lives, but eventually they will incorporate what is in the world into their so called worship.
And God said they never really worshipped Him at all(vs 34)
And here is the warning we need to heed today;
Even if we feel as if we have appeased the local deity
Even if we feel good about ourselves and the fact that we call ourselves Christians
Even if in our own observation some of the difficulties we had before we learned how to "fear" the local deity
Yet God does not accept any form of worship other than the worship of Him and Him alone.
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