INTRODUCTION:  The Fall of Samaria and the Assyrian Captivity of Israel are dated at 722BC. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Captivity of Judah are dated at 586BC, 136 years later. Much of this chapter deals with the sins of the people of Israel that led to their judgment. The last part of the chapter deals with the sins of the people who continue to inhabit the land after the captivity. This chapter actually describes the beginning of the Samaritans who will show up again in the New Testament.

1. THE REIGN OF HOSHEA (2 Kings 17:1-6)
1. The Beginning of his Reign (2 Kings 17:1)
1. Began to reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz of Judah
2. Reigned for nine years in Samaria
2. The Character of his Reign (2 Kings 17:2)
1. Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord
2. But not as the kings of Israel before him
3. The End of his Freedom (2 Kings 17:3-4)
1. He became a vassal to Assyria (2 Kings 17:3)
1. When Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him
2. He submitted and gave presents to him
2. He conspired against Assyria (2 Kings 17:4)
1. He sent messengers to So king of Egypt
2. He refused to send tribute to Assyria
3. He was bound in prison by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:4; 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 30:1-3)
4. The Captivity of Israel (2 Kings 17:5-6)
1. The siege of Samaria (2 Kings 17:5)
1. The king of Assyria came through all the land
2. He besieged Samaria for three years
2. The fall of Samaria in the ninth year of Hoshea (2 Kings 17:6a)
3. The captivity of Israel (2 Kings 17:6b)
1. Carried away into Assyria
2. Placed in Halah and Habor
1. By the river Gozan
2. Probably refers to an upper tributary of the Euphrates River. The names point to an area about 100 miles east of the location of ancient Haran.
3. Placed in the cities of the Medes
4. Notes:
1. The areas of Gozan and Media are roughly that which is today inhabited by the Kurds (northern Syria, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey).
2. Recent studies have shown a strong genetic link between the Jews and Kurds
1. “The Genetic Bonds Between Kurds and Jews” by Kevin Alan Brook on an online Kurdish Newspaper at www.barzan.com/kevin_brook.htm.
2. Brook, Kevin A. The Jews of Khazaria. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1999.
3. Siegel, Judy. “Genetic evidence links Jews to their ancient tribe.” Jerusalem Post (November 20, 2001)
4. Traubman, Tamara. “Study finds close genetic connection between Jews, Kurds.” Ha’aretz (November 21, 2001).
3. Though it is probably impossible to prove at this time, there is a real possibility that the Kurds, who presently are devout Sunnite Moslems, could be related to the lost tribes of Israel that were taken from the land at the time of the Assyrian Captivity.
4. The Bible speaks of a future time when the outcasts of Israel will be reunited with the dispersed of Judah.
1. Isaiah 11:12 – “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
2. Jeremiah 3:18 – “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.”
3. Jeremiah 31:31 – “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:”
4. Jeremiah 33:7 – “And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.”
5. Jeremiah 50:4 – “In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.”
6. Ezekiel 37:15-28 – the two sticks brought together; Verse 19 – “Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.”
2. THE SINS OF ISRAEL (2 Kings 17:7-23)
1. The Wickedness of Israel (2 Kings 17:7-12)
1. They sinned against the Lord (2 Kings 17:7a)
2. They feared other gods (2 Kings 17:7b)
3. They walked in the statutes of the heathen (2 Kings 17:8; Leviticus 18:3; Deuteronomy 18:9)
4. They did secretly against the Lord (2 Kings 17:9a; Ezekiel 8:6-18)
5. They built high places in all their cities (2 Kings 17:9b)
6. They set up images and groves (2 Kings 17:10)
7. They burnt incense in the high places (2 Kings 17:11a)
8. They wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord (2 Kings 17:11b)
9. They served idols against the command of God (2 Kings 17:12)
2. Their Rejection of God’s Word (2 Kings 17:13-17)
1. The sending of prophets (2 Kings 17:13)
2. The hardening of their necks (2 Kings 17:14a)
3. The refusal to believe in God (2 Kings 17:14b)
4. The rejection of God’s statutes (2 Kings 17:15a)
5. The following of vanity (2 Kings 17:15b)
6. The leaving of the commandments of God (2 Kings 17:16-17)
1. They made two calves
2. They made a grove
3. They worshipped all the host of heaven
4. They served Baal
5. They caused their children to pass through the fire
6. They used divination and enchantments
7. They sold themselves to do evil
3. God’s Rejection of Israel (2 Kings 17:18-23)
1. The Lord removed Israel from the land (2 Kings 17:18)
2. Though Judah followed after Israel (2 Kings 17:19)
3. The Lord rejected Israel and afflicted them (2 Kings 17:20)
4. The Lord rent Israel from Judah (2 Kings 17:21)
5. The Lord removed Israel to Assyria (2 Kings 17:22-23)
3. THE INHABITANTS OF SAMARIA (2 Kings 17:24-41)
1. The People Brought to Samaria (2 Kings 17:24-28)
1. Strangers brought into Samaria (2 Kings 17:24)
1. From Babylon
2. From Cuthah
3. From Ava
4. From Hamath
5. From Sepharvaim
2. They feared not the Lord (2 Kings 17:25)
1. From the beginning of their dwelling there
2. Resulting in lions slaying some of them
3. They sought to appease the God of Israel (2 Kings 17:26-28)
1. They sought a priest of the land (2 Kings 17:26)
2. The king of Assyria sent a priest of Israel (2 Kings 17:27)
1. To go and dwell in the land
2. To teach them the way of the God of the land
3. One of the priests of Samaria came (2 Kings 17:28)
1. He made his home in Bethel
2. He taught them how to fear the Lord
2. The Compromise of the People (2 Kings 17:29-33)
1. Every nation made their own gods (2 Kings 17:29-31)
2. They mixed the fear of God with service to their own gods (2 Kings 17:32-33)
3. The Disobedience of the People (2 Kings 17:34-41)
1. They continue after their former manners (2 Kings 17:34)
2. They reject the covenant of God (2 Kings 17:35-40)
3. They feared the Lord and served their graven images (2 Kings 17:41; Zephaniah 1:5)

CONCLUSION:  The captivity of Israel sent them into a judgment that continues to this day. Yet, the promise still remains that they will be reunited with Judah and the Lord in the last days.