And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;
This verse closes the story of Israel, the northern kingdom. It stands inside the account of Hezekiah, a good king of Judah — which raises two questions: why repeat news the book has already given, and what happened to those tribes next?
The verse names several places. One of them lies in a very different direction from the rest.
2 Kings 18:10-11 gives a more definite date for the captivity of the rest of Israel. The Assyrians took Samaria after a three-year siege, in the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, and the sixth year of Hezekiah — so 722 B.C. The captives were carried to Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan. (1 Chr. 5:26 mentions these same names and adds Hara.) These places are thought to lie in the north of Assyria. But the passage in Kings adds the words "and in the cities of the Medes." That region is much farther east. There they would be far away from their own people in Assyria, and from Judah, who were carried later to Babylon.
Shalmaneser began the siege. One writer notices that the wording changes when the city falls, and reads it as a change of ruler mid-siege. (His point rests on the older wording "they took it.")
The king of Israel was now a prisoner. "Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it" (2 Kings 17:5; cf. 2 Kings 18:9). But Shalmaneser did not take the city himself, for we are told, "And at the end of three years they took it" (2 Kings 18:10). During this time Sargon (Isa. 20:1) had taken Shalmaneser's place, or at least was leading the army during a short gap between reigns.
The dates set the two kingdoms side by side at the same moment. One writer then names the reason Israel fell.
The king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria in the fourth year of Hezekiah, and took the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation of Israel went into captivity, while Judah and Benjamin were kept safe by having the most faithful king reigning over them at the time. Verse 12 repeats the reason for the captivity of the ten tribes. They did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but broke His covenant given to them through Moses. They not only failed to do what they were commanded: they would not listen.
Judah's safety was not innocence. The same Assyrian power soon came south against Jerusalem.
Whatever the case, we now have Assyria connected not simply with Judah — the conqueror of Israel comes up against Jerusalem. God had allowed Assyria to sweep away the ten tribes. Was there not enough wickedness in Judah for God to deal with now? We shall see how God acts, and how He answers faithfulness of heart and trust in Himself.
God set out the reasons for all this in writing. One writer shows what we are meant to do with them.
As He closes the story of the ten-tribe kingdom, God gives us a detailed list of the charges in 2 Kings 17:7-23, showing why He brought this kingdom to an end. He has placed it in His Word to warn us and teach us. We do well to look at it. Romans 11:20-21 tells us: "Do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you."
The last king of the northern kingdom was named for deliverance, and delivered nothing.
Hoshea, whose name means deliverance, proved anything but that to his people. One alone will bring deliverance to the ten tribes. The ten tribes have never returned from their captivity, and they will not return until the Lord Himself brings them back in a day to come.
Yet being untraceable to us is not the same as being untraceable to God.
As far as we know they never returned. No doubt some people found their way back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in the four hundred years that followed before the Lord appeared. Jews from those districts were there on the day of Pentecost. But as a body they are still called 'the Lost Tribes.' God knows where to find them when His set time of blessing comes. The twelve tribes do exist, and a remnant of them will come into the land again.
- Cause. Assyria's strength did not end Israel. Israel would not obey God's voice, and broke the covenant He gave through Moses.
- Carried. Samaria fell after a three-year siege, about 722 B.C., in Hezekiah's sixth year. Writers differ on whether Shalmaneser or Sargon took the city.
- Cut off. Assyria settled the captives in Halah, by the Habor, and in the cities of the Medes — a far eastern region, away from their own people.
- Contrast. Judah stayed safe under its most faithful king in the very years Israel fell — mercy, not merit, for the same enemy soon marched on Jerusalem.
- Coming back. The ten tribes never returned, and people still call them "lost." Yet God knows where they are, and He will bring them back into the land Himself.
because they hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; and they would not hear nor do it.
Here, in the middle of the record of a godly king's reign, God says why the northern kingdom fell: the ten tribes would not listen to Him. Why spell out the reasons at all, and what are His people meant to do with them?
God does not owe anyone an account of His actions. Yet He often gives one, and He gave one for the fall of the ten tribes.
While God has no obligation to explain to us why He does what He does, in His Word He often does. As He concludes the story of the ten-tribe kingdom, God gives us a detailed list of particulars in 2 Kings 17:7-23 as to why He brought this kingdom to an end. God has placed it in His Word for our warning and instruction. We do well to examine it. Romans 11:20-21 tells us: "Do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you."
The same explanation already stood at the end of chapter 17. It comes back here because of the timing: Israel fell while Judah's most faithful king was on the throne.
In the fourth year of Hezekiah the king of Assyria began his siege of Samaria. He took the city captive in Hezekiah's sixth year. So the larger part of the nation Israel went into captivity. Judah and Benjamin were kept safe, because the most faithful king was reigning over them at the time. Verse 12 repeats the reason for the captivity of the ten tribes. They did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant conveyed to them through Moses. They not only failed to do what was commanded; they would not even listen.
"His covenant" was the law God gave through Moses. It was a deal Israel bound themselves to, not a gift handed down.
It is the covenant of law, not the ways of grace. By this Israel had bound themselves. But they forgot it, broke it and despised it — dishonouring Him, and hurting themselves just as much. They hardly felt how serious it was when they promised to obey. They took no account at all of their own self-will and rebellion. The sad and sure result was their ruin... Israel showed their fatal error from the start. They offered to take their stand, and to rest their hope of blessing, not on the promises made to the fathers, but on their own keeping of the law.
The verse ends with the heaviest charge: they would not even hear. They were not short of warning.
God had warned His people over and over again through prophets and seers to turn from their evil ways and keep His commandments and statutes. But the people refused to hear. They had rejected His statutes and covenant and testimonies. They had followed the ways of the nations round about them and had sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
A few verses earlier, the same commandments of Moses appear again — this time kept. Hezekiah trusted God, and that trust showed in what he did.
This trust is inseparable from obedience: "he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses" (v. 6). Let us beware of so-called trust in God which links itself to disobedience of His Word. If I trust in Him, I will hold fast to Him; if I hold fast to Him, I will keep His Word... Yes, trust, holding fast to the Lord, and obedience always go together. The result of Hezekiah's faith is soon apparent: "the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered" (v. 7).
God's judgment fell on Israel as a whole nation. What happened to them as individuals is another matter.
Finally He removed Israel out of His sight as a nation. Yet His full knowledge and His love know exactly where each individual is. Nor will He be frustrated in His purposes, which are secure in Christ.
- Heard. God spoke through Moses, and then through prophets for generations. Israel's fall began with a refusal to listen, not a shortage of warning.
- Bound. Israel bound themselves to the law. They rested their hope on their own obedience instead of on God's promises, and that choice ruined them.
- Broken. They did not just fail to obey. They would not even hear, and they lost the land.
- Held. In the same chapter, Hezekiah holds fast to those same commandments and prospers. Trust and obedience always go together.
- Written. God wrote the reasons down to warn us: do not become proud, but fear. No captivity defeats His purposes, which are secure in Christ.