The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right.Their hidden rebellion revealed consciences that knew they were forsaking the covenant, yet they continued in sin. Like Adam and Eve hiding after their disobedience, they acted as though wrongdoing could be concealed from the God who sees the heart. They abandoned the exclusive worship required at Sinai and embraced practices the LORD had forbidden. Their inward unfaithfulness eventually appeared openly in the life of the nation and brought the covenant judgments warned of in Deuteronomy 28. Psa 90:8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins…
Psa 44:21 would not God have discovered, since He knows…
Jer 16:17 For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden…
From watchtower to fortified city, Idolatry had spread through every level of Israel’s land. Watchtowers guarded fields and vineyards in isolated places, while fortified cities represented population, government, and military strength. Neither rural life nor urban security preserved the people from spiritual corruption. The nation that looked to its cities, alliances, and local shrines for protection had turned from the LORD, its true defender. 2Ch 26:9-10 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate,…
2Ch 27:4 He also built cities in the hill country of Judah…
2Ch 14:7 So he said to the people of Judah, “Let us build…
they built high places in all their cities. These unauthorized shrines stood in direct opposition to God’s command to destroy Canaanite worship sites and to seek Him at the place He chose for His name. High places encouraged the mixture of worship of the LORD with pagan customs, including devotion to Baal and Asherah. Israel’s multiplication of altars displayed spiritual adultery rather than covenant faithfulness. The failure of these sanctuaries points forward to Christ, the true temple, through whom God’s people now draw near to Him in acceptable worship. 2Ch 28:25 In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense…
1Ki 14:23 They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars,…
1Ki 12:31 Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places…
Persons / Places / Events 1. The IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, who were expected to follow His commandments and live according to His statutes. In this context, they are engaging in secretive and sinful practices. 2. The LORD their GodThe covenant God of Israel, who delivered them from Egypt and gave them the Law through Moses. He is the one against whom the Israelites are sinning. 3. High PlacesElevated sites often used for idol worship and pagan rituals, contrary to the worship of Yahweh, which was to be centralized in Jerusalem. 4. WatchtowerA small, often isolated structure used for surveillance and protection, indicating that idol worship was pervasive even in remote areas. 5. Fortified CityA city with defensive structures, suggesting that idol worship was widespread and not limited to rural or isolated areas. Teaching Points The Danger of Secret SinSecret sins are often the most dangerous because they can lead to a hardened heart and a seared conscience. We must be vigilant in examining our lives for hidden sins and bring them into the light through confession and repentance. The Pervasiveness of IdolatryIdolatry can infiltrate every aspect of life, from the most isolated areas to the most fortified places. We must guard our hearts against modern forms of idolatry, such as materialism, power, and self-worship. The Importance of ObedienceGod desires obedience over sacrifice. The Israelites' disobedience in building high places shows a disregard for God's commands. We must strive to obey God's Word fully, not just in areas that are convenient or visible to others. Community AccountabilityThe widespread nature of the Israelites' sin suggests a lack of accountability within the community. As believers, we should hold each other accountable and encourage one another to live according to God's standards. Bible Study Questions 1. What are some "secret sins" that might be present in a believer's life today, and how can they be addressed in light of 2 Kings 17:9? 2. How does the concept of "high places" relate to modern-day idols, and what steps can we take to remove these from our lives? 3. In what ways can we ensure that our obedience to God is genuine and not just outwardly visible? 4. How can we foster a culture of accountability within our church or community to prevent the spread of sin? 5. Reflect on a time when you were tempted to compromise your faith. How can the lessons from 2 Kings 17:9 help you remain steadfast in future challenges? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 20:3-5The Israelites' actions directly violate the first and second commandments, which prohibit having other gods and making idols. Deuteronomy 12:2-4God commands the Israelites to destroy all high places and not worship Him in the way the pagans worship their gods. Jeremiah 7:9-10This passage highlights the hypocrisy of the Israelites, who engage in idolatry and then come to the temple, believing they are safe. People Adrammelech, Ahaz, Anammelech, Avites, Avvites, David, Elah, Hoshea, Israelites, Jacob, Jeroboam, Nebat, Pharaoh, Sepharvites, ShalmaneserPlaces Assyria, Avva, Babylon, Bethel, Cuth, Cuthah, Egypt, Gozan, Habor River, Halah, Hamath, Samaria, SepharvaimTopics Build, Building, Built, Cities, Covertly, Fenced, Fortified, Impute, Moreover, Places, Secretly, Sons, Themselves, Tower, Town, Towns, Walled, Watchers, Watchmen, Watchmen's, WatchtowerDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 17:9 5812 concealment
5941 secrecy 2 Kings 17:3-18 7560 Samaritans, the 2 Kings 17:3-23 7233 Israel, northern kingdom 2 Kings 17:6-23 6659 freedom, acts in OT 2 Kings 17:7-20 8705 apostasy, in OT 2 Kings 17:7-23 6026 sin, judgment on Library Divided Worship
'These nations feared the Lord, and served their own gods.'--2 KINGS xvii. 33. The kingdom of Israel had come to its fated end. Its king and people had been carried away captives in accordance with the cruel policy of the great Eastern despotisms, which had so much to do with weakening them by their very conquests. The land had lain desolate and uncultivated for many years, savage beasts had increased in the untilled solitudes, even as weeds and nettles grew in the gardens and vineyards of Samaria. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureA Kingdom's Epitaph
'In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8. And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture September the Eleventh a Fatal Divorce
"They feared the Lord, and served their own gods." --2 KINGS xvii. 24-34. And that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear one God and serve another. But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. "Fear," as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true to the truth. It means only the …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year Upon Our Lord's SermonOn the Mount
Discourse 9 "No man can serve two masters; For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions Mongrel Religion
I. I shall first call your attention to THE NATURE OF THIS Mongrel Religion. It had its good and bad points, for it wore a double face. These people were not infidels. Far from it: "they feared the Lord." They did not deny the existence, or the power, or the rights of the great God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah. They had not the pride of Pharaoh who said, "Who is Jehovah that I should obey his voice?" They were not like those whom David calls "fools," who said in their hearts, "There is no God." …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881 Building in Troublous Times
'Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; 2. Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3. But Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Profession and Practice.
18th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 42. "What think ye of Christ?" INTRODUCTION.--Many men are Christians neither in understanding nor in heart. Some are Christians in heart, and not in understanding. Some in understanding, and not in heart, and some are Christians in both. If I were to go into a Temple of the Hindoos, or into a Synagogue of the Jews, and were to ask, "What think ye of Christ?" the people there would shake their heads and deny that He is God, and reject His teaching. The …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent The Original Text and Its History.
1. The original language of the Old Testament is Hebrew, with the exception of certain portions of Ezra and Daniel and a single verse of Jeremiah, (Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4, from the middle of the verse to end of chap. 7; Jer. 10:11,) which are written in the cognate Chaldee language. The Hebrew belongs to a stock of related languages commonly called Shemitic, because spoken mainly by the descendants of Shem. Its main divisions are: (1,) the Arabic, having its original seat in the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and his Adherents, in this Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls.
1. The power of the Church in enacting laws. This made a source of human traditions. Impiety of these traditions. 2. Many of the Papistical traditions not only difficult, but impossible to be observed. 3. That the question may be more conveniently explained, nature of conscience must be defined. 4. Definition of conscience explained. Examples in illustration of the definition. 5. Paul's doctrine of submission to magistrates for conscience sake, gives no countenance to the Popish doctrine of the obligation …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion A More Particular view of the Several Branches of the Christian Temper, by which the Reader May be Farther Assisted in Judging what He Is, And
1, 2. The importance of the case engages to a more particular survey what manner of spirit we are of.--3. Accordingly the Christian temper is described, by some general views of it, as a new and divine temper.--4. As resembling that of Christ.--5. And as engaging us to be spiritually minded, and to walk by faith.--6. A plan of the remainder.--7. In which the Christian temper is more particularly considered with regard to the blessed God: as including fear, affection, and obedience.--8, 9. Faith and …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul Solomon's Temple Spiritualized
or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths. 'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11 London: Printed for, and sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgate, …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 17:9 NIV2 Kings 17:9 NLT2 Kings 17:9 ESV2 Kings 17:9 NASB2 Kings 17:9 KJV
2 Kings 17:9 Commentaries
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