Reading 69 | The Bible in 100 Passages

Saturday, November 22, 2025  

Today's Scripture
2 Kings 17:5–7, 14–18

Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

This occurred because the people 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. They had worshiped other gods. They would not listen but were stubborn, as their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their ancestors, and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did. They rejected all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; they made a sacred pole, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. They made their sons and their daughters pass through fire; they used divination and augury; and they 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 alone. (NRSV)

Reflection

How does a nation die? Throughout history, including biblical times, notable examples of countries and kingdoms ceased to exist. The kingdoms of Judah and Edom, the Canaanite nations, and more recently, Prussia, Tibet, and East Germany, among others.  

They disappeared due to war, political upheaval, annexation, or divine judgment. As today’s passages underscore, the Northern Kingdom of Israel died when God arose in anger. Yet God didn’t forsake Israel without offering its people countless opportunities. Nineteen different kings and prophets over two centuries failed to lead Israel in genuine repentance. 

The fall of the Northern Kingdom illuminates that a nation’s people can make wrong decisions over generations (and sometimes it seems much more quickly). What can we draw from this? Interestingly, the American Bible Society’s annual The State of the Bible project offers some thoughts by asking Americans their opinions and practices related to the Bible. 

Among the findings: adult Bible users slid from around 50 percent from 2011 to 2021 to 38 percent last year before rising to 41 percent this year; the younger Americans are, the more likely they are to think the Bible isn’t useful; and on Harvard University’s human flourishing measure (happiness, health, purpose, close social relationship, etc.) the U.S. ranks fifteenth among twenty-two countries (behind Mexico, Nigeria, India, and South Africa, among others).  

In terms of today’s passage, what these findings suggest is that we as Christians must do much more to positively influence our surroundings and embody the teachings of Christ. For doesn’t this describe where the Israelites were? They had stopped caring about what God said, and their moral decline led to their kingdom’s loss. The familiar hymn “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” relates to these passages’ themes.  

Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, may we learn from what happened when the Israelites didn’t heed your warnings and listen to your voice in our lives. Amen.  

Written by Tim Schellhardt, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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