THE FALL OF SAMARIA Since the division of the kingdom, after the death of king Solomon, God showed longsuffering on the two kingdoms, particularly on that of Israel; in which, all along its history, not one single good king was found. God used every possible way, sometimes by compassion and other times by chastisement; and yet Israel persisted on apostasy and rebellion. Now the time came for God to call on Assyria to take His people Israel into captivity; to drive a multitude out of their land; and to send foreigners from the Gentiles to intermarry with the remnant that remained in Israel; to end up to a generation that feel no real belonging to Israel, but are a mixture of Jews and Gentiles; and to take away from Samaria the capital, its Jewish features as the people of God. In This final chapter of the history of Israel, concerning their ultimate captivity, the Word of God reveals the reasons that ended up in their captivation, as a lesson to all generations, and to every believer, not to fall into what the kingdom of Israel has fallen; and a lesson to the kingdom of Judah, that it unfortunately did not heed. The secret behind that chastisement was: a- Forgetting the mercies of God and His dealings with them (7) b- Imitating the pagan nations in worshipping idols, and practicing unbefitting abominations; done by those nations that God has driven away before His people (8-12). c- Closing their ears, not to hear the voice of the Lord on the mouths of His prophets (13-14) d- Rejecting the statutes of the Lord and His covenant with their fathers, and wal in vanity, that made them vanity (15-17) e- Fearing the Lord without forsaking the idol-worship; namely mixing between the worship of God and idol-worship (32-33. 1- Hoshea reigns in Israel, and the ultimate captivation of Israel 1 - 6 2- Forgetting the dealings of God in the past 7 3- Imitating the pagan nations 8 - 12 4- Rejecting the voice of the Lord on the mouth of His prophets 13 - 14 5- Rejecting the statutes and covenants of the Lord 15 - 17 6- Walking in the sins of Jeroboam 18 - 23 7- Bringing foreigners to dwell in the cities of Samaria 24 8- The lions attack the cities of Samaria 25 - 28 9- Mixing the worship of God and idol-worship 29 – 41 1- HOSHEA REIGN IN ISRAEL, AND THE ULTIMATE CAPTIVATION OF ISRAEL: King Shalmaneser, mentioned here was most probably Shalmaneser the fifth after Tiglath-Pileser (727-722 BC); who put such an exaggerated heavy tribute money on the Northern kingdom, that king Hoshea decided to rebel against Assyria, and join forces with ‘So’ king of Egypt (17: 4); an action, not only foolish, but lacks faith in God who protects His children. To crush that plot, Shalmaneser attacked Samaria and put it under siege three times; but died before it fell, and his successor Sergon took it over, put an ultimate end to the kingdom of Israel, and captivated its people. “In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years” (1) Hoshea, means (salvation). Hoshea assassinated Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel and reigned in his place (2 kings 15: 30); yet he could not sit on the throne except seven or eight years after killing Pekah. Hoseah sat on the throne in the year 732 BC; namely, the 12 mentioned years mentioned in verse (1), refer to his partnership with his father Ahaz on the throne; probably through pressure from the first campaign by Tiglath-Pileser (744-743 BC). . “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him” (2) Hoshea, who was the nineteenth and the last king over Israel, even though he was better than some of his predecessors; yet the fall of the kingdom happened in his days; not because of the sins of a specific king, but because of the sins of all the kings from Jeroboam to Hoshea; beside the sins of the civil and religious leaderships and the people. According to some, even though Hoshea was the best of the kings of Israel, all of whom were evil. He did not dedicate his life to worship the two golden calves in Dan and Bethel; and he lifted the ban put by the kings to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship the true God in His temple. Yet, even though he actually gave his people the freedom not to worship the two calves, and allowed them to go to Jerusalem to worship the true God; they did not benefit from that, but increased their evil; and the captivation came to chastise them on their persistence on evil.. “Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money” (3) Shalmaneser, An Assyrian name meaning (Shalman is the chief). Here he refers to Shalmaneser the fifth, son and successor of Tiglath-Pileser; who reigned from 727 to 722 BC, followed by Sergon. According to Josiphus he reigned over Phoenicia in the year 725 BC; The prophet Hosea calls him ‘Shalman’ (Hosea 10: 14). King Hoshea submitted to Tiglath-Pileser, but, because he rebelled against his successor Shalmaneser, the later came up against him, Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. Hoshea used the chance of Shalmaneser’s preoccupation with his war against Phoenicia, and putting the new city of Tyre under siege, to join forces with ‘So’ king of Egypt, with hope that he may be able to get rid of the authority of Assyria. Although the prophet Hosea warned him against such an alliance (Hosea 7: 1; 1 Chronicles 12: 1); he did not heed his warning. Shalmaneser came up against Samaria for the second time; but died before taking it over. His successor Sergon put it under siege for three years. After saying about Hoshea: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2), it came that he became a vassal to the king of Assyria, and paid him tribute (2)…. It is a bitter portrait of man whom God created to be a king of authority, and to practice the blessed royal life, to become, by sin, a vassal to the devil; and to deliver what God granted him as a tribute to him. + God, being good, loving, and generous, granted man the liberty to choose between good and evil, granted him the mind by which, looking at the world and all what it contains, can recognize God who created everything for his sake…. The evil man; although he may wish for the knowledge of God, yet he lacks the understanding, and perishes because of his lack of faith, and of his way of thinking that contradicts the truth. + We cannot consider free, those who are as such according to their status in the society, but those who are truly free in their life and behavior … The liberty and the blessing of the soul, are a result of the true purity, and despise of the temporal things. + The free man is he, whom the evil pleasures cannot enslave, but he who can control his body with chastity and good discernment; and who is satisfied with what God grants him, however few it is; giving Him thanks from all his heart. (St. Anthony the Great) “And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to ’So’, king of Egypt, and brought 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” (4) According to some interpreters, the talk here is addressed to Ephraim; as what came in (2 kings 17: 4) concerns his rebellion against Assyria, and his refusal to pay tributes to him, more than concerning a treaty between Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel (Ephraim) and ‘So’ king of Egypt,… But the rest of the talk is a divine talk addressed to Judah and Jerusalem; and to every man who disregards God and trusts in human arm. Sergon, king of Assyria sent the leader of his army to Ashdod as a message to ‘Su’ king of Egypt 4); for Ashdod, on the frontier of Palestine, was considered the key to enter into Egypt. The modern studies revealed that ‘So’ is not the name of a specific Pharaoh, but of a leader of a garrison in the delta by the name of ‘Siba’; or of the name of a city in West Delta by the name ‘Sais’, used by ‘Tefnakht’ as his residence. The appearance in Egypt of a person like ‘Tefnakht’ as the Pharaoh of Egypt, of the twenty-four dynasty provoked Hoshea to feel that the time was right to rebel against Assyria, and to make in an alliance with the new king of Egypt. When Shamaneser king of Assyria came to fight against Hoshea king of Israel, he uncovered a conspiracy initiated by the later, who “sent messengers to ‘So, king of Egypt”. But beside this phrase there was no other mention of a king of Egypt by the name ‘So’. …..Was there a mistake?! The answer is that the name translated as ‘So’, could also be translated as ‘Sais’, the name of a city, the capital of ‘Tefnakht’ king of Egypt in the days of Hoshea king of Israel. If we, therefore read this phrase in the following way: ‘Hoshea sent messengers to ‘Sais’ king of Egypt’. There will be no mistake here. Hoshea forgot God as his Savior, and put before his eyes the option to attach himself, either to the king of Egypt or to the king of Assyria; and in both cases he would be a slave who loses much of his liberty, honor, and possessions. He forgot the role Of God and His possibilities in protection and giving the gift of liberty. Unfortunately, we often get confused between enslaving ourselves to one sin or another, and forget the righteousness of Christ our Savior, the Liberator, and Grantor of the eternal glories. + “Jesus answered them:’ Most assuredly I say to you: whoever commits sin is a slave of sin’” (John 8: 34)…. It would be better for him to be a slave of a man, rather than to be a slave of sin! … Who would not be terrified by such words?!. The Lord, our God grants us – you and I – to express, by befitting ways, this liberty, to search for it, and to avoid such a miserable bondage… When man suffers bondage of a wicked master, he may seek to change the Master…. What will the slave of sin do?... To whom shall he plead his case? … Of whom shall he seek salvation? … Where shall he flee? For he bears his Master in himself wherever he goes. … Yes, he cannot withdraw from himself, for the sin he commits is inside him; he commits it to get some kind of carnal pleasure; but the pleasure will eventually pass away, and the sin will stay; the thorn will remain; … What an evil bondage! Let us all flee to Christ; being our Savior. Let us be sold, to be saved by His blood; “For thus says the Lord: ‘You have sold yourselves for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money” (Isaiah 52: 3). Thus says the Lord, because it is Him who paid the price, not by money, but by His precious blood; or else we would be always in need. + We were slaves of evil desire; but being liberated from them, we became slaves of love. According to the apostle: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh; but through love, serve one another” (Galatians 5: 13). Therefore, the Christian should not say: ‘I am free, I was called to liberty. I was a slave, but now I am saved, and by my salvation, I became free to do whatever I choose to do; no one has authority over me, as long as I am free’ … Do not spoil your liberty by sin, but use it to commit no sin. For as long as your will is godly, it will then be free. You will be free, only if you are liberated from sin and a servant of righteousness. As according to the apostle: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness; … but now, having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Romans 6: 20, 22). “Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years” (5) After three years siege, Samaria fell into the hands of the Assyrians in the year 722 BC. And Segon, the leader of the army of Shalmaneser the fifth, and who succeeded him on the throne, claimed that he was the one who took it. It was the custom in those days to carry along into captivity a multitude of prominent men of the defeated nation, to lessen the possibility of a counter rebellion (25: 11-12; Ezekiel 1: 2-3). The siege lasting for three years indicates that the city was strongly fortified; and by it, the king of Assyria intended to let the leaders and the people fall into despair, through denying them the ability and the enjoyment of moving in and out; and denying them the necessary food and drink. Man, through his behavior, often cast himself into the snare of the devil, and come to be under siege, losing the taste of food and drink; and his life would turn into what is like a permanent dark prison, destructible to his soul. + Do not be disturbed by the imaginary fantasies; for the power of the devil is nothing before liberty. He would not be able to force himself and apply pressure on the soul, but is only able to fight her with anxiety and seduction. Not knowing which snares would catch man, he uses a diversity of snares to reach his goal (St. (Mar) Jacob El-Serougi) “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (6). In the Assyrian inscriptions it came that 27,290 captives, and 50 chariots were taken. That was the third and the last invasion by Assyria on Israel. The first and the second ones were mentioned in (2 kings 5: 19; 15: 29). The first invasion was meant to warn Israel against provoking another one, by paying tribute and avoiding rebellion. The second invasion was allowed by God, when the people did not perceive that the troubles came upon them because of their corruption. And by the third invasion, the utter captivity took place, the Northern kingdom came to an end; and foreigners were brought to dwell in the land. God warned them of what would dwell upon them because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness in keeping His covenant (Deuteronomy 28). About that invasion it was prophesied: “Samaria is held guilty, for she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with a child ripped open” (Hosea 13: 16); and, “I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field; places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley; and I will uncover her foundations. All her carved images shall be beaten to peaces; and all haer pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, for she gathered it from the pay of a harlot; and they shall return to the pay of a harlot” (Micah 1: 6- 7); which indicates how extremely vicious the Assyrian captivity has been. By that the Northern kingdom came to an end, after 254 years from the death of king Solomon, and the division adopted by Jeroboam, up to taking Samaria by Shalmaneser, in the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea. 2- FORGETTING GOD’S DEALINGS IN THE PAST: “ For so it was that the children 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 they had feared other gods” (7), The reason why Samaria fell, and the Northern kingdom came to an end, was their spiritual failure, by forsaking the living God and worshipping the idols; despite the continuous warnings to the two kingdoms through the prophets (13, 14, 23). Israel practiced all kinds of pagan worship, and all sorts of abominations to provoke God to anger (11). They foolishly worshipped gods that were unable to save their own worshippers; and preferred their ugly worship to the worship of the living God. 3- IMITATING THE PAGAN NATIONS: “and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made” (8) The people were responsible for the sins committed by their kings ; for they were the ones who set them kings, and approved of their behavior. “Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city” (9) Although they acted in secret, as far as men are concerned (Isaiah 8: 19; Ezekiel 8: 7-12); yet the Lord see everything. Acting in secret was an indication that they perceived that it was sin, and unbefitting to do. From watchtower to fortified city” means that idol-worship became common everywhere, from the large city to the little village; from the watchtower to the cottage of the shepherd. “They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree” (10). ‘There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger” (11), “ for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” (12) 4- REJECTING THE VOICE OF THE LORD ON THE MOUTH OF THE PROPHETS: “Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” (13) “And the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah”; There was no more justification of the sins of Israel or Judah; for it was God Himself who testified against them. There was no more place for forgiveness, unless they listen to the voice of His prophets, return to Him with their whole hearts, and take away from themselves the idol-worship. Prophets continuously came to Israel and to Judah. In Judah there were Shemaiah; Eddo; Azariah; Hanani, Jehaziel; Eliazar; Zechariah, another Zechariah, Joel; Micah; Isaiah, and others. And in Israel, there were Achiah;Jehu; Eijah; Micah; Elisha; Jonah; Hosea; Amos, Oded’. “Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God” !4). “Stiffened their necks”, refers to the untamed horse, whose rider cannot rein.(See Exodus 32: 9) According to the Old Testament, not believing in the living God was behind every sin; for man would walk according to his human mind, regardless of the wisdom of God and His true promises; and not looking to the unseen things, but only the seen ones 5- REJECTING THE STATUTES AND COVENANTS OF THE LORD: “And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them (15). “ So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal” (16)l. This is the first time in this book to mention the two golden calves in Israel; one in Bethel, and the other in Dan (Amos 4: 4; 7: 13; 8: 14), of the wooden images, by which they worshipped the moon, the queen of heaven or Venus (Jeremiah 44: 17-19). Thirdly the hosts of heaven, namely the stars, they learned to worship from the Assyrians; And fourthly the Baal, whose symbol was the sun (Ezekiel 8: 16). + “Lift up your heads, O you gates” (Psalm 24: 9 LXX). … Let us hasten to go to heaven; the trumpet of the prophet cries out loud: … O you rulers of the air, lift up the gates which are in the minds of those who worship the hosts of heaven (16); … Lift up you everlasting doors of righteousness, the doors of love, and purity, through which, the soul loves the true One God, and does not walk oppressively together with many who are called gods. (St. Augustine) “And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger” (17) Witchcraft, is prophesying future events without divine inspiration, done by watching the stars, clouds, flying of birds, the intestines of animals, etc. Soothsaying, is getting optimist and pessimist by certain events; to get pessimist; when a morsel of food falls from the mouth; a cane drops from the hand, a child screams after his father, a raven howls overhead; a deer crosses the road in front of someone, etc. Instead of delivering themselves into the hand of God, they sold themselves to the devil to move them according to his wish. 6- WALKING IN THE SINS OF JEROBOAM: “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone” (18). As, in the presence of the Lord, all goods will gather together; so before Him evil will flee; and the evil ones will be counted as non-existent in His presence. By Judah here, is meant the tribe of Judah, and those who joined them, namely the tribes of Benjamin, the Levites, and also those who forsook idol-worship from the ten tribes, to worship the true God. “ Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made” (19). “And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight” (20) “For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them commit a great sin” (21). Having sinned by getting drunk, ‘Lot’ brought bitterness upon himself, and his descendants, to several generations; by giving birth, through his two daughters to ‘Moab’ and ‘Ammon’, who produced two peoples who had one goal, namely to oppress the Lord and His people along the centuries. … So it was with what Jeroboam the son of Nabat did, by splitting Israel from the house of David, and by setting the two golden calves in Dan and Bethel, to keep the people from longing to go back to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The fruits of his sin kept working in the Northern kingdom until the last moments, when it was destroyed by the Assyrian captivation. Those fruits extended from the death of king Solomon to the campaign of Assyria (725-722 BC), when Shalmaneser moved in the year 725 BC to put Samaria three years under siege, and ended by the fall of Samaria, and the ultimate collapse of the kingdom. The division of the kingdom, beside the sin of Jeroboam, was the fruit of the ignorance and haughtiness of Rehoboam the son of Solomon (1 kings 11: 31).. + It is said that the wrath of the Lord was so great that He delivered them to perdition, for they walked away from unity, and set a king for themselves (St. Cyprian) “ For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them” (23) “until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day” (24). 7- BRINGING FOREIGNERS TO DWELL IN SAMARIA: “Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities” (24). According to some, the prophet refers here to the desolation of Israel by Assarhaddon who brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel, to put an utter end to Israel (24). The king of Assyria here, is most probably Sergon the second (722-705 BC). But the action of bringing foreigners to dwell in Samaria instead of the children of Israel continued; and they mixed with the remnants who were left in Samaria; for all to be called ‘Samaritans’, whose dogmas and thoughts were a mixture of the worship of the living God and the idol-worship.. The policy of the kings of Assyria was to evacuate of the land they defeat of most of its population, and bring foreigners to dwell in their place, mix with the remnants; in an attempt to weaken their loyalty to the homeland, and submit to Assyria. In Gerzim, where a temple was built by Sanballat together with Manasseh his father-in-law, on Mount Ebal, to respond to the wish of the Samaritans not to partake of one worship with the Jews of Jerusalem; and, because those who were there, were mostly foreigners, brought by the Assyrians after they captivated the Samaritans (24-41) It was well known at the time, that ‘the hospitable Zeus’ is a refuge for the strangers and the foreigners. On another aspect, according to Josephus, the Samaritans pleaded to Antiochus Epifanius, to spare them of the persecution; and to change the name of their temple, on account of that they do not partake of one worship with the Jews. Hence the book looks at ‘those who forsook the holy covenant, mentioned in (Daniel 11: 32), as being Samaritans. . But by choosing ‘Zeus Xenios’, the Samaritans saw in it one of the features of the God of Israel, namely, caring for the strangers (Deuteronomy 10: 18 – Compare with Psalm 146: 9); And according to an old interpretation of the Torah, Abraham, the father of fathers was well received in Mount Gerzim. The most serious the devil can do to us is to make us lose our identity,… to make us forget that we are the children of God, … that heaven is our dwelling place, … that love is our language,… that the law of Christ is our law,… that the cross of the Savior is our weapon, … that the heavenly hosts are our friends, … that leaning on God’s chest, and our entrance into the divine bosoms is our settlement and security. + Do not marvel, O man, that you become a son by grace; and be born from God, according to His Word; For the Word himself chose to be born from man, to let you be born from God according to salvation. Say to yourself: It is not for no reason that God intended to be born from man; but because He counted me of such importance, to make me eternal; For my sake He was born as a mortal man. (St. Augustine) Cuthah, most probably refers to (Cush); on account of that the Chaldeans and the Syrians replace the letter ‘sh’, by ‘t’ or ‘Th” 8- THE LIONS ATTACK THE CITIES OF SAMARIA: “And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them” (25 Lions were found in Palestine until the twelfth century AD, then became extinct. They used to roam in forests on the two banks of the Jordan (49: 19; 50: 44); and were also found in Mount Hermon (Songs 4: 8), in Samaria (25), and in the wilderness south of Judah (Isaiah 30: 6). Hunting lions was the preferred sport of the kings of Assyria. And the images of lions were used in the temple of Solomon (1 kings 7: 29, 36), and to decorate his throne (1 kings 10: 19-20).. The lion was used as a symbol of God’s care and protection of His children (Revelation 5: 5); as well as of His wrath (25: 30). And it was used, as well as a symbol of the ferocious devil (1 Peter 5: 8); of the destructive false prophets (Ezekiel 22: 5), and of an angry king. “So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.” (26) He who created the world out of land “without form and void” (Genesis 1: 2), is capable of punishing its inhabitants by sending on them vicious and horrible beasts, as it happened in Samaria, (26).. It was only natural, that with the decrease of the number of inhabitants, God allows for the increase of the number of lions (Leviticus 26: 21-22). + They thought of God as being limited to a certain place, and divisible; or that was at least how they worshipped Him. By such a spirit, they proclaimed to the Assyrians that “the God of the land” is angry with them (26). . Because such a concept about God was not different from their concept about the idols; they kept on worshipping the evil spirit together with God, binding things that could never conform together. Most of the Jews, however, on the other hand, being free of such corruption, knew that He is the God of the whole universe, even if not all are believers. (St. John Chrysostom) + By thinking that God is limited to a certain place, and worshipping Him with such a concept, they sent to the Assyrians proclaiming that “God of the land is angry on us” (26), they think of God as not more exalted than their idols, and kept on worshipping Him together with the demons; binding the befitting with the unbefitting. (St. John Chrysostom) “Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land” (27) The way they counted that every land has its own ruler, so it has its god that has His own rituals; which if not observed, he would get angry on them. “Then 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” (28) Despite calling for a priest to come and teach them the rituals of the god of the land, the result was a mixture of diverse kinds of worship. Together with an apostasy from the worship of the living God; even with practicing some of His rituals; and recognizing only the five books of Moses. the Jews in the time of the Lord Christ rejected, despised, and had a kind of animosity against the Samaritans (John 4: 9; 8: 48). That priest was probably from Bethel, who returned home, and came here to minister, in an attempt to quench the anger of God on the inhabitants of the land. 9- MIXING THE WORSHIP OF THE LIVING GOD AND IDOL-WORSHIP: “However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt” (29) “Every nation continued to make gods of its own”, Instead of believing in God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and who created man according to His image and likeness, the nations made gods of their own to worship, and to let those gods realize their specific evil desires.. Those of the region of Samaria, who used to hate both Judah and Benjamin, were the descendants of the peoples that settled down in the Northern kingdom, sent by the kings of Assyria from different regions to the capital in the year 722 BC, to replace the multitude of Israelites taken away into captivity. They mixed with the remnants of the Jews, and between the worship of the living God and idol-worship + The whole region was called ‘Samaria’, … what is the origin of this name? The mountain is called “Samer”, after the name of its possessor “Shamer” (1 kings 16: 24). Its inhabitants were not called ‘Samaritans’ but ‘Israelites’. But with time, having disobeyed the Lord in the days of king Pekah, Tiglath-Pileser came up and took over many cities (2 Kings 15: 29). After attacking and killing ‘Elah’, the throne was given to Hoshea. Then, lately, came Shalmaneser and took over other cities, submitted them and put tributes on them. Although Hoshea submitted at the beginning, yet, because he rebelled later on, and resorted to the Egyptians (2 kings 17: 4), the Assyrians sent a campaign, took captives, and refused to depart, for fear of another rebellion. The inhabitants were removed to Babylon and Made, and other peoples were brought to replace them in Samaria from many surrounding provinces; to give peace of mind to Assyria that its dominion would stay in the future, and that the inhabitants will always be loyal to Assyria. Intending to show His authority, and that He was the One who delivered the Jews, not out of weakness on His part, but because of the sins of those He delivered to their enemies, God sent lions to devour the Barbarians.. When the king of Assyria received a report about that, he sent a priest to teach them the statutes of God; and yet the inhabitants there, were not completely liberated from their evil, but only partly. Even though with time they forsook the idols and worshipped the living God. But the Jews kept on bearing the spirit of animosity against them, counted them as foreigners and enemies, and called them ‘Samaritans’ after the name of the mount on which the city was built. (St. John Chrysostom) + As the Jews call the watchman ‘a Somer’, in their tradition it came that the Samaritan took that name, for the Assyrian king sent them as ‘watchmen’ on the land of Israel after captivity. (The scholar Origen) “The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima” (30) “Succoth Benoth”, literally translated as (the dwelling place of girls) or their tents or huts, claimed to be places where the girls crawled to practice certain unclean rites of worship to the gods of Babylon, like the prostitutes of the temple of Venus there. According to Sir H. Rawlinson, the word represents a Chaldean goddess called ‘Zir-Bamit’, worshipped in Babylon, also called (the queen of the location). And according to Gesinius the name is pronounced as ‘Succoth- Bamoth’. Referring to huts where the idols were kept. “Nergal”, a well-known Assyrian god; the name means (a champion) or (a great man); were called by diverse names: ‘the great brother’, ‘the ruler of storm’, ‘god of battles’, and ‘god of hunting’. On account of that the last is the main name; for he was considered as the ‘Intercessor of hunting’; that led some to claim that it represented ‘Nimrod’ the champion, who thinks of himself as God. The name ‘Nergel’ often showed on Assyrian seals, was symbolized as man in the image of a lion; or a lion with the head of a man, and wings of an eagle. According to Astronomy, Nergel conforms to ‘Mars’. Nergel for the Babylonians was the god of war and pesticide; its temple was in ‘Cuth’, and its idol was in the form of a lion with two wings, and the face of a man. By its name, men were called like ‘Nergal- Sharezer’ (Jeremiah 39: 3). “Ashima”, god of the people of Hamath. According to most Jewish authors, this god was worshipped in the form of a goat without wool, and sometimes of a lamb. Goats were found among the holy animals on the memorial statutes in Babylon; which makes ‘Ashima’ conform to ‘Mendes’….. According to some authors ‘Ashima’ is itself the Phoenician god ‘Esmun’, and ‘Esculapius, that bore the same features of the god ‘Pan. .. “and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim” (31). “Nibhaz’, god of the ‘Avites’, nothing much is known about the features of its idol; but claimed to have the form of man with the head of a dog.. The dog was worshipped by the Egyptians; and according to some scholars their god ‘Anubis’ had the form of a man with the head of a dog, although, according to ‘Wilkinson’ the head is that of a fox. “Tartak”, Also a god of the Avites. According to some Jewish authors, its idol had the form of a donkey. The name (champion of darkness); refers to a star with destructive tendencies like Mars or Saturn. “So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places” (32). The Samaritans were not committed to the divine command that the priests had to be of the seed of Aaron, but appointed for themselves priests of their own. “They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods— according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away” (33). They feared the Lord by apparent rites of worship, without the spirituality of the heart. “To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the LORD had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel” (34) The book summarized the faults of the Samaritans in two things: They did not fear the Lord; and they rejected His statutes and divine commandment. By that they broke the covenant with Him. The Samaritans became three categories: 1- Those who worshipped the two golden calves, set by Jeroboam – few in number. 2- The Israelites who added to the worship of the two calves, what they took after the pagans. 3- The pagans who added to their idol;-worship, what they took after the Israelites. Many of the Samaritans came to believe in the Lord Christ (John 4: 39-42; Acts 8: 5, 25). “with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying: “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them” (35); “but the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice” (36). The main reason for worshipping the Lord is that He saved them from their enemies by great power and mighty arm; and that no other power can stand before Him or resist Him. “And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods” (37). “And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods” (38). “But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies” (39) “However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day” (40) “So these nations feared the Lord, yet they served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day” (41). How could those nations fear the true God, and still worship false gods?!. He clearly say that “These nations feared the Lord” (32); but added “They served their carved images” (33). The answer is: The word “fear” is used with diverse meanings. They feared God in general way, but not in this specific one. Being pagans, they did not worship the One God; but according to verse 41, “These nations feared the Lord, but served their carved images”. + He says that Samaria will be surrounded by, and put under siege by enemies, who will, not only butt their cheeks with their heads, which could be endured; but they will strike them with the rod, which is particularly cruel. and refers to the insulting misery of captivity. By being ruled by the tribe of Ephraim; Samaria endured reproach and sufferings. Anyway, those hands will cease to strike; and that misery will be no more, if they do their best to take away the wrath of God, that came upon all because of their disobedience, and persistence to commit sins, something hated by the Lord. If they, instead, honor Him by practicing a virtuous life, they will certainly enjoy prosperity, and will live a joyful commendable life. (St. Cyril the Great) ---------------------------- AN INSPIRATION FROM 2 KINGS 17 LIBERATE ME, O LORD, FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF THE DEVIL + My soul moans because of the bitter captivity of sin; The devil caught me in his snare; He put me into his cruel captivity; He destroys my image every day; He makes me lose the feature of the children of God; to live as his slave. + Why should I blame the devil, and not blame myself? He would not be able to crawl into my depths; Unless I open before him the doors of my heart; His snares would not be able to catch me, Unless I withdraw my hand from Yours; Let me say, together with Nehemiah: “I and my father’s house have sinned” We did not keep the statutes, commandments, and judgments, which You gave to Your servant Moses (Nehemiah 1: 6-7) + O my God! I confess that I have forgotten Your exalted love and amazing care; You brought me out, not on Moses’ hand; But You, the Lord of Moses came down to liberate my depths; You let me cross, not over the Red Sea, But, by Your own blood, You opened before me the way to heaven; You granted me Your Holy Spirit; To perpetually renew my life By Baptism, You presented to me a paradise, more beautiful than the garden of Eden; You presented to me Your righteousness, a splendid attire for my soul; You granted me Your body and blood an eternal life; To engrave in my heart Your amazing love and dealings; To walk in them, O amazing Heavenly One. + I confess to You that I often had the intention to flee; As the prodigal son fled from his father’s house; I assumed that there is happiness, to imitate those who walk in the evil desires of the world; I scattered your goods in corruption; I turned my love for heaven into love for evil desires; Instead of friendship with the heavenlies; I attached myself to the evil desires of the world; Instead of singing praise together with the heavenlies; I searched for the mortal joy of the world; I set inside myself idols to worship; Liberate me, O Holy One, by Your grace. + I confess to You, that I did not listen to Your joyful gospel; Instead of the joyful gospel , I sought the human counsel; Grant me to acquire You, O Wisdom of God; To satisfy my soul by You, and to despise the honey of the false wisdom;’ Let Your Word work in me; Set out of me a holy son of Yours; Let Your law become my pleasure, guide, treasure, and glory. + O my God, I assumed that there is happiness in everything new; I forsook the way of my fathers, secure by Your grace; I walked in vanity, to end up becoming vanity; Grant me to gather together with the whole church, from Adam to the end of time To walk in the wilderness of this world together with my fathers who walk with the Spirit. Be a cloud to shade me against the heat of sin in the shining light of the day; Be for me a pillar of light by night; Your light, will scatter my darkness; By Your divine flame, You will take away from me every negligence and slothfulness. + O my God! Grant me now the strength, so that by Your guidance, I may have my destiny; By Your grace, I pledge to cast myself into Your bosoms; And by Your strength, I shall never falter between two ways; I find pleasure in worshipping You; I shall never leave a place for a pagan worship in my depths; You are mine, and with You I seek nothing else from heaven; For You and with You; I shall not debate with the serpent, as my mother Eve did.
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