2 Kings 17:24-28: a reflection

24The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. 25So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.” 27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

When Assyria resettles foreign peoples in the land of Samaria, they run into trouble: they do not fear the LORD, and disasters follow, so a priest is sent to teach them how to worship him. But notice what results. These peoples learn to fear the LORD, and yet, the passage goes on to say, they also kept serving their own gods, each nation its own idols, alongside their new worship of the LORD. They added God to their existing pantheon without giving up anything.

That is a picture of divided, patchwork religion, and it is a persistent temptation. The resettled peoples were happy to add the LORD to their lives, to fear him alongside all their other gods, but not to let him displace the rest. They wanted the benefit of his worship without the cost of exclusive devotion. So they served him and their idols at once, a crowded shrine with the LORD given a place among many.

The living God does not accept a place in a crowded pantheon. He asks for exclusive devotion, not a slot alongside our other loyalties. And it is easy to do exactly what these peoples did, to add God to a life still full of other gods, our security, our ambitions, our comforts, our idols, worshiping him without dethroning them. Examine your own devotion honestly: is God one loyalty among many, or is he the only one? He does not want to be added to your gods; he wants to be your God alone. Serve him only, not him and your idols together.

Lord, like the resettled peoples, I can add you to my life while keeping my other gods, fearing you alongside my security, ambitions, comforts, and idols. But you do not accept a place in a crowded pantheon; you ask for exclusive devotion. Show me the other loyalties I have kept, and help me not to serve you and my idols together, but to serve you, my God, alone.