The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 183: Israel Falls to Assyria (2024)

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

Today we read about the critical moment when Assyria destroys the Northern Kingdom, and the ten northern tribes are exiled and assimilated among the nations. Fr. Mike explains how this moment and the foreign possession of Samaria is key in order to understand Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4. We also read about how the prophet Micah beautifully foreshadows the birth of Jesus. Today's readings are 2 Kings 17, Micah 5-7, and Psalm 140. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 183. Okay, so I think yesterday I said that halfway through day 182, 182.5, we would be halfway through. I think that math is wrong. I think that means halfway through

today is when we're at 182.5, right? Doesn't that make sense? I think so. So this is halfway. So today is halfway. And if you celebrated yesterday, wow, I've made it halfway. You can celebrate again today because it's the maybe real halfway. I don't know. People who are better at math than me, I didn't realize it's simple division. You're just dividing 365 by two. But, you know, nonetheless, we're at day 183. We're reading 2 Kings chapter 17.

This is the day that we leave the divided kingdom and go into, well, not, we'll leave the period of the divided kingdom and enter tomorrow into the period of exile. So this is the period of the divided kingdom and enter tomorrow into the period of exile. So this is the fall of Samaria. This is the fall of the kingdom of the north. In 2 Kings 17, we're reading Micah chapter 5, 6, and 7, including the book of the prophet Micah. And we're praying Psalm 140. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, 2nd

Catholic Edition. I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast. Here we go. It's day 183. Let's get started because this is a gift, a gift of being able to come to this place. We've been following the kingdom of Israel, been following those 10 tribes in the north for a long time now. And we've been following the book of the prophet Micah yesterday, just starting yesterday, but continuing today and recognizing here's what he has to say to these tribes in the north. That's

one of the things that prophets will continue to do. They continue to preach both to Judah and to Israel, basically saying you need to repent or what is going to happen to you is judgment is going to happen. And so we realize we're being called back to. So here we are, day 183, 2 Kings 17, Micah 5, 6, and 7 in Psalm 140. The second book of Kings, chapter 17, Hosea reigns over Israel. In the 12th year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hosea, the son of Elah, began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hosea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hosea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So,

king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year. Therefore, the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and on the Hebor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. Sins of Israel lead to deportation. And this was so because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

and had feared other gods, and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the sons of Israel and in the customs which the kings of Israel had introduced. And the sons of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars in Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree. And there they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger. And they served idols of which the Lord had said to

them, You shall not do this. Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. But they would not listen, but were stubborn as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings which he gave them. They went after false idols and became false. And they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for

themselves molten images of two calves. And they made an Asherah, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of spoilers until he had cast them out of his sight.

When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin. The sons of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants, the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. Assyria resettles Samaria. And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

So the king of Assyria was told, The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them. And behold, they are killing them because they do not know the law of the God of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the law of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the God of the land. So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should

fear the Lord. But every nation still made gods of its own and putelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. But every nation still made gods of its own, and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they dwelt. The men of Babylon made Sukkoth-Benoth, the men of Kuth made Nirgal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anamelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim. They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 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. To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandments, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. The Lord made a covenant with them, and commanded them, You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them. But you shall fear the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him and to him you shall sacrifice.

And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. So these nations feared the Lord and also served their graven images, their children likewise, and their children's children as their fathers did. So they do to this day.

The book of Micah, chapter five, a ruler from Bethlehem. Now you who are walled about with a wall, siege is laid against us. With a rod they strike upon the cheek the ruler of Israel. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

Therefore, he shall give them up until the time when she who has labor pains has brought forth. Then the rest of his brethren shall return to the sons of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And this shall be peace, when the Assyrian comes into our land and treads upon our soil, that we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword. And they shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our

border. Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers upon the grass, which do not depend upon men nor wait for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces,

and there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. And in that day, says the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you, and will destroy your chariots, and I will cut off the cities of your land, and throw down all your strongholds.

I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more soothsayers. And I will cut off your images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands. And I will root out your asherim from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance upon the nations that did not obey. Chapter 6. What the Lord Requires. Hear what the Lord says. Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you, enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.

O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, devised, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him, and what happened from Jatim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of the Lord cries to the city, and it is sound wisdom to fear your name. Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city, can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence, your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I have begun to strike you,

making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied. And there shall be hunger in your inward parts. You shall put away, but not save. And what you save, I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap. You shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil.

You shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. For you have kept the statutes of Omri Woe is me. of the peoples. Chapter 7. Corruption, Repentance, and God's Compassion and Love. Woe is me, for I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the vintage has been gleaned. There is no cluster to eat, no first ripe fig which my soul desires. The godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts his brother with a net. Their hands are upon what is evil to do it diligently. The prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul. Thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of their watchmen, of their punishment has come Now their confusion is at hand Put no trust in a neighbor Have no confidence in a friend Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom For the son treats the father with contempt The daughter rises up against her mother The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Of man's enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I shall behold his deliverance. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes will

gloat over her. Now she will be trodden down like mire of the streets. A day for the building of your walls. In that day, the boundary shall be far extended. In that day, they will come to you from Assyria to Egypt and from Egypt to the river, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest, in the midst of a garden land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.

The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall lay their hands on their mouths. Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth. They shall come trembling out of their strongholds. They shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall fear because of you. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion upon us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and mercy to Abraham. Psalm 140, prayer for deliverance from enemies, to the choir master, a psalm of David.

deliverance from enemies. To the choir master, a psalm of David. Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men. Preserve me from violent men who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's and under their lips is the poison of vipers. Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from violent men who have planned to trip up my feet. Irrigant men have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net. By the wayside they have set snares for me. I say to you, you are my God. Give ear to the voice of my supplications, O Lord. O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O Lord, the desires of

the wicked. Do not further his evil plot. Those who surround me lift up their head. Let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them. Let burning coals fall upon them. Let them be cast into pits, no more to rise. Let not the slanderer be established in the land. Let evil hunt down the violent man speedily. I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the afflicted and execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name. The upright shall dwell in your presence. Father in heaven, thank you. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you for calling us back to you.

Lord God, the psalmist here is David, who's just praying to you for help because yes, it's true that we face the snares of our enemies. We face the net that our enemies have laid for us. And now those could be human enemies, but just like St. Paul said, the real enemies we face are not flesh and blood, but our principalities and powers, the evil

spirits, the Satan that rolls around the world seeking the ruin of souls. And so we pray for your protection against the true enemy. Lord God, you've revealed to us that the forces that are against us are the world, the flesh, and the devil, the fallen world, the corrupt world, our own fallen flesh, and the fallen angel of Satan, who all three of those obstacles, all three of those enemies trip us up. They become snares for us. And so we just ask you, help us not only to be vigilant and to be wise, to be able to have our eyes open clearly and to see those traps of the world, the flesh and the devil, but also to have the courage to,

in the midst of the battle, to call out to you, the midst of the battle, to actually fight. Lord God, let us never ever just exchange comfort for truth. Let's never just try to escape discomfort by capitulating to the traps and the snares of the enemy. Help us always to be courageous, to be wise, and to be yours in all things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Okay, so gosh. Okay, 2 Kings 17. Here we are. This is it. This is the fall of the kingdom in the north, right? The king of Assyria has just come in and he has done what? He has taken the people, the 10 tribes of the north, and he has exiled them. Now, this is a critical moment because this critical moment that the 10 tribes of the

north are gone. They are gone forever. I mentioned this before, but I just, we almost can't overemphasize how important this is because the two tribes in the South, right, Judah and Benjamin, they're still there. They're very, very clearly in chapter 17, verse 19, the Lord God says here, Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord, their God, but walked in the customs, which Israel had introduced.

Remember the people in the North and the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them, gave them to the hand of their spoilers until he cast them out of his sight. And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them, gave them to the hand of their spoilers until he cast them out of his sight. Now, so what's going to happen here is Judah and Benjamin in the south are going to be around for a bit more, and then they're going to be exiled as well. Sorry, spoiler, into Babylon. But they're going to come back home.

They're going to be able to come back and resettle the land. But the northern tribes, those 10 tribes, will never, ever come back. They'll never be the land. But the northern tribes, those 10 tribes will never, ever come back. They'll never be the same. In fact, not only will they never come back, but you can see that in the middle of chapter 17, what happens is the king of Assyria brought people from five nations. Those five nations were Babylon, Kuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Safarvahim, these five nations. And he settled them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria. They took it, dwelt in its cities. And this is going to be really, really important.

Now, we think Samaria, we think Samaritans, right? So here is, you know, Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. And by the time of Jesus, this is what we're going to realize. In the north, there's all these Samaritans who are not Jews. Now, what happens? This is so important. Oh, my goodness. So there's a lot of strife.

There's lions that come into the land of Samaria and they're killing people. And so the king of Assyria who says, well, shoot, maybe this is because they've abandoned the god of the land. Now, keep this in mind. If you've been reading along, not just listening along, the god of the land is lowercase. So because the king of Assyria believes in just, you know, gods of this river, the god of that hill, the god of this river, the god of that hill, the god of this tree, the god of the land. It's just a localized god. We're not talking

about the Lord God. And so like, well, because we've driven out all their priests, we need, the land is cursed now, so we need to bring back one of those priests and they can kind of, quote, kind of sort of reestablish their religion because the God of the land there, that localized God, is the reason why the lions are here killing people. And so not only do they underestimate that the Lord God is God of everything, but secondly, here the king of Assyria brings a priest who, remember, was a priest of the north. We're not even talking a Levitical priest. One of those priests that were instituted by Jeroboam and those others who followed after Jeroboam and those others who followed after Jeroboam. And he's now teaching this corrupted version of what we would call the Old Testament,

right? He's teaching this corrupted version that began with Jeroboam and continued up to this day. And so because of this, and because these five new kingdoms have been introduced to that land, the Samaritans will think of themselves in some ways as Jews, not fully. I want to be precise with this language. They don't think of themselves as Jews, but you have John chapter four, here's the woman at the well. And what does she, she's a Samaritan. And at one point she says, how is it that you, a Jew are talking to me, a Samaritan woman. And because. And it says, because Samaritans have nothing to do with the Jews. And she goes on to say, you say that the only place to worship the Lord God is in Jerusalem, but we worship him here. We worship him in other places. And Jesus makes it clear,

salvation is from the Jews. He says, we worship what we understand, but you worship what you do not understand. When he says that you worship what you do not understand, it's because of this whole history here, starting way back here, 700 years plus before Jesus. And maybe seven to six. I get my dates wrong, you guys. I'm so sorry. Yeah, it's about 700 BC is when this happens. So I was actually accurate. I need to give myself some more credit. Okay, here we are. So this is the key to be able to understand this tension between Jews and Samaritans is Samaritans are now living in the land that belonged to the Jews, but the king of Assyria had exiled the Jews and brought in these five kingdoms. Here is this remarkable thing in John chapter four, Samaritan woman, how many husbands has she

had? She says, I don't have a husband. And Jesus says, you're right, because you've had five husbands, and the one you're with right now is not your husband. This is not only true about this woman with five relationships or five marriages, and then now this new guy, but also is true of the people of that region. Because what was brought into Samaria? Five kingdoms, five countries. Babylon, Kutha, Ava, Hamath, Sepharvaim. All those five kingdoms, nations were brought into that place, five husbands. And the one you're with now, just

random Samaritans, is not your husband. And remember, oh my goodness, remember that in Hosea, what does God say? He says, no longer shall you call me Baal, my master, but now you'll call me my husband. God wants to be that relationship, that covenant relationship with his people. So this is just one of those incredible moments of typology where we see way back when here in 2 Kings 17, this foreshadowing of what is going to be fulfilled in John chapter 4, when Jesus is speaking with this Samaritan woman, calling her to faith and the people of the town, people of the town in which she's living, calling them to faith in him. It's just remarkable and so cool and just amazing. Okay. So let's go to Micah quick because I know we don't have a lot of time, but we're

going to do our best. Micah chapter five. There's some famous words that you probably have heard before. If not around Christmas time, Advent time, you O Bethlehem Ephrathah, remember Bethlehem, a little town of Bethlehem, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who's to be ruler of Israel. This is the prophecy of Jesus Christ being born in Bethlehem, whose origin is from of old, from ancient of days. Therefore, he shall give them up until the time when she who has labor pains is brought forth, and then the rest of his brethren shall return to the sons of Israel. You guys, this is insane. Micah is preaching to the north, to Israel saying, you're going to be scattered. You're going to scatter like the wind, scattered to the wind.

But from Bethlehem, from Bethlehem in Judah will come a ruler who will bring you back. And this is just, oh, bonkers. So, so incredible. Prophecy about Jesus Christ being born in Bethlehem. Not only that, oh, golly. Chapter six, what the Lord requires. One of my favorite lines in the Old Testament. The question is, with what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?

And there's a whole list of things. Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with 10,000s of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? And realize, of course, right, Ahab did that. Ahab actually sacrificed his own son and the people of the north were actually sacrificing their own children. And they just were getting this all wrong. And so ask the question.

And I remember when I read this, I must've been in high school the first time I read this. And it really struck me because it was a situation where it was, God, what do you want from me? Like, what can I give you? I know you're calling me to something. I don't know what it is. And I just, how much do you want?

And here is the person in Micah's book saying, with what can I come before the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Should I come with all the things or what do I come with? And God answers, Micah answers, poor God. He says, he has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. That's just, that's so clear. This is what the Lord desires. Obedience, to be able to obey his commandments, to obey his statutes, to obey his heart and to do his will in our lives. But here it is, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

I think there's almost no better thing to reflect on, on this last day of the divided kingdom as we headed to exile tomorrow than the fact that that's what God has required of us, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Let's pray for that. Let's pray that we can be men and women who do that. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. Let's pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.