2 Kings 17:1-7, 12-18, 24-29, 33
2 Kings 17:1, 2
Though best of all the kings of Israel, he was bad; and though bad, he was the best. God takes care to give men their due, and say all in their favour that can be said.
2 Kings 17:3, 4
Egypt was the rival power to Assyria, and the petty kings were first on one side and then on the other, as they hoped to gain advantage.
2 Kings 17:6
This was the close of the guilty career of the kingdom of Israel.
2 Kings 17:24
Thus the land was peopled by a motley company collected from several conquered nations. This was a part of the policy of the Assyrian monarch, in order to keep the nations his slaves.
2 Kings 17:25
Still has God some champions left: lions prove loyal if men are traitors.
2 Kings 17:26, 27
They imagined that there was a deity for each country, and that Israel’s god must be appeased.
2 Kings 17:28, 29
And this mongrel religion is fashionable still: men try to serve God and Mammon, but in vain. God will have no rival, he will be all or nothing. May God deliver us from this Samaritan mixture. Amen.
