Hosea finished speaking to Israel and the prophets in the northern kingdom fell silent. In Jerusalem, however, Isaiah heard the news that Israel was going down to defeat and he called the leaders of Judah to pay attention.

“Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley – to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground.”   Isaiah 28:1-2

Ahab and Jezebel’s great city of Samaria was the home of Israel’s kings and a favorite city for revelry and drunkenness. But now Assyria was flattening Samaria like a relentless rainstorm and soon it was going to fall. Assyria was going to plunder Israel and absorb her people into its vast empire.

Isaiah Rebukes Judah

The leaders in Jerusalem mocked Isaiah’s words as if they were rules recited to little children.

“Who is he trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.” Isaiah 28:9-10

Since Israel and Judah both rejected what God said to them in the Law and the Prophets, God was going to find other ways to speak to them. Soon they would hear messages from foreign lips and strange tongues.

Whom Did They Trust?

Both Israel and Judah made pacts with the realm of the dead so when trouble came they thought those spiritual forces would protect them. But Isaiah told them they had made a lie their refuge and falsehood their hiding place. (Isaiah 28:14-15) The dead had no power to protect the living.

God offered them what they could never get from any other source, a strong foundation for their lives that would hold through any life experience. More than seven hundred years later the Apostle Peter affirmed that this promise from God was true when he quoted Isaiah. (See 1 Peter 2:4-8)

“So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.’” Isaiah 28:16

The foundation has held, from ancient Jerusalem, through the time of Peter, even to today. Jesus is the solid foundation the Sovereign Lord laid for all who trust his promise.

“As you come to him, the living stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5

Samaria Falls to Assyria

2 Kings 17 is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. Perhaps it’s sadder than the story of the death of Jesus because the ten tribes of Israel had no resurrection. After all of the ways God cared for them, called to them, rebuked, disciplined, and pled with them, the people of Israel still didn’t repent and return to the Lord. So they fell to the pagan empire of Assyria.

“The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years . . . At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, In Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.” 2 Kings 18:10-11

And that was the end of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim.

What Happened to Them?

So much history comes to mind when we read those ten names. Their patriarch Jacob knelt on his bed in Egypt and blessed each of them individually just before he died, and his prophetic blessings came to pass.

They traveled to Mount Sinai where God gave them the Law through Moses. After they disobeyed God they spent forty years camping in the desert while the generation of adults that came out of Egypt slowly died off.

They finally settled in Canaan and displaced its pagan residents, but they allowed remnants of idolatry to stay in the land and eventually that became their downfall. When they exchanged worship of the God of Israel for idols, they became like what they worshiped and God couldn’t tolerate their lustful, drunken, and murderous behavior.

But he warned them for almost two hundred years before he finally let them have what they chose over him.

They put their faith in idols, but idols couldn’t save them. They sent money to foreign nations to buy protection and those nations became their enemies. They looked in every direction except toward God, so he finally left them to the idols and wicked nations they had chosen for themselves and it turned into a punishing experience for Israel.

Israel’s Sins

God is perfectly just and he did not punish Israel without cause. 2 Kings 17 has the list of charges brought against Israel in God’s holy courtroom.

1. They worshiped the gods of the nations God told them to reject.
2. They built secret places of worship where they did things that were detestable in God’s sight. On every hill and high place, and under every spreading tree they set up Asherah poles and burned incense to the gods of other nations, “though the Lord had said, ‘You shall not do this.’” 2 Kings 17:12
3. They refused to listen to the prophets and they rejected God’s Word, his decrees, covenants and statutes.
4. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire.
5. They practiced dark arts and divination, and bowed down to the stars.

“So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore, the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.” 2 Kings 17:18-20

Only Judah was left. What did the people of Judah learn from seeing their sister tribes fall into the hands of Assyria?

Isaiah’s Message for Judah

God spoke to Judah through Isaiah when Israel fell and his message was a warning to Judah.

“Hear me,  you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.The ox knows its master,  the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know,  my people do not understand.” 

Woe to the sinful nation,  a people whose guilt is great,  a brood of evildoers,  children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD;  they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 

Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured,  your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores,  not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil. 

Your country is desolate,  your cities burned with fire;  your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you,  laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.’” Isaiah 1:2-7

Judah was not yet as idolatrous as Israel, but they were in danger of becoming so. Their devotion to God was waning and their worship had become hypocritical.

“Stop bringing me meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me . . . I cannot bear your worthless assemblies . . . When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.” Isaiah 1:13-15

God wanted Judah to confront and confess their sins so he could clean them up.

“‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’ For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 1:18-20

We shall see in the days to come how well the people of Judah listened to God. Like Israel, they were given ample opportunities to reconcile with him. We’ll see what they did with those opportunities.