ROOTED - Friday, March 20, 2026
2 Kings 17:3-6; 18:11
37 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea
became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the
king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So,
king of Egypt, and offered 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. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the
land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.6 In the ninth
year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried
the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor,
the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
11 The king
of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah,
and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes…
Reflection: Assyrian Captivity
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
The Children of Israel acted so wickedly, God
had had enough! Hoshea, the king of Israel, “did what was evil in the sight of
God” (17:1), and God sent Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, against him. Thus began
the “Assyrian Captivity.” The Assyrian Captivity involved the Northern Kingdom
(the ten northern tribes, not the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamen). This
happened during the years of 734-722 BC, and is recorded, in part, in 2 Kings
and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
Later, in the next few chapters, we will read about the Babylonian
Captivity of the Southern Kingdom, for which Jerusalem was the capital. Though
150 years separate these two events, the recipe that brought about the events
was the same: 1) wicked king and 2) God is fed up.
I wonder, in light of these histories, what the future holds for
America. We are reading stories in 1 and 2 Kings that are hundreds of years in
the making. Consistently we read that a king reigned fifty years, and hardly a
paragraph is devoted to him until we are reading about the next king. Roughly
400-500 years are covered in 1 and 2 Kings, and all of that history is very
briefly covered. Consider now the fact that in the grand scheme of things
America is a country in its infancy. Its history, if it were being recorded in
the Bible, would be covered in the span of mere pages. And so far, at least,
God has blessed this nation. I believe strongly that he has done so because it
was, by and large, founded by godly people, with a godly cause (you might disagree…
which is fine). Assuming, generally, that I am correct, how many centuries
might it be before God truly judges this nation for turning to away from God (I
mean, of course, the church as well)?
Lord, bless our nation and may you bring upon it a renewal
starting with the church. May we be salt and light in this nation and city.