The Samaritans

God had allowed the Canaanites several hundred years to occupy the land of Canaan and care for it but because they refused to treat the land properly, he allowed Israel to take it from them.  Because the Israelites stopped following his requirements, God divided the land into Israel and Judah, giving each kingdom the opportunity to prove they would follow God’s demands.  Israel chose to ignore God’s commands and do things their own way, following Jeroboam’s teachings.  As a result, after about 250 years of thei disobedience, God allowed the Assyrians to take the land from them and control it for a time. 

To establish their rule, the Assyrians relocated the Jews, scattering them among the nations to prevent them from uniting in rebellion.  II Kings 17:23-25 describes what happened.  “And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.  And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them. “ 

Because they had rejected God’s authority, God had allowed other nations to be conquered by the Assyrians.  Following their policy of relocating conquered peoples to prevent rebellion, the Assyrians relocated many of them to the land of Israel, mixing them together to prevent their uniting.    Those people had developed their own substitutes for God and no longer knew what God required, worshipping their own religions instead and following their traditions instead.  God sent lions among them to warn them that their behavior was not acceptable.  They got the message. 

“Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.  Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.” (II Kings 17:26-28)

The king of Assyria had one of the priests brought back to teach the people how to serve God properly so the lions would not bother them anymore.  Unfortunately, like Israel had done, they tried to just blend the worship of God with their traditional beliefs, just worshipping God enough to keep the lions away, as II Kings 17:29-33 describes. 

“Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.  And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,  And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.  So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.  They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.”

The Assyrians themselves did not adopt God’s principles and about a hundred years later would lose their kingdom.   Because these peoples worshiped God enough to minimize his wrath they would continue to occupy the land through the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and other occupations of the land, becoming known as the Samaritans under the Romans in Jesus’ day.  It is probable that the Palestinians of today are descendants of those Samaritans, although they have adopted the Roman version of the Philistine name.  II Kings 17:34-41 describes why these mixed people were allowed to occupy the land instead of the Jews who God had originally given it to. 

“Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.  And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.  And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.  But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.  Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.  So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.”

Israel had been given exact directions as to what God expected and had refused to follow them.  As a result, God allowed other people to replace them.  The Samaritans would continue to worship God and their traditional religions until after Jesus’ day.   Like the Jews, they would be repeatedly conquered by different military groups because they did not fully serve God but held on to their traditions.  Today, there are great many in the church who try to add and adapt Christianity to their native traditions.  As Jesus warned, you cannot serve two masters, and sooner or later will be forced to pick one or the other. Until they decide, they live in a state of just getting by, constantly struggling to survive just as the Samaritans did.   They are very similar to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6, with only a few being truly obeying God enough to receive his blessings..