THE L.I.F.E. PLAN ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY BLOCK 2. THEME 8 - THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 2 (66 of 216)

Transcription

1 THE L.I.F.E. PLAN ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY BLOCK 2 THEME 8 - THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 2 (66 of 216)

2 BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 2 (66 OF 216): ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY LESSON AIM: Present the Assyrian Captivity of the northern nation of Israel. SCRIPTURE: (2 Kings 17:20-23) 20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; 23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. One of the darkest periods of Old Testament history is the captivity of the northern nation of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. It is dark because of the sin which led to it and because of the judgement of God upon Israel to the extent that ten of her twelve tribes were scattered to the wind. It left many Israelis with the inability to trace their family history from this point; a condition which will continue until the millennial reign of Christ. Israel was led down this darkened path by Jeroboam, the first king of the northern nation, after the division of the kingdom which happened at the death of King Solomon. Jeroboam s departure from the Word and ways of the Lord caused him to further entrench the terrible sin of idolatry in the heart of the people of God. He caused Israel to sin, and for the next two hundred and fifty years, Israel s sin and departure from God became worse and worse. Finally, God had had enough. Seeing that Israel was bent on continuing in this direction, God had to cut off their branch from the vine. The seventeenth chapter of 2 Kings gives a summary of Israel s sins against God which led to her captivity. Israel had sinned against the Lord in a number of ways; ways in which God had specifically warned them not to follow. Israel accepted the gods of the other nations around them. They feared other gods. They walked in the statutes of the heathen. They left the Word of God behind them, refusing to walk in the ways of the Lord. They made molten images of the gods they worshipped and bowed before them. They built shrines and temples of worship to these gods, high places as they are called in the Bible. They burned incense to the gods as the heathen did. They planted groves in honor of the gods. They served the gods in every way, even to the extent of offering their babies as human sacrifice upon their altars. Israel sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking the Lord to anger. In summary, Israel refused to hear the Word of the Lord. They rejected the Word of God and the will of God for their very existence; his covenant. They hardened their necks toward God and refused to be guided by him at all. They followed vanity, the empty and meaningless chasing of the wind, and became vain themselves in the sight of God. In spite of these departures by Israel from the ways of the Lord, God still called upon Israel to repent of their sin, to turn from sin and turn to God. He invited them to turn from sin and to keep his Word as he had previously commanded them. In this ordeal, we see the mercy of the Lord and his longsuffering toward his people. When it

3 became obvious that they would not turn, God acted upon them by bringing the Assyrians to remove them out of their land and out of his sight. This response is what we know as the Assyrian captivity of the nation of Israel. Assyria is an ancient place and people in the Bible. The first mention of Assyria is found way back in Genesis 2:14. From the very beginning of man s existence on earth, Assyria has had a role to play in the story God is telling. That role continues today as Syria and its refugees are a major headline of the news in nearly every major city in the world. They will continue to be used of God as he sets the stage of the world for his glorious return to the earth at the revelation. Assyria was the world s superpower of its day. Its army crushed nearly every foe which stood before it. They were ruthless in their destruction when they invaded a people and place, committing all kinds of atrocities and leaving the places utterly destroyed before them. We get a feeling for how much they were feared and even hated by the people of God when we read the book of Jonah. God moved Assyria upon Israel in response to Israel s departure from God. For three long and devastating years, the city of Samaria lay under siege by the Assyrians. When the city finally fell, Assyria implemented two policies which both changed the nation of Israel, and planted a thorn in Israel s side for years to come. The first policy was deportation. The strong, healthy, educated, prospering people were carried off from their cities into other cities around the empire. Only the weak and elderly or those who would not pose a future threat to Assyria were left in the land. The second policy enacted upon Israel in the north was immigration. The Assyrians brought in foreigners from other places to occupy the cities vacated by the Israelis. They too brought their gods with them, further diluting the hearts of the remaining Israelites toward God. These policies were devastating to Israel. As a result of them, the nation of Israel would be forever changed. The Assyrian captivity of Israel had two lasting results upon Israel. The first result is that the ten tribes of Israel which were deported and scattered became known as the Lost Tribes of Israel. They were lost in that they never regathered as a group or in collective tribes again after the deportation. While many of them obviously died at the hands of the Assyrians during the siege and invasion, they were not completely wiped from the face of the earth as the word lost might suggest. Some of them remained in the land, some were dispersed, and some even returned to Jerusalem with the remnant after the Babylonian captivity. In that they were lost, the proof of their identity as belonging to this tribe or that was lost. The losing of these ten tribes has given rise over the years to all kinds of theories as to their whereabouts, and to many supposed discoveries of the Lost Tribes of Israel. These theories and discoveries can be discounted. Second, the policies of deportation and immigration left Israel with the hated people group known as the Samaritans. The Israelis who remained in the land mixed with the foreigners who were immigrated into the land, creating a mixed race of people who stood as a constant reminder of Israel s sin toward God and the judgement they suffered for it. The Israelis hated everything about the Samaritans. A long history of conflict and gouging each other kept the hatred alive. When Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan, it was like rubbing salt in an open would to Israel. The conflict between the two peoples is also on display in John 4 in the encounter of Jesus and the woman of Samaria at Jacob s well. All of these difficulties could have been avoided if Israel would have submitted herself to God to obey his Word and walk in his ways. Their disobedience and refusal to repent brought this destruction upon them. The way of the transgressor is hard.

4 LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 2 (66 OF 216): ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY I ISRAEL S DECLINE A. Under Jeroboam B. Israel s offenses C. God s response II ASSYRIAN DOMINANCE A. Ancient Assyria B. Assault on Israel 1. Siege 2. Deportation 3. Immigration III RESULTS OF THE ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY A. The lost tribes of Israel B. The Samaritans SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. The Samaritan woman at the well John 4: The parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10: The Assyrian captivity 2 Kings 17 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD God s sovereign rule over the nations 2. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN Sin has consequences God has the final word on sin 3. ANTHROPOLOGY Man and the choices he makes

5 QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. In what year did the Assyrian captivity of Israel take place? 722 B.C. 2. Why did God bring this judgement upon Israel? Israel refused to obey the Word and will of God 3. What were some of Israel s sins against God? Hard heart; stiff neck; idolatry; disobedience, etc 4. Did God give Israel an opportunity to repent before the captivity? Yes - many times 5. What two policies did the Assyrians use against Israel? Deportation; immigration 6. What were the results of these policies upon Israel? The lost tribes; the Samaritans 7. What does the term lost tribes mean concerning Israel? They lost their identity as the people of God 8. Are you obedient to the Word and will of God? Student response

6 BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 2 (66 OF 216): ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. In what year did the Assyrian captivity of Israel take place? 2. Why did God bring this judgement upon Israel? 3. What were some of Israel s sins against God? 4. Did God give Israel an opportunity to repent before the captivity? 5. What two policies did the Assyrians use against Israel? 6. What were the results of these policies upon Israel? 7. What does the term lost tribes mean concerning Israel? 8. Are you obedient to the Word and will of God?