And the king of Assyria brought [people] from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and made them dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities.
Assyria did not only carry Israel away. It refilled the emptied land with foreign settlers, and they took over the cities of Samaria. Out of that move came a new people and a new religion that marked the land for centuries.
The move was political before it was religious.
The king of Assyria wanted to make sure the Israelites could never take their land back. So he brought people from other areas east of Canaan to replace them (v.24). But God was jealous for His land, and because the new settlers had no fear of God, He sent lions among them, killing some of them (v.25).
The place names are real towns on the map of the empire. Sepharvaim, for example, is one of them:
A place conquered by Assyria, and from where people were sent to colonise Samaria.
New tenants did not make the land theirs. The lions that met them were God pressing His own claim, which Israel's ruin had not cancelled.
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, which killed them. Despite its desolation, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it and would not let those rights be taken away. He would not let the land fall again under the curse He had freed it from when He destroyed the Canaanites. However great the ruin, the name of the Lord must not disappear completely from the land of Israel. God had the future in view, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
The settlers knew a God stood behind the lions. They tried to fix the problem with ritual, and what came out was not a kingdom but a mixed faith.
When the Assyrians were planted in the ruined cities of Israel they set up their old Assyrian religion, and the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. Man has a conscience. They knew it was a voice from the God of Israel. It was the God of Israel that claimed that land. No doubt they thought they could win Him over by reviving the old worship of Israel. In their folly they sent for a priest of Israel from among the captives, and so the old religion came back — a very strange mixture of the nominal worship of the LORD and real idolatry. But so it was. This was the start, not of the Samaritan kingdom, but of the Samaritan religion — a mixture of Judaism and idolatry carried on by pagans.
The teacher Assyria sent was part of the problem himself. He could only pass on what he already was.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests he had carried away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land". But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... This is obvious, yet it must still be pressed home: a corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern.
Generations later, the descendants of these settlers offered to help rebuild the temple. Their own words gave them away.
They say, "We do sacrifice to Him" — that is, to God — "since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." In this way they revealed their true origin. By their own confession they were not the children of Abraham but Assyrians. So they had no claim to belong to the children of Israel. These were, in fact, the fathers of the Samaritans (see 2 Kings 17:24-41)... We may learn for ourselves from this incident the source of one of the gravest dangers in the work of the Lord. The kisses of an enemy are both deceitful and dangerous, though it seems so ungracious to refuse the offered help of professed friends.
The story does not end in contempt. The half-light left in Samaria became the place where Jesus chose to sit down and talk.
People in the Lord's day were right to see the Samaritans as a corrupt race. The beginning of their history is recorded in 2 Kings 17:24-41... In the end they became a corrupt people who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods". So they had some dim knowledge of the Lord, and they knew the Messiah was coming.
- Replaced — Assyria moved settlers in so that Israel's exile would be permanent. One royal decision changed who lived in the land.
- Claimed — the lions showed that the land was still the Lord's inheritance. He kept it for a future remnant, whoever lived in the cities.
- Mixed — the settlers wanted the ritual, not the God. The result was the Samaritan religion: nominal worship of the LORD blended with real idolatry.
- Shaped — a corrupt teacher could pass on only his own corruption. A corrupted religion always shapes people after its own pattern.
- Known — the same mixed people later offered help that was really a danger, yet they still knew that the Messiah was coming.
And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not Jehovah; and Jehovah sent lions among them, which killed [some] of them.
Assyria had just emptied the northern kingdom and moved in settlers from other nations. They arrived in a land God still called His own. They gave Him no place — and found out He had not moved out.
The lions were not an accident of nature. God was claiming ownership of a land Assyria had just emptied of its people.
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, which killed them. Though the land lay desolate, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it, and would not let them be taken away. He would not have the land fall again under the curse He had freed it from when He destroyed the Canaanites. Whatever the ruin, the name of the Lord must not be wiped out of the land of Israel. And this was with the future in view, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
The lions point two ways at once. Back to the Canaanites, whom God destroyed to free the land from its curse. Forward to the day the true Israel inherits it.
The settlers knew nothing about Israel's God. Yet they linked the attacks with the God of the land they had moved into. Commentators read their reaction in two ways. One credits them with conscience:
When the Assyrians were planted in the ruined cities of Israel they set up their old Assyrian religion, and the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. Man has a conscience. They knew it was a voice from the God of Israel. It was the God of Israel who claimed that land.
The other reading says what moved them was fear of the unknown, not any real turning toward God:
When foreigners replaced Israel in their land, the Lord allowed lions to attack and kill some of them. They assumed this happened because they did not know the character of "the god of the land." Their fears were not moved by conscience toward God, but by superstition. All they needed, they considered, was to know the rituals of the religion of Israel.
Either way, what they went looking for next was a ritual, not God Himself.
Their fix was to bring in an expert. Assyria's king sent back a captured priest of Israel — but the priest was part of the corruption himself.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been taken away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. Obvious as that is, it still has to be pressed home.
The priest came, and something lasting grew out of the mixture:
And so the old religion came back — a very strange mixture of worship of the LORD in name and real idolatry. This is how the Samaritan religion began. Not the Samaritan kingdom, but the Samaritan religion — Judaism and idolatry mixed together and carried on by foreign settlers.
Their failure has one name: they did not fear the LORD. That is exactly what God had demanded of Israel all through the chapter.
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people, and of the nations too. God told Israel not to fear other gods, but to fear Him alone and worship Him alone. In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it!
God got their attention, then left them to answer for themselves. The writer ends with an uncomfortable question.
As for these nations, the Lord made them feel His displeasure through the attack of the lions, and so pressed on them that they should turn to Him. Then He dealt with them on the same principle He had used with His own people: He left them to their own responsibility. They paid no more attention to it than Israel had. But which of these two groups was the more guilty?
The pattern outlived them:
On the surface they feared the Lord, but they contradicted that fear by appointing priests of the high places "for themselves"... Today we see the same evil all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works flatly contradict His Word.
- Land — The lions showed God still claiming the land. He had cleared it of the Canaanites, and He will give it to the true Israel.
- Warning — The attack told them a real God claimed that ground. Commentators differ on what answered it: conscience, or superstition.
- Teacher — A corrupt teacher only passes on his own corruption. He can never lead anyone into the truth.
- Mixture — What grew there was a religion of two layers: the Lord in name, their own gods in practice.
- Test — Everything hung, and still hangs, on the one thing they lacked: the fear of the Lord.
And they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, The nations that thou hast removed and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria know not the manner of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the god of the land.
Assyria carried Israel away, and the king moved settlers from other nations into the empty cities of Samaria. Lions began to kill them, and the report to the king gave a reason: these settlers do not know the law of the god of the land — older translations call it "the manner".
The settlers had moved into a country that looked abandoned. One writer sees in the lions God refusing to give up His claim to it.
These idol-worshipping nations were brought into the land of Israel, and they did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, and the lions killed them. The land lay in ruins, yet God was still caring for the land He had chosen as His own. He was claiming His rights over it, and He would not let anyone take them away. He had wiped out the Canaanites and freed the land from its curse, and He would not let it fall under that curse again. However great the ruin, the name of the Lord must not be wiped out of the land of Israel. God had the future in view, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
The settlers did not treat the lions as bad luck. They traced the attacks to a God they had offended. One writer draws from that a point about every human being.
When the Assyrians settled in the ruined cities of Israel, they set up their old Assyrian religion, and the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. People have a conscience. They understood it; they knew it was a voice from the God of Israel. It was the God of Israel who claimed that land.
Another writer measures them against Israel itself.
The lions cut them down. These poor, ignorant pagans thought the God of Israel was just like their own false gods, yet they understood this judgment. They were more intelligent than the Lord's people (v. 26).
Commentators differ on how much credit that reaction deserves. One sees conscience at work. Another sees only a hunt for the right ritual.
Their fear did not come from conscience toward God. It came from superstition. All they thought they needed was to know the rituals of the religion of Israel (v. 26).
The king's answer was to send back one of the captured priests of Samaria. But what could such a teacher pass on?
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest had himself backed the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption… A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. The fact is obvious, and it still must be pressed home.
The episode did not end in conversion. One reference work traces the Samaritans and their mixed worship back to it.
This is the only place in the Old Testament where the Samaritans are mentioned, and it gives their origin and the mixed character of their worship. The king of Assyria had filled the cities with settlers from the East. They were now in the Lord's land, but they did not fear Him, so He sent lions among them… The result was that they feared the Lord, and served their own gods!
The settlers asked about a manner, a method, a set of practices. The chapter itself keeps repeating one phrase, pressed on Israel and on the newcomers alike.
Notice all through this passage how the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, was set before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and before the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38), "the Lord alone … Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship" (v. 36)… In this short passage the words "fear the Lord" come eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it!
- Claim. The lions showed the land was not free for the taking. God was still claiming His rights over it, with the future remnant in view.
- Conscience. The settlers read the lions as a voice from the God of Israel. Commentators differ on whether that was conscience or only superstition.
- Cure. They asked for a method, not for mercy. The king sent them a priest whose own religion was corrupt, and a corrupted religion shapes people after its own pattern.
- Consequence. They feared the Lord and served their own gods at the same time. That mixture is where the Samaritans came from.
- Core. Eleven times this chapter says to fear the Lord. Everything else, then and now, depends on that one thing.
And the king of Assyria commanded saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye have brought away from thence; and let them go and abide there, and let him teach them the manner of the god of the land.
Assyria has just carried the ten tribes away, and the king has filled Samaria with settlers from Babylon, Cuthah and other cities. Lions start killing them, the settlers decide they have offended "the god of the land," and the king answers with this order: send back one captured Israelite priest to teach them.
The lions were no accident. Rossier sees God guarding His own claim to a land emptied of His people.
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, and the lions killed them. The land lay desolate, yet God was still caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it, and He would not let anyone take those rights away. He would not let the land fall again under the curse He had lifted from it when He destroyed the Canaanites. However great the ruin, the name of the Lord was not to be wiped out of the land of Israel. God had the future in view: the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
Notice what the request is, and what it is not. Nobody asks to know God. They ask for the procedure that will stop the lions — and the king, with no better instinct, supplies a specialist.
Their fears were not moved by conscience toward God, but by superstition. All they needed, they considered, was to know the rituals of the religion of Israel (v.26). The king of Assyria knew no better, so he commanded that a priest from Israel should go back to the land to teach the people the rituals of the god of the land (v.27). How could this be when they had no centre such as God had decreed? — the centre being symbolical of Christ, the only way of approach to God.
Commentators differ on how much these settlers grasped. Rossier credits them with reading the judgment rightly:
These poor ignorant pagans likened the God of Israel to their own false gods, yet they understood this judgment. They were more intelligent than the Lord's people.
The priest chosen was one of those deported from the northern kingdom — a kingdom whose worship had been built by Jeroboam around two golden calves. Where he settled says everything.
The priest who was sent back from Assyria to teach religious rites to the settlers made his home in Bethel. That was where Jeroboam had set up the idolatrous worship which had dragged Israel down. The priest produced a new religion, partly Israelite and partly heathen, like the mixed crowd of peoples living in the land.
A man can only hand on what he holds. Rossier draws out the rule behind it:
This priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption… A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always mould them to its own pattern. The fact is obvious, yet it must be pressed home… Do not forget that the fear of the Lord cannot be joined with the idolatry of the world. To fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
So two religions ran side by side in one land. The settlers gave up nothing.
The history of what followed the arrival of foreign nations shows the strange confusion in Israel. It is one of the former priests of Jeroboam's system who comes to instruct them in the fear of Jehovah. Together with this they worship their own gods. The result is a medley, hateful to the Lord. Despite their unfaithfulness, Jehovah kept His sovereign rights over the people. In the same way we find Him defending His claim to the land after the people were driven out. He holds these rights for ever.
The effects of this one order lasted for centuries.
The Samaritans of the Lord's day were rightly seen as a corrupt race. Their history starts here. They lived in the land of Jehovah and still did not fear the LORD, so the LORD troubled them. To deal with this trouble, the Assyrian king sent a priest of Jehovah to teach them the ways of Jehovah. The result was a corrupt people who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods". So they had some dim knowledge of the Lord, and knew that the Messiah was coming.
- Claim. God sent the lions to assert His rights over land He still owned, even with His people gone.
- Demand. The settlers wanted rituals to stop the danger, not the God who sent it. Their fear came from superstition, not conscience.
- Supply. The teacher was a priest of Jeroboam's system who made his home in Bethel. He could pass on nothing but his own corruption.
- Mould. A corrupted religion never lifts people into truth. It moulds them to its own pattern, and here it produced a medley hateful to the Lord. God does not tolerate mixtures.
- Legacy. From this decree came the Samaritans. They had a dim knowledge of the Lord, feared Him, and served their own gods at the same time.
Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and abode in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah.
Assyria had emptied Israel of its people and refilled the land with settlers who did not fear the LORD, so God sent lions among them. Verse 28 is the king's remedy: send back one of the deported priests to teach the newcomers the religion of the land — but can teaching alone produce the fear of God?
The priest sent back was no faithful teacher. He came from a system that had already mixed the worship of the true God with idolatry. A man can only pass on what he himself holds.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to "teach them the law of the god of the land." But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. This is obvious, yet it must be stressed: such a religion will always shape people after its own pattern.
Of all the towns he could have chosen, he settled at Bethel. The place itself tells you what the teaching would be.
The priest who was sent back from Assyria to teach religious rites to the settlers made his home in Bethel. That was where Jeroboam had set up the idol worship which had dragged Israel down. The priest produced a new religion, part Israelite and part pagan, like the mixed crowd of people living in the land.
The settlers had asked only for the correct procedure. They wanted to know what would stop the lions, not who God was.
When foreigners replaced Israel in their land, the Lord allowed lions to attack and kill some of them... Their fears were not stirred by conscience toward God, but by superstition. All they thought they needed was to know the rituals of the religion of Israel. The king of Assyria knew no better, so he told a priest from Israel to go back and teach the people the rituals of the god of the land. How could that work when they had no centre such as God had decreed? The centre stood for Christ, the only way of approach to God. But unbelief is closed to Him, and the priest himself knew little of God... This priest taught the people how they should fear the LORD, but his teaching fell far short.
The lessons worked, after a fashion. The settlers added the God of the land to the gods they already had, and each nation kept its own shrines alongside.
Dwelling in the land of the LORD, and yet not fearing Him, they were troubled by Him. In attempting to meet this trouble, the Assyrian king sent a priest of the LORD to teach them His ways. The result was that they became a corrupt people who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods". So they had some dim knowledge of the Lord, and of the fact that the Messiah was coming.
The mixture that followed is described bluntly, and set against the fact that God had not surrendered His claim on the country:
It is one of the former priests of Jeroboam's system who comes to teach them the fear of the LORD. Alongside this they worship their own gods. The result is a mixture, hateful to the Lord. Despite their unfaithfulness, the LORD kept His sovereign rights over the people. In the same way, after the people were driven out, He also asserts His claim to the land. He holds these rights for ever.
Later the Jews came back from exile to rebuild. These settlers then offered to help.
Satan is subtle in the way he attacks a work of God. He looks friendly. You can see it when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin came to Zerubbabel and the other leaders of Judah and offered to help them build the temple. They said the King of Assyria had brought them there (which was true), and that they had sacrificed to the Lord ever since. There may be some appearance of truth in this. But they were Gentiles who had come into the land and taken up some of Israel's forms of worship.
The chapter does not leave the matter with the settlers. It turns back and presses the same word on Israel itself, over and over.
Notice how, all through this passage, the fear of the LORD — the beginning of wisdom — is pressed on the conscience of the people, and of the nations too. The LORD had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods"... "the LORD alone... Him you shall fear, and Him you shall worship". In this short passage the words "fear the LORD" appear eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it.
- Teacher — The man sent to teach came from a system already corrupt. He could only pass on what he carried himself.
- Place — He settled at Bethel, where Jeroboam's idol worship began. The result was a religion part Israelite, part pagan.
- Lack — The settlers wanted rituals, not God. Without the centre God had appointed, the teaching fell short.
- Mixture — They learned to fear the LORD and kept serving their own gods. God hated the mixture, and it still tried to share in His work generations later.
- Root — Eleven times this chapter says "fear the LORD". Everything depended on that one thing, and still does.
And every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelt.
Assyria emptied the northern kingdom and moved foreign settlers into its cities. Each group brought its own gods, filled the shrines Israel had left behind, and a new religion took shape.
The verse describes a land of competing altars. One commentator counts them off:
The people from these other nations settled in the land and brought their own religion with them. They made idols and placed them in shrines in high places that the Samaritans had built earlier. Samaria became something like the United States at that time, a home for contradictory religions of every kind. The Babylonians had their idol, the men of Cuth another, the men of Hamath another, and the Avvites two more. The Sepharvites burned their children as sacrifices to two gods of Sepharvaim (vv. 29-31).
The shrines were not new. The newcomers simply took over what Israel had left behind.
This verse marks the birth of a lasting system. It mixed two religions and kept both.
What took their place — what formed the kingdom of Samaria — was just a mass of pagans who took up the forms Israel had left behind... No doubt they thought they could win His favour by reviving the old worship of Israel. In their folly they sent for a priest of Israel from the captivity, and so the old religion came back in — a very strange mixture of worshipping the LORD in name only and real idolatry. But so it was. So began, not the Samaritan kingdom, but the Samaritan religion — the mixture of Judaism and idolatry carried on by pagans.
The man sent to teach them was himself part of the problem.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the captive priests to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption. On one side they learned "how they should fear the LORD." On the other, "every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made" (v. 29). A corrupted religion cannot lead men on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. The fact is obvious, but it still has to be said.
Lions had come into the land as well. The same writer reads that judgment as God refusing to give up His territory, even with His people gone:
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the LORD. He sent lions among them, which killed them. Despite its desolation, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it and would not let anyone take them away... However great the ruin, the name of the LORD must not vanish completely from the land of Israel. This was with the future in view, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
The land was crowded with gods, but its Owner never abandoned it.
Verse 29 sits inside a section where one phrase keeps returning: "fear the LORD."
Notice in this whole passage how God pressed the fear of the LORD, that beginning of wisdom, on the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40) and of the nations too... In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it.
One commentator brings the same contradiction into the present:
On the surface they feared the Lord (v. 32), but they contradicted that fear by appointing "for themselves" priests of the high places... Today the same evil is all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works contradict His Word outright, and they often adopt the rituals of foreign nations.
Centuries later Jesus spoke with a Samaritan about worship. One commentator sums up what the mixture had come to:
The Samaritans worshipped what they did not know. The Jews knew what they worshipped — "for salvation," as He added, "is of the Jews."... The Samaritans were mere imitators. They were Gentiles, jealous of Israel and hostile to them, with no fear of God. Otherwise they would have submitted to His ways and His Word.
- Vacancy. The high places Israel left behind did not stay empty. Every nation that moved in filled them with its own gods.
- Teacher. The priest sent to teach the fear of the LORD was corrupt himself. A corrupted religion can only reproduce its own pattern.
- Owner. Lions in the land showed God still claiming His inheritance. He kept His name there with a future remnant in view.
- Test. "Fear the LORD" rings through this passage eleven times. Everything else rests on it. Respect that keeps its own altars is not it.
- Legacy. From this verse came the Samaritan religion — a mixture Jesus later described as worship of what they did not know.
And the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the people of Cuth made Nergal, and the people of Hamath made Ashima,
Assyria has carried off the northern kingdom. Its king has refilled the empty towns with settlers from Babylon, Cuthah, Hamath and other conquered cities. Each group brought its own god. So what happens when people settle in God's land and keep their own religion?
The people named here are the ancestors of the Samaritans. One writer traces that story back to this passage:
People in the Lord's day rightly saw the Samaritans as a corrupt race. Their history begins in 2 Kings 17:24-41. After Assyria took the ten tribes captive, its king repopulated the land with men from Babylon and other pagan cities. They lived in the LORD's land and yet did not fear Him, and He troubled them.
Each group named in the verse set up its own idol, and the nearby verses add more:
So the people from these other nations settled in the land. They brought their own religion with them and made idols. They placed them in shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had set up earlier. Samaria became a home for every kind of contradictory religion, something like the United States at that time. The Babylonians had their idol, the men of Cuth another, the men of Hamath another, the Avvites two more. The Sepharvites burned their children as sacrifices to two gods of Sepharvaim.
Cuthah, one of the cities named here, was a real place. Its site is still argued over:
One of the places from which the king of Assyria brought colonists into Palestine. The location of Cuthah is not known for certain. Josephus places it in the interior of Persia; others in Babylonia.
The god the men of Cuth set up also appears on ancient monuments:
An Assyrian and Babylonian god. It has many titles on the monuments, such as "the god of the chase," "the king of battle," and so on.
Lions had already killed some of the settlers before these idols went up. That judgment was not random:
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, which killed them. Despite its desolation, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it and would not let anyone take them away. He would not have the land fall again under the curse from which He had delivered it when He destroyed the Canaanites. However great the ruin, the name of the Lord must not be entirely removed from the land of Israel. God had the future in view, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
The Assyrian king's answer was to send back a captured priest. It failed, and the reason matters:
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests he had carried away captive, to "teach them the law of the god of the land." But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption. On the one hand they learned "how they should fear the LORD." On the other hand, "every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made." A corrupted religion — and we must press this obvious fact — cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern.
Later in the chapter the text says they feared the LORD, then says they did not:
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in true perspective. Verse 33 says "they feared the LORD." But verse 34 says they went on following their former rituals: "they do not fear the LORD." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty.
One writer sees the same blend far beyond Samaria:
This mixture could not be called pure idolatry. It makes us think of the blend called Christendom, in whatever form it appears. It runs from Roman and Greek worship of Mary to the far more subtle forms of Protestant Christendom. There people join the worship of the true God to the moral darkness of the world, and profession has no connection with what ought to mark the people of God.
- Mixture begins — settlers moved into God's land and kept their own gods. Samaria held every kind of contradictory religion at once.
- Mixture spreads — the priest sent to teach them was corrupt himself. A corrupted religion shapes people after its own pattern instead of leading them to truth.
- Mixture is exposed — the text says they feared the LORD, then a verse later says they did not. Their claim was false and empty.
- Mixture cannot dislodge God — the land lay desolate and overrun, yet He asserted His rights over it. He keeps it for the true Israel, who will yet inherit it.
- Mixture still tempts — the same blend appears wherever people join the worship of the true God to the world. Profession then has no connection with what should mark God's people.
and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
Assyria emptied Samaria of Israel and refilled the land with settlers from five foreign cities. This verse names the gods they brought in, and two of those gods demanded children. Why did God let such worship stand in His own land?
The Avvites brought in two gods. Of one, little more than a name and a meaning survives:
A god of the Avite colonists in Samaria. 2 Kings 17:31. The word is supposed to mean "darkness," or the under-world.
The god who received those children carried the character of a destroyer:
The god of the Sepharvites, to whom they burnt their children, placed in one of the houses of the high places among the Samaritans. 2 Kings 17:31. A sort of Adar-Mars, that is, a sun-god, who was regarded as a destroying being.
The verse is one line in a longer list. Each group of settlers kept its own imported god and housed it in shrines the previous inhabitants had built:
The people from these other nations who settled in the land brought their own religion with them. They made idols and placed them in shrines in high places which the Samaritans had built earlier. So Samaria became something like the United States at that time, a home for every kind of contradictory religion. The Babylonians had their idol, the men of Cuth another, the men of Hamath another, and the Avvites two more. The Sepharvites burned their children as sacrifices to two gods of Sepharvaim.
The pull behind such worship did not come from the carved images:
The secret of all the abominations in idolatry is that Satan is the great mover of it. Israel heard that they were no more to offer sacrifices to demons. Leviticus 17:7. They "sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons." Psalm 106:37. They made their children pass through the fire to Molech, 2 Kings 23:10.
That power shows itself by overriding the deepest natural feelings a person has:
Idolatry cannot instil the love of what is pure and lovely and of good report. On the contrary, it produces and strengthens the feelings and attitudes of all that is hateful and impure. And as we know in many cases, it has crushed the strongest instincts of nature, for parents have burnt their own children in honour of an idol.
The settlers did get instruction in Israel's God. It came through the wrong man:
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to teach them the way of the god of the land. But this priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption. On one hand they learned "how they should fear the LORD." On the other, "every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made" (v. 29). A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. This is obvious, yet it still needs saying.
God had already answered these settlers with lions. That judgment guarded His claim on the land:
These idolatrous nations, brought into the land of Israel, did not fear the Lord. He sent lions among them, which killed them. Despite its desolation, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it and would not let anyone take them away. He would not have the land fall again under the curse from which He had delivered it when He destroyed the Canaanites.
Later these newcomers looked for fellowship with God's people:
It was useless for these foreigners to seek fellowship. "So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away." They professed to fear the LORD, yet "they served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children — as their fathers did, so they do to this day" (2 Kings 17:33, 41). The true God could not agree to a partnership with false objects of worship, and behind those objects were demons.
- Mixture begins — settlers brought Nibhaz, Tartak, Adrammelech and Anammelech into shrines already standing in the land. One small country now held every kind of contradictory religion.
- Mixture is driven — Satan is the mover behind such worship. Scripture calls these offerings what they are: sacrifices to demons.
- Mixture costs — it crushes the strongest natural instincts. Here parents burned their own children in honour of an idol.
- Mixture spreads — a corrupted teacher passes on his own corruption. A corrupted religion never leads people into truth; it reshapes them after itself.
- Mixture is refused — God kept His claim on the land by sending lions. He would never share His worship with other gods.
So they feared Jehovah, and made to themselves from all classes of them priests of the high places, who offered [sacrifices] for them in the houses of the high places.
Assyria had carried Israel away and settled foreigners in the empty land. These newcomers began to honour the God of the land, yet they kept every god they had brought with them. Verse 32 is the turning point. Their fear of the LORD was strong enough to set up priests. But they chose those priests themselves, for shrines God never picked.
The settlers did not invent this arrangement. One commentator sees it as a copy of what King Jeroboam had already done with the priesthood, and the copy went further than the original.
Had not Jeroboam done the same thing about the priesthood? What they learned from the priest of Samaria led them down that same path. They only go a little further: the priests they appoint, following the pattern set by Jeroboam, became nothing more than priests of their idols.
A priest was teaching these settlers. What he had to give explains what they built.
This priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God, so he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them according to its own pattern. The fact is obvious, but it still needs to be pressed home.
The teacher was not the only problem. There was no centre of the kind God had decreed:
How could this work when they had no centre such as God had decreed? That centre was a picture of Christ, the only way of approach to God. But unbelief is closed to Him. The priest himself knew little of God, for he had been linked with the idolatry of Jeroboam. Long before this, all Israel had left God's centre — Jerusalem — to set up a religion with two golden calves as its symbol.
Verse 32 says the priests came from "all sorts of people." One commentator sets that beside God's own rule for priests, and then applies the test to today.
On the surface they feared the Lord (v.32), but they contradicted that fear by appointing priests of the high places "for themselves." They liked to copy the fact that God appoints priests. But God appointed only the sons of Aaron, and they were priests of God at God's temple, not at the high places. Today we see the same evil all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works flatly contradict His Word. They often adopt the rituals of foreign nations.
Two verses later the chapter says the opposite of what verse 32 seems to allow.
Verse 33 says, "they feared the Lord." Yet verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the Lord." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty. They did not really fear the Lord, nor did they follow the statutes and ordinances of the Lord.
The closing section of the chapter hammers a single demand, and the repetition is the point.
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40) and of the nations too... In this short passage the phrase "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it!
Could people with a mixed religion ever be joined to God's people? One writer answers no, and gives the reason.
The true God could never agree to a partnership with false objects of worship, and behind those objects were demons. Nor would Judah and Benjamin, however weak a remnant they were, give up their special honour as His chosen... People who do not know or do not believe may call faith in His word, and the bond between Him and His own, narrow and arrogant and unkind. But those who value the truth feel rightly that relationship with Him must be exclusive.
- Source — A compromised teacher could only pass on his own corruption. A corrupted religion cannot lead anyone into truth. It shapes people to its own pattern.
- Substitute — They had no God-given centre. So they copied the outward fact of priesthood, and ignored whom God had appointed and where.
- Self — The fatal word is "for themselves": worship they chose, priests they installed, shrines they kept.
- Sentence — The chapter takes the words back. Verse 34 says they did not fear the LORD, so the earlier claim was empty.
- Standard — "Fear the LORD" appears eleven times in these closing verses. Everything depended on that one thing then. God still refuses any partnership with false objects of worship.
They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods after the manner of the nations, whence they had been carried away.
Assyria carried Israel away and settled people from other nations in the empty land. They brought their own gods with them. This verse shows what came of it: an outward fear of the LORD laid over the customs they brought with them. Does worship like that count for anything with God?
The settlers were not Israelites at all. Commentators trace the origin of the Samaritans to this moment. A foreign people moved into a land that still belonged to God. They felt His hand against them, and tried to fix the problem with religion.
What took their place — what formed the kingdom of Samaria — was nothing but a mass of pagans. They took up the forms of Israel left behind, because God visited the land in a remarkable way. When the Assyrians were settled in the ruined cities of Israel, they set up their old Assyrian religion. Then the Lord sent lions among them. They understood it. Man has a conscience... No doubt they thought to win Him over by reviving the old worship of Israel. In their folly they sent for a priest of Israel from the captivity, and so the old religion came back in — a most strange mixture of nominal worship of the LORD and real idolatry. But so it was. So began not the Samaritan kingdom but the Samaritan religion: Judaism and idolatry blended together and carried on by pagans.
The settlers did get a teacher. But the priest sent to instruct them carried the very fault he was meant to cure.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests taken away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... A corrupted religion cannot lead men on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. The point is obvious, yet it needs strong emphasis.
The chapter itself takes back the word "feared." The next verse holds their worship up against God's commands and finds nothing there.
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in a true perspective. Verse 33 says, "they feared the LORD." Yet verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the LORD." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty. They did not truly fear the LORD. They did not follow the statutes and ordinances of the LORD, or the law and commandment He had given to the children of Jacob, also named Israel. God had made a covenant with them, charging them, "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them" (v.35).
So how do you tell real fear of God from the look of it?
Those who appear to fear Him do not truly fear Him if they do not obey Him, for to fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
The closing verses of the chapter are not vague. They repeat one demand again and again, and everything else rests on it.
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). "The LORD alone… him shall you fear, and him shall you worship" (v. 36). "But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command and still depends on it.
Why can God not accept a share of their worship? The answer lies in what stands behind those other gods.
It was impossible that the true God could consent to a partnership with false objects of worship, with demons behind them... People who are ignorant or unbelieving may brand faith in His word, and the bond between Him and His own, as narrow and arrogant and unloving. But those who value the truth feel, and rightly, that a relationship with Him must be exclusive... He never did and never will consent to merge into one those who are His and those who are not.
The same mixture did not die with Samaria. One writer holds this verse up to Christians who want the Lord and something else as well.
Think, dear reader, what honour you can place on your Lord by such a testimony. For most professing Christians today it is the Lord and some form of the world, something added to Himself. It is a mongrel Samaritan worship of the Lord and their own gods (2 Ki. 17:33). It is a shameful admission that the Lord is not enough to satisfy, a love of pleasure more than a love of God.
- Origin. Foreign settlers took the place of exiled Israel. Lions taught them whose land it was, so they answered with religion.
- Teacher. Their teacher came out of the corruption himself, so corruption was all he could pass on.
- Pretence. Verse 34 cancels verse 33: a fear that keeps the old rituals is no fear at all. To fear God is to obey Him.
- Demand. Eleven times in this short passage God calls for fear of Him alone. Everything else rests on that one command.
- Today. The Lord plus something else is Samaritan worship in modern dress, and it confesses that He is not enough.
To this day they do after their former customs they fear not Jehovah, neither do they after their statutes or after their ordinances, nor after the law and commandment that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
After Assyria carried Israel away, foreign settlers filled Samaria and mixed their own gods with the worship of the LORD. This verse is God's verdict on that mixture: whatever they said about Him, He did not call it fear of Him.
The chapter says twice that these people feared the LORD, then denies it. Verse 34 settles which statement is true:
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in a true perspective. Verse 33 says, "they feared the Lord." Yet verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the Lord." Their claim of verse 33 was false and empty... With them God had made a covenant, charging them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them" (v. 35). But now Samaria had become totally corrupted by this false worship of various descriptions.
The settlers were not left without a teacher. But the priest sent to them had shared in the corruption himself:
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption... A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. This is obvious, yet it must still be pressed home.
The verse denies these people the fear of the LORD. The verses that follow return to that one demand again and again:
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said, "the LORD alone … Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship" (v. 36). He also said, "but you shall fear the LORD your God, and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! All else depended upon this elementary ordinance and still depends on it!
The verse traces the commandment back to "the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel." God Himself gave that second name, and the two names mean opposite things:
First the Lord makes Jacob own up to the name he was born with. But Jacob ("the supplanter") must have his name changed if he is to receive proper blessing from God. Only when the flesh is touched and shriveled does Jacob receive the name Israel ("a prince with God"). By nature he was Jacob, but by the grace of God he becomes Israel.
Israel was gone and the land was full of foreigners, yet God had not surrendered His rights to either. The deportation changed the residents, not the ownership:
The history of what followed the arrival of foreign nations shows the strange confusion in Israel... Despite their unfaithfulness, the LORD kept His sovereign rights over the people. In the same way, we find Him defending His claim to the land after the people were driven out. He maintains these rights for ever.
The same fault did not stop with Samaria. One writer links the priests of verse 32 with what he sees now:
On the surface they feared the Lord (v. 32). But they contradicted that fear by appointing priests of the high places "for themselves"... Today the same evil is seen all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works contradict His Word outright. They often take up the rituals of foreign nations.
This chapter is the beginning of the Samaritans, the people the Lord later met at the well. Their religion stayed shallow, but some light survived in it:
In the Lord's day people rightly saw the Samaritans as a corrupt race. Their history begins in 2 Kings 17:24-41... In the end they became a corrupt people who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods." So they had some dim knowledge of the Lord, and some dim knowledge that the Messiah was coming.
- Verdict. God's verdict overrules appearances. The people who claimed to fear the LORD did not fear Him at all.
- Cause. Their teacher was corrupt himself, and corrupt religion only shapes people after its own pattern.
- Test. These verses repeat the fear of the LORD eleven times. Everything else depended on it, and still does.
- Name. The commandment came to "the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel." God gave that name by grace; the man's natural name meant supplanter.
- Claim. Assyria carried Israel off, but God kept His rights over both the people and the land — for ever.
And Jehovah had made a covenant with them, and charged them saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
but Jehovah alone, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
The northern kingdom has just fallen, foreign settlers now fill the land, and God looks back over the whole story. In a long list of bans, verse 36 gives the one positive command: fear the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and Him only.
This is not new instruction. God is repeating terms He set long before, now over a land full of new settlers and mixed religion.
We are reminded that the land belonged to the nation God had brought up out of Egypt with power openly displayed, and Israel was to fear Him (v.36). They were told to be careful to keep His statutes, laws and ordinances, and to refuse to fear other gods.
Verse 36 asks for three things: fear, bowing and sacrifice. The first of these runs through the whole section, pressed on Israel and on the new settlers alike. (Where the ESV reads "the LORD," the older translation quoted below prints God's name as "Jehovah.")
Notice how this whole passage presses the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, on the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said, "Jehovah alone … Him you shall fear, and Him you shall worship" (v. 36). And again: "but you shall fear Jehovah your God, and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear Jehovah" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it.
The verse gives a reason for its demand. This is the God who brought them out of Egypt, and that rescue is why worship belongs to Him alone.
It was on this very ground that, long ago, God sought to be known as God by the Jews. He claimed to be worshipped by them as the one only God, because He had shown Himself their Redeemer. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." In this act He had made Himself known as God, full of grace and power for captive sinners. If we do not know Him like that, we do not know Him as He truly is. Any thought about God that disagrees with this is only the mind of a darkened creature busy with its own idolatry. The true God is He who reveals Himself in redeeming grace and power.
The verse says God used "great power" and "an outstretched arm." Those words come from the exodus story, and God later promised that same power to a nation in exile.
The nation of Israel was redeemed from Egypt both by purchase and by power (Ex. 15:6, 13, 16). As their Goel, Jehovah brought them out of slavery "with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment" (Ex. 6:6). Centuries later the Assyrians and then the Chaldeans carried the nation into captivity. Even then Jehovah kept sending them promises of deliverance by redemption, calling Himself "Jehovah, your Redeemer (Goel)."
("Goel" means a kinsman who buys back what his relative has lost.)
The settlers around Samaria added the LORD to their list of gods. Verse 36 rules that out, and a mixture like that never stays harmless.
A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them to its own pattern. This fact is obvious, yet it still needs to be stressed. … Those who seem to fear Him do not really fear Him if they do not obey Him. To fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
The mixture showed in their worship, and in the priests they chose to run it.
On the surface they feared the Lord (v.32). But they contradicted that fear by appointing "for themselves" priests of the high places… Today we see the same evil all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works flatly contradict His Word.
Israel broke the command, but God did not withdraw it. God's rights over the people and over the land outlast their failure.
Jehovah kept His sovereign rights over the people despite their unfaithfulness. In the same way, we find Him defending His claim to the land after the people were driven out. He maintains these rights for ever.
- Ground — The claim rests on what God did. He brought them out of Egypt, so worship belongs to Him alone.
- Gift — He redeemed them "both by purchase and by power," acting as their kinsman-Redeemer.
- Fear — The word appears eleven times in this short passage. To fear Him is to obey Him, and everything else depended on that.
- Failure — Adding the LORD to a shelf of other gods is not obedience. A corrupted religion shapes people to its own pattern instead of leading them in the truth.
- Faithfulness — Israel forgot the covenant. God never dropped His claim on the people or the land, and He keeps those rights for ever.
And the statutes and the ordinances and the law, and the commandment which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
Here God sums up why the northern kingdom fell, pointing back to the terms He wrote down: statutes to keep always, and no other gods. It raises two questions: what those four words cover, and how a people could recite them and still be judged.
The whole passage repeats one demand. One commentator counts how often:
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said: "the LORD alone … Him you shall fear, and Him you shall worship" (v. 36). He also said: "but you shall fear the LORD your God, and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command, and still depends on it!
(The wording quoted from verse 36 follows an older translation.)
"Statutes and rules and law and commandment" is not a pile of synonyms. Rossier, writing on a similar list in 1 Kings, gives each term its own weight:
The Word of God directs the walk itself… The Word has different characteristics, and we need to pay attention to all of them… His statutes are the things He has established, and they carry His authority. His commandments express His will, and we are obliged to submit to it. His ordinances (or judgments) are the principles He conveys and acts by. His testimonies are the thoughts He has communicated to us, and faith must receive them.
God wrote these things down, and the verse says to keep them always. People easily assume that rules from another era no longer apply. One writer answers that directly:
The people left in the land were reminded that the law had been given to "all Israel," and therefore it applied to them. What is more, all the "statutes and judgments" that had supplemented the main commandments stood in their integrity, neither repealed nor altered. Changes in human circumstances do not impose any change upon the Divine requirements.
The chapter says these settlers "feared the LORD" — and then says they did not. One commentator holds the two statements together:
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in a true perspective. Verse 33 says, "they feared the Lord." Verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the Lord." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty. They did not really fear the Lord. They did not follow the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, otherwise named Israel.
The same writer refuses to leave this in the past:
On the outside they feared the Lord (v. 32). But they contradicted that fear by appointing "for themselves" priests of the high places… Today we see the same evil all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works flatly contradict His Word, and they often adopt the rituals of foreign nations.
A priest came back to teach these people how to fear the LORD. He failed, and the reason matters:
This priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God, so he could teach them nothing but his own corruption… A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them to its own pattern. This fact is obvious, yet it still needs stressing… Those who appear to fear Him do not truly fear Him if they do not obey Him, for to fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
The demand came with a promise attached:
They were not to forget the covenant the Lord had made with them, but to fear the Lord, who would honour their submission and keep them free from the power of their enemies.
- Fear first. The passage says "fear the LORD" eleven times. Everything else depended on it, and still does.
- Fear defined. His statutes carry His authority. His commandments express His will. His ordinances show how He acts. His testimonies are the thoughts faith must receive.
- Fear fixed. God wrote them down, so changed circumstances change nothing. The statutes stood neither repealed nor altered.
- Fear faked. One verse says they feared the LORD; the next says they did not. To fear Him is to obey Him — and the same contradiction is common today.
- Fear rewarded. Those who did not forget His covenant had His promise: He would deliver them from all their enemies.
And ye shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you, neither shall ye fear other gods;
Israel has just gone into exile, and foreign settlers now fill the emptied land. Here the chapter repeats the terms God set long before — remember the covenant, fear no other god — and the rest of the chapter shows what happens when a people forget.
The verse is one line in a short summary of what God had done for Israel and what He asked in return.
We are reminded that the land really belonged to the nation God had brought up out of the land of Egypt with clear power, and Israel was to fear Him (v.36). They were told to be careful to keep His statutes, laws and ordinances, and to refuse to fear other gods. They were not to forget the covenant the Lord had made with them, but to fear the Lord, who would honour their submission and keep them from the grip of their enemies (vv.37-39).
Two things stand together here: remember what God promised, and refuse what other gods claim.
The repetition in these verses is deliberate, and it is worth counting.
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40) and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said, "the LORD alone … Him you shall fear, and Him you shall worship" (v. 36). He also said, "but you shall fear the LORD your God, and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic command and still depends on it!
The chapter itself supplies the test case. It first says the settlers feared the LORD, then denies it.
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in true perspective. Though verse 33 says "they feared the LORD," verse 34 says they went on following their former rituals — "they do not fear the LORD." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty… With them God had made a covenant, charging them, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them" (v.35).
So this command does not target open atheism. It targets a worship that keeps God's name and keeps everything else too. What divides real fear from claimed fear is obedience.
Those who appear to fear Him do not truly fear Him if they do not obey Him, for to fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
The teacher sent to instruct these newcomers was himself a product of the system that had ruined Israel, and that detail explains the outcome.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption… A corrupted religion — and this obvious fact needs special stress — cannot lead men on in the truth. It will always shape them according to its own pattern.
The result was not a swap of one religion for another, but a blend.
The history of what happened after foreign nations were brought in shows the strange confusion that had taken place in Israel. It is one of the former priests of Jeroboam's system who comes to teach them the fear of the LORD. Along with this they worship their own gods. A mixture, hateful to the Lord, is the result.
Israel had to remember the covenant. But God's own rights did not depend on Israel's memory. Even with the land emptied, He kept His claim on it.
In spite of its desolation, God was caring for the land of His inheritance. He was asserting His rights over it, not allowing them to be taken away… Whatever the ruin might be, the name of the Lord must not be entirely removed from the land of Israel, and that with a view to the future, for the remnant, the true Israel, is to inherit the land.
Commentators bring the warning into the present.
Outwardly they feared the Lord (v.32), but contradicted that fear by appointing "for themselves" priests of the high places… Today the same evil is seen all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works are in flat contradiction to His Word, often adopting the rituals of foreign nations.
- Remember — the covenant was something God had already made and done; Israel's part was not to forget it.
- Fear — "fear the LORD" appears eleven times in this short passage. Everything else depended on this one command, and still does.
- Refuse — the covenant named what fear of God rules out: no other gods bowed to, served or sacrificed to.
- Mixture — forget the covenant and religion does not vanish; it blends. People claim to fear God while their worship says otherwise, and commentators call that mixture hateful to the Lord.
- God remembers — Israel forgot. God kept His rights over people and land, and holds them for a future remnant.
but ye shall fear Jehovah your God, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
This verse ends a long chapter about Israel's failure. It closes not with a threat but with an offer. New settlers in the land had added the LORD to the gods they already had. So two questions stand behind the verse. What counts as fearing Him? And what does He promise those who do?
The closing section of the chapter repeats one requirement again and again. One writer counted how often.
Notice how this whole passage presses the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, on the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and on the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38)… In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended on this basic requirement, and still does.
The word "fear" can mislead a modern reader. It helps to hear first what it does not mean.
This fear of the Lord is not the slavish dread that marks the superstitious. No. It is a reverent trustfulness accompanied by hatred of evil. "The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil" (Prov. 8:13). "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever." Where people keep this fear, the presence of the Lord is a reality and a joy.
This promise is the last link in a chain that runs back to Egypt, the covenant, and the land itself.
The land really belonged to the nation God had brought up from the land of Egypt with obvious power, and Israel was to fear Him (v. 36). God told them to keep His statutes, laws and ordinances carefully, and to refuse to fear other gods. They were not to forget the covenant the Lord had made with them. They were to fear the Lord, who would honour their submission and preserve them from the bondage of their enemies (vv. 37-39).
Fearing God does not leave a person timid. It works the opposite way.
We read next that in the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence. This fear takes away all other fear and becomes a tower of strength. It also helps others who tremble at His word, especially His children. What place of refuge is so sure and near?
The settlers in Samaria said they feared the LORD. A few verses later the record itself denies it.
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in true perspective. Verse 33 says, "they feared the LORD." But verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the LORD." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty. They did not truly fear the Lord. They did not follow His statutes and ordinances, or the law and commandment He had given to the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
The religion that shaped them explains how they got there.
A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. The fact is obvious, yet we must still insist on it.
The same promise appears earlier, when Israel faced the Philistines. There the condition comes with it.
If He has His place in the heart or in the land, all strange gods must be put away… He cannot endure a heart divided between Himself and a false god. All this is simple enough. Yet there must still be preparation and purpose of heart to carry it out in a real and lasting way… If they are ready for this, then there is the clear promise: "He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." God Himself had removed His ark from the Philistines' land. Yet in His holiness He could not rescue them from that same enemy until the people were right before Him.
What happened in Samaria was not a one-off. The same idea keeps coming back.
People have often renewed these proposals for an all-inclusive religion. The Samaritans worshipped the Lord and the gods of the country around… Today the same proposal comes back with all energy and from all sides.
- One command. The passage repeats "Fear the LORD" eleven times. Everything else in Israel's life hung on that one requirement, and it still does.
- One meaning. This fear is not superstitious dread. It is reverent trust joined to a hatred of evil, and it drives out every other fear.
- One promise. God pledges to preserve from the enemy those who submit to Him and do not forget His covenant.
- One counterfeit. Samaria claimed to fear the LORD while keeping its own gods. The record answers that they did not fear Him. A corrupted religion only reproduces itself in those it teaches.
- One condition. God will not accept a divided heart. He could not rescue His people while they stayed that way. The promise of deliverance belongs to those who serve Him alone.
And they did not hearken, but did after their former customs.
God had just charged Israel to fear Him alone, with a promise to rescue them. Verse 40 gives the answer He received from the nations now settled in Samaria: they kept the ways they came with. So this whole section presses one question. Can a religion that keeps its old gods beside the true God count as the fear of the LORD?
The message they ignored was not obscure. One writer counts how often this short section repeats one command, and says everything else rests on it.
Notice how this whole passage sets the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, before the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and before the nations. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said, "the LORD alone … Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship" (v. 36). He also said, "but you shall fear the LORD your God, and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything else depended upon this basic command and still depends on it!
What replaced obedience still looked like religion. One writer marks the gap between appearance and reality, and how far down the generations it ran.
But now the land was given over to people who paid no attention at all to the commands of God. So these nations who entered the land looked as if they feared the Lord, but in fact served their carved images. Their children and their children's children followed the same course of evil. Some Israelites were still scattered through Samaria, but they did not soften the picture of guilty contempt for God's law. It only added to the mixture of many elements of evil.
They were not left without a teacher. A priest came to them for that very purpose. The same writer shows why he failed, and what real fear of God involves.
The king of Assyria sent them one of the priests who had been carried away captive, to "teach them the manner of the god of the land." But this priest himself had supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption… A corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them after its own pattern. This fact is obvious, and yet it must still be stressed… Those who appear to fear Him do not truly fear Him if they do not obey Him, for to fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
Their failure does not leave the land ownerless. One writer names what the mixture produced, and what God still held.
Together with this they worship their own gods. A mixture, hateful to the Lord, is the consequence. Despite their unfaithfulness, the LORD kept His sovereign rights over the people. In the same way, we find Him defending His claim to the land after the people were driven out. He maintains these rights for ever.
Commentators apply this pattern to our own day. One sees the same split in the religion around us:
Today the same evil is seen all around us. People claim to respect God, but their works are in flat contradiction to His Word, often adopting the rituals of foreign nations.
Another compares this Samaritan mixture to something that is not even plain idolatry:
This mixture could not be likened to pure idolatry. It makes us think of the blend called Christendom, in whatever form it appears. It reaches from the time of Roman and Greek worship of Mary, to the much more subtle forms of Protestant Christendom. There the worship of the true God is tied to the moral darkness of the world, and what people claim has no relationship to what ought to mark the people of God.
This verse is not the last word on these people. One writer traces what they became, and what they still knew.
They lived in the land of the LORD, and yet did not fear the LORD, so the LORD troubled them… As a result they became a corrupt people who "feared the LORD, and served their own gods." So they had some dim knowledge of the Lord, and knew that the Messiah was coming.
- Command — Eleven times in this short passage God presses one thing: fear the LORD. To fear Him is to obey Him. Everything else depended on that, and still does.
- Refusal — They would not listen. The old ways stayed, and the fear of the LORD became an appearance laid over them.
- Cause — The teacher sent to them was himself mixed. A corrupted religion cannot lead anyone into truth; it reproduces its own pattern.
- Spread — The refusal did not stop with them. Their children and their grandchildren walked the same road, and the mixture only grew.
- Warning — The same double life runs on wherever people claim to respect God while their works contradict His Word. Yet even here a dim knowledge of the Lord and of the coming Messiah survived.
And these nations feared Jehovah, and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children as did their fathers, so do they, unto this day.
Assyria moved foreign settlers into Samaria, and this verse is the chapter's final verdict on them. They kept up the fear of the LORD and their idols at the same time and handed both down to their children — which raises the question of what such "fear" is worth.
The verse is about settlers, not Israelites. Here is how they came to be there:
The king of Assyria had settled colonists from the East in the cities. They were now in the LORD's land, but they did not fear Him, so He sent lions among them. When the king of Assyria heard of this, he sent them a priest who had been carried away from Samaria, to teach them how they should fear the God of that land. The result was that they feared the LORD, and served their own gods!
Read alongside verse 34, the chapter's own language turns on itself. What the settlers called fear, God did not call fear:
Verse 34 puts the whole matter in a true perspective. Verse 33 says, "they feared the LORD." Yet verse 34 says they kept following their former rituals: "they do not fear the LORD." Their claim in verse 33 was false and empty. They did not truly fear the LORD. They did not follow His statutes and ordinances, or the law and commandment which the LORD had given to the children of Jacob, also named Israel.
So what does real fear look like?
Those who appear to fear Him do not truly fear Him if they do not obey Him. To fear Him is to obey Him. God does not tolerate mixtures.
The teacher sent to fix the problem carried the problem in himself:
This priest had himself supported the dreadful mixture of idolatry with the worship of the true God. So he could teach them nothing but his own corruption. On the one hand they learned "how they should fear the LORD." On the other hand, "every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans had made" (v. 29). This fact is obvious, yet it still needs to be insisted on: a corrupted religion cannot lead people on in the truth. It will always shape them according to its own pattern.
The surrounding verses hammer one demand, and the count itself is the argument:
Notice how this whole passage presses the fear of the Lord, this beginning of wisdom, on the conscience of the people (vv. 35-40), and of the nations too. The Lord had said to Israel: "You shall not fear other gods" (vv. 35, 37, 38). He said, "the LORD alone… Him you shall fear, and Him you shall worship" (v. 36). He also said, "you shall fear the LORD your God, and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies" (v. 39). In this short passage the expression "fear the LORD" occurs eleven times! Everything depended on this elementary command, and still depends on it.
Some call such separation narrow and unkind:
It was impossible for the true God to consent to a partnership with false objects of worship. People who are ignorant or unbelieving may brand faith in His word and the bond between Him and His own as narrow and presumptuous and uncharitable. But those who value the truth rightly feel that a relationship with Him must be exclusive.
Writers apply the verse beyond Samaria. The modern form of it is not carved images but an addition to Christ:
For most professing Christians today it is the Lord and some form of the world, some addition to Himself. It is a mixed, Samaritan worship of the Lord and their own gods. It is a sad admission that the Lord is not enough to satisfy, a love of pleasure more than a love of God.
- Origin. These were foreign settlers, not Israelites. Lions came among them, so a priest taught them a little about the LORD — and they worshipped Him and their own gods together.
- Verdict. The chapter answers itself: what verse 33 calls fear, verse 34 calls no fear at all — the claim was empty.
- Cause. The teacher sent to them was already compromised. A corrupted religion cannot lead people into the truth; it shapes them to its own pattern.
- Remedy. Eleven times in a few verses God presses one thing — fear Him alone. And to fear Him is to obey Him.
- Result. The mixture outlived the people who made it and reached their children and grandchildren. But a relationship with God must be exclusive.