Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers
24 The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from [o]Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land.”
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into [p]exile and let [q]him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the Lord and [r]appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.
34 To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they [s]follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel; 35 with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them. 36 But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods. 38 The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. 39 But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom. 41 So while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their [t]idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
It’s an interesting thing that God sent lions among the new settlers of Samaria. Yet even when they had a priest to teach them God’s ways, they still served their own idols also. And yet He did not send more lions. It would seem (possibly) that God wanted to make sure they knew about Him, and was giving them the same opportunity to serve Him; to make their choice who they would serve.
They made their choice in the end, and for generations they would attempt to both God and their idols on the high places of Israel. Perhaps even some of them did truly believe in God and forsake their old ways. But most carried on in their own traditions, for old habits are hard to break.
Like God did with their land, He would eventually also provoke the Jews to jealousy by offering salvation to the gentiles through Jesus. It reminds me of the parable of the king’s banquet, where those who were invited declined to come, and so the king showered his blessings (by way of a feast) on common folk and strangers.
If we forsake Him, we have no one to blame but ourselves, and now He offers His blessings to all mankind. Indeed, God offers the greatest blessing of all, a return to Eden, or better than Eden, to any who will accept the gift and choose to serve him as Lord. It’s appropriate this passage says “Lord” so many times, for that is exactly what He should be in our lives. Not just a god to be placated, so we can go our own way afterwards, but master and ruler of our lives. God calls the shots, and whether we choose His way or not, His plan will continue forward. With or without us, “His truth is marching on…”