James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
2 Kings 17:23
‘O ISRAEL, THOU HAST DESTROYED THYSELF!’
‘The Lord removed Israel out of His sight.’
Why did this disaster befall the Northern kingdom? How was it Israel came by its overthrow? It is possible to answer thus—because Assyria was a conquering nation, and Israel lay in the path of its conquering advance, and as the weaker power it naturally succumbed. But that is to read history superficially. The Bible states plainly and emphatically that the reasons for Israel’s overthrow were moral reasons. ‘It was so,’ the historian writes, i.e. ‘this overthrow came about,’ ‘ because the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God.’ The secret of their ruin was their sin. ‘The wages of sin is death,’ says Holy Writ. ‘The broad road ends in destruction.’
I. This is true of nations.—National sin is followed by national ruin. Israel’s case can be paralleled by the case of Persia, and Greece, and Rome. It is a law no nation can evade—sin brings ruin as its penalty. We need to realise it in England, for we have our gross and shameful sins—our drunkenness, our gambling habits, our impurity, our greed. Unless we repent, these sins of ours will bring their penalty along with them, and the name of England shall perish.
II. This is true of individuals.—Sin brings its penalty. With this sad story before us, we must think of its parallel in the history of every soul that persists in unbelief and rejection of Christ. Sin makes chains for men, binds them hand and foot, and carries them into hopeless captivity. This lesson should come home to young people who are perhaps trifling with sin, or who are at least disregarding God’s calls and commands. The fatal end of such neglect and sinning should be looked at very honestly as it is illustrated in this carrying away of Israel.
Illustrations
(1) ‘God does not easily give people up. He tried in many ways to save Israel. He sent prophets to warn them and call them back. He sent judgments—famines, wars. He was loath to see them perish, He loved them so. At last He could do nothing more, and sent them out of His presence. It is always so. God is marvellously patient with his erring children. The Gospel is full of the story of the patience of Christ.’
(2) ‘What a warning there is in an incident like this! Men still mock and laugh at warnings against sin! That is the tragedy of so many lives—like those young men of whom J. B. Gough used to speak, who set sail on Niagara River, and who despised all voices from the shore that warned them of the furious rapids just below, and who only awoke to their peril when it was too late, and the doom of their folly stared them in the face.’
(3) ‘Read carefully the bill of divorce which their true Husband gave Israel when He put them away. It is a pathetic document, but surely none can say that Jehovah had not good cause for doing as He did. The wonder is that He bore so long with His apostate people. And we should read the three first Chapter s of Hosea to know how bitterly the Divine heart was rent when the hour of separation came. Nor should we forget to read the assurances, given so clearly and emphatically by the Apostle, that all the true Israel shall ultimately be saved.’