The Secrets that Lead to Stubborn Hearts

2 Kings 17:6–8 (ESV) In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.

The final straw for the Northern Kingdom of Israel comes in 2 Kings 17. One wicked king after another has slowly led them away from the Lord. Hoshea is now king and his decisions lead Israel into the bondage of the Assyrians. What was it that Hoshea did that catalyzed this epic downfall? He turned the people of Israel back to the Egyptians. 

If we back up in the chapter we see the pressure Assyria put on Hoshea was too much for him to bear. He was a vassal to the king of Assyria but sought perhaps a better financial deal with the king of Israel. 

2 Kings 17:3–5 (ESV) Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. 

Remember the nation was saved from Egypt. They were ordered to never return. Their kings were specifically ordered to reject any allegiance with Egypt in their future. 

Deuteronomy 17:16 (ESV) Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’

Egypt was off-limits when it came to seeking assistance as a nation. Yet what led Hoshea to seek Egypt's help in the first place? It was several century's long rebellion in his nation and predecessors. The seventeenth chapter of 2 Kings presents the litany of sins Israel committed in turning from the Lord. 

2 Kings 17:11–12 (ESV) they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.”

Though God warned them for a long time through prophets, they did not listen. 

2 Kings 17:14 (ESV) they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.

They not only rebelled, but they also rejected the God who saved them. Isn't that incredible? And what's more, they looked to their former captives to save them. How did it happen?

There is a hint at how all this came to be in the first place back in verse 9. You see, sin never starts overtly and obtrusively. It begins in secret:

2 Kings 17:9 (ESV) And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

Now it takes a while, but the secret sins of Israel eventually lead to the stubborn hearts of Israel who cannot and will not listen to the servants God sent to save them. If there's a warning here for us it is this - we cannot fall for the lie that what we do in secret is simply our business and we can control it. Sin eventually grows and overcomes our lives. I think of the movie "Little Shop of Horrors" which leads a mild-mannered man named Seymore to first give dabs of his own blood to a thirsty pet plant only to eventually kill a dentist in order to satisfy its increasing desire. Eventually, the plant grows uncontrollably big and threatens not only his life but the life of the woman he loves. He barely escapes and flees to the suburbs with his girl. The story is considered a horror, but it is an appropriate parable for those who play with sin.

So what is our answer? We need a better king. We need Jesus who leads us OUT of sin and breaks its power over our hearts. You see, we are all Israel in our flesh. We cannot keep God's law and we like to dabble with rebellion to our own inevitable demise. Christ's death is the end of sin's power over us and we are free to obey in the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you playing with sin? This is the moment to turn to Christ and receive His spell-breaking power in your heart. Turn to the true King of Israel and live free!