Hosea 6:1 BSB "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds."
To say, come let us return to the Lord, seems to demand a context. I believe that the context came at the end of chapter 5, and the intent is to provoke God's people to earnestly seek Him.
Hosea 5:15 NASB "I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face"; In their affliction, they will earnestly seek Me.
Who is talking?
The Father God/Jesus.
Where has He gone, or where is His place?
Jesus, returned to the Father (for the time being) and currently sits at the Father's right hand, interceding for us, the stumbling Christian community, and Israel. (Not to worry, He left us the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to lead us and guide us into all things.)
When will they (Israel) acknowledge their guilt and seek His face?
Only through the time of wrath. It is clear that upon seeing Him (this would be Revelation 19, where Jesus returns upon the white horse as the warring Messiah that Israel has been looking for), those who remain will turn to Him.
Hosea 5:15 says, " In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
It is because of the wrath that they will turn to Him.
Hosea is filled with allusions to God punishing them for their idolatry and, in a sense, adultery. This is the primary reason that this narrative shows the Holy Spirit telling Hosea to go and take a wife from the whores of Israel.
Israel was the Northern kingdom and quite possibly the more debased of the Northern and the Southern kingdoms, Judea.
Deuteronomy 32:39-43 BSB See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand. (40) For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, (41) when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me. (42) I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh— the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.” (43) Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him; He will cleanse His land and His people.
Job 5:18 BSB For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
Lamentations 3:31-33 AFV For the LORD will not cast off forever; (32) For though He causes grief, yet He will have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. (33) For He does not afflict willingly, nor does He grieve the children of men;
Despite the deluge of the wounding, there is still hope, and it can be seen in this statement -
“ but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.”
The
next question we should ask is when? God, through Hosea, gives us a
cryptic answer.
Hosea 6:2 BSB After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
This touches on several events:
the center of which is the cross;
His resurrection; and,
the catching away of His bride, the church.
Paul speaks about His rising from the dead and there is that significant focus on the third day, much like Jonah.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NASB (3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
One of the things that jumps out at me is that the Prophet Jonah was one the few things that Jesus was willing to give His detractors as evidence that what He was saying was true.
Matthew 16:4 "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.
Matthew 12:39-40 BSB Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. (40) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jonah was, for so many years, a mystery man; He seemed to just appear and we, by his own admission, have to leave him whining at the base of the plant that had given him some shade.
A brief background for Jonah comes from 2 Kings chapter 14.
2 Kings 14:25 BSB This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
Having talked about Jonah, on multiple occasions, with "believers," far too many believe that Jonah lived through this horrifying event. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jonah, a trusted prophet, runs from God's directions.
He carries an intense hatred of this Assyrian people group. If I only look at this narrative through my human understanding, then Jonah was entirely justified for hating. If you study Jonah you will find out why God does not align Himself with Jonah's logic.
Jonah has the men of the ship, in the dark of night, throw Him into the ocean, which has a chop severe enough to be breaking up the boat. No one, in those conditions, will make it out alive. So, Jonah effectively commits suicide.
This is the Mediterranean Sea and they have a fish called a Mega Mouth Shark and it has a mouth capable of swallowing a human. It, like the basking shark, only eats krill, so God has this enormous fish carry Jonah around for three days, and then vomit the dead man upon the shore closest to Nineveh, approximately 500 miles away from where God intends for Jonah to be.
Read Jonah chapters 1 – 4.
The book of Jonah, which, mind you, was written after all these detrimental events took place. Who would brag about such things?
This is one of the arguments that apologists will use to demonstrate the authenticity of the Bible. Moses begins telling us about his frailties, and we see them in Jonah's narrative.
Isaiah speaks about us, hiding ourselves.
Isaiah 26:20 BSB Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
Hosea 6:3 NKJV "Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth."
If we pursue the knowledge of the Lord:
He will come to us like the rain.
Rain comes in two seasons, but in some places, like Southern California, it is anybodies guess. However, when it comes it can either be flash floods, or light sprinkles that cause the oil on the road to rise and make the roads even more dangerous.
The point here is that regardless, He will come. Now the question is, what will He do, fix your current human oriented situation, or rescue His bride from the wrath that is to come?
Hosea 6:4 NASB What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, And like the dew which goes away early.
Peculiar, Ephraim is very close to the border with Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Perhaps they were heavily influenced by the idolatry of Israel?
Ponder this statement for a moment.
“For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.”
A rather obvious factor is that morning clouds and fog, typically goes away, quickly. If you expected heat relief on a Summer morning, good luck with that, as the temperature will rise and the humidity level will greatly increase, making you miserable.
But, God does not operate on the same plane as we do, and He is not crippled by human emotion. Does He understand emotion? certainly, Jesus wept over their unbelief as He became involved in Lazarus's resurrection from the dead.
Hosea 6:4 is beginning to alert us to a general disgust that God is feeling toward Judea, also.
Hosea 6:5 BSB Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.
If I were to take this literally, there would be dead bodies everywhere.
Wait a minute, were there not dead bodies during the days of Moses?
One of the first events involved Korah.
Numbers 16:30-35 BSB But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” (31) As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, (32) and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. (33) They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. (34) At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” (35) And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
The people Moses had brought out of Egypt began complaining.
Numbers 16:41 BSB The next day, the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
Numbers 16:45-49 BSB “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown. (46) Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” (47) So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. (48) He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. (49) But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
During the reign of King David?
1 Chronicles 21:13-15 BSB David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” (14) So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. (15) Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Now, as for being slain by the prophets. Elijah called down fire on the king's troop 2x. Here is where we find one of those events.
2 Kings 1:9-10 BSB Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’” (10) Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
And then there was the prophet Samuel.
1 Samuel 15:32-33 BSB Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” (33) But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
Take note of the words used by God in Hosea 6:5.
“I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning.”
Sounds very similar to Revelation 19, where Jesus comes back with a sword coming out of His mouth, and multitudes who intended to fight are killed instantly.
In the midst of all this killing you might think that there is NO mercy in the Father/Son.
Hosea 6:6 BSB For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Clearly, God's character is mercy, above all else.
Hosea 6:7 BSB But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck states.
“The Hebrew word for like Adam has been translated variously. “At Adam” (RSV) requires a slight change in the Hebrew and suggests a geographical place near the Jordan River. The presence of the word there in the next line, as well as references to other places in Hos_6:8-9, might support this reading. “Like men” (KJV) takes the Hebrew ’āḏām in its widely attested generic sense, rather than as a proper name. In this case a comparison is made with fallen mankind, whose propensity to be unfaithful is well established.”
What does the narrative surrounding the fall in the garden describe?
That Eve was deceived, while Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Some have described what Adam did as treason. Set aside your assumptions and traditions for a moment, and answer this question.
Where was Eve when Adam received the instructions about that one tree?
I will answer the question. She was NOT yet walking the earth in human form. That means that Adam, the one who was given dominion over the earth, had the job of informing Eve of God's instructions.
This means that Satan's challenge had more layers than an onion.
Genesis 3:1 BSB Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
The implications were that:
Adam had deceived her.
Tried to dominate her.
That there may not be a God speaking to either of them.
And that nothing God or Adam have said, could be trusted.
If Adam was standing right there, next to her, capable of hearing every word, then he also watched, possibly in disbelief, as she went ahead and bit into that forbidden fruit.
I have so many questions, such as, why didn't Adam rebuke the serpent and cast him out of the garden with a word?
How long did Adam wait before taking the fruit out of Eve's hand and shoving some in his mouth?
With possibly no experience with death, he had no idea what would happen next. All he knew was that God told Him that if they ate from that tree, they would certainly die.
Does anyone else see Adam's actions as suicide?
Since Eve was the finest thing he had ever seen, where would he get another like her?
We assume, as he probably did, that God was nowhere to be found at the moment and therefore, not to be bothered. That would hardly be the case, but we don't see Adam making any effort to seek God's advice. I suppose, that in the long run, all that was about to transpire was an intentional part of God's plan of redemption.
Hosea 6:8 BSB Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck tells us this:
“Since Gilead was a district, not a city, the reference in Hos_6:8 is probably to the city Ramoth Gilead, east of the Jordan. The town had become a center for wicked men (lit., “workers of iniquity”). In Psa_5:5 this same expression is translated “who do wrong.” It refers to the worst sort of men, who actively oppose righteousness and are the objects of God’s hatred. In this case they were guilty of murder (Hos_6:8). The city streets are pictured as being tracked with blood from the murderers’ sandals (cf. 1Ki_2:5).”
Hosea 6:9 BSB Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.
Again, we look at THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck.
“The references to (Ramoth) Gilead and Shechem are well chosen. Joshua had designated that both of these towns be cities of refuge, where manslayers could find asylum (Jos_20:1-2, Jos_20:7-8; see the map “The Six Cities of Refuge,” near Num_35:1-34). In this way the land would be spared outbreaks of bloodshed, and justice would be promoted. Ironically in Hosea’s day these cities had become associated with bloodshed and injustice.”
“The priests’ crimes were shameful. Elsewhere this word (zimmâh) is used of the vilest sexual sins, including incest (Lev_18:17), cult prostitution (Lev_19:29), rape (Jdg_20:5-6), and adultery (Job_31:9-11). This sexual connotation is probably applicable here because the priests’ breach of covenant (Hos_6:6-7) is likened to prostitution (Hos_6:10).”
Hosea 6:10 BSB In the house of Israel, I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.
So, we in the men's Bible study had a small discussion about the meaning of house. It could be the royal court of some noble group, but the immediate discussion / context is about the Northern kingdom Israel. We already know, from previous readings in Hosea, that God is disgusted with the religious leadership and those who follow them.
So, for the moment, we shall assume that the Assyrians have NOT come and taken all those they deemed valuable captive.
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Definitions show us this:
1) house
1a) house, dwelling, habitation
1b)
shelter or abode of animals
1c) human bodies (figuratively)
1d)
of Sheol
1e) of abode of light and darkness
1f) of the land of Ephraim
The house, therefore, is the “synagogue”. This is, at least, the second time God has pointed this out: “Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled.”
Hosea 6:11 AMP Also, O Judah, there is a harvest [of divine judgment] appointed for you; when I would return My people from their captivity [in which they are slaves to the misery brought on by their own sins],
Oops, Judah is the Southern Kingdom. Our simplistic Gentile minds do not quickly realize that they are all people who were effectively Egyptians by the time they were extracted from Egypt. These are the people who eventually split to form Israel and Judah. Most of our focus has been upon the Northern kingdom, but wait a minute, Ephraim, though a border town, is in Judah. Did you really think a border town could NOT have their allegiances allied with a debased Northern kingdom.
Since I do not think I will post anymore of these Hosea studies, let me just take a moment to enlighten you as to how Samaria became such antagonists to the religious Jews.
For a time the kingdom was united under King David, but there had been difficulties that arose among the tribes soon after Israel's emergence from Egypt.
Deuteronomy 12:1-4 BSB These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess. (2) Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. (3) Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. (4) You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.
Solomon, the man who asked for wisdom, did the most unwise thing when he married over 700 women and followed after their gods and ways. His actions created a path for Israel to follow. When King Solomon died, Rehoboam, his son, became king over the two tribes that made up the Southern kingdom, Judah. Rehoboam sought out the advice of the elders and quickly cast their advice aside as he turned to his young, so-called friends.
“After King Solomon passed away, his son Rehoboam was up next to rule. Yet, former servant Jeroboam wasn't happy. He rallied some folks, tired of heavy taxes, against Rehoboam. When Rehoboam didn't back down, ten tribes chose to crown Jeroboam king of Israel (the 10 tribes of the Northern kingdom) instead.” i
1 Kings 12:1-24 BSB “ Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
(2) When Jeroboam, son of Nebat, heard about this, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. (3) So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said, (4) “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
(5) Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed. (6) Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked. (7) They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.” (8) But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. (9) He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” (10) The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! (11) Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
(12) After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” (13) And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders (14) and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” (15) So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
(16) When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home (17), but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
(18) Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death.
And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
(19) So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.
(20) When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel.
Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. (21) And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. (22) But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: (23) “Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people (24) that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
There you have it, the separation began. When the Assyrians came, around 70 years later, the two kingdoms were not supporting each other, and the Northern kingdom was taken into captivity first. In time, the Southern Kingdom, under the reign of Hezekiah, will go into captivity.
I put up a post back in 2018 entitled “A look at Micah. Chapter 1 verse 5. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?” You can find it here: https://omharris.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-look-at-micah-chapter-1-verse-5-what.html.
A paragraph from that post reads, “When you read any mention of Samaria in the New Testament, you would think it was a forbidden city to the Jews; that was not the case; however, the hatred and animosity of the Samaritans indeed ran deep for a very long time. This disgust and hatred began developing over 930 years earlier. Perhaps this brief history lesson may help us understand where this disgust and hatred began.”
Clues, which the Chronological Bible helped me sort out, all those years ago. The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser, took the Israelites, the Northern kingdom, captive.
2 Kings 17:3-6 AMP Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and brought 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 went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. (6) In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried the Israelites away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.
The Prophet Micah spoke about the utter destruction, including all the detestable things.
Micah 1:6-9 AMP Therefore, I [the Lord] will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards; and I will pour down into the ravine her stones and lay bare her foundations. [II Kings 19:25; Ezek. 13:14.] (7) And all her carved images shall be broken in pieces, and all her hires [all that man would gain from desertion of God] shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will be laid waste; for from the hire of [one] harlot she gathered them, and to the hire of [another] harlot they shall return. (8) Therefore, I [Micah] will lament and wail; I will go stripped and [virtually] naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals and a lamentation like the ostriches. (9) For [Samaria's] wounds are incurable and they come even to Judah; He [the Lord] has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
The Israelites (think Northern kingdom) went into exile because of Idolatry. Proof.
2 Kings 17:7 NASB Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods
This is the kind of damage that evil leadership can do to you. In studying the “minor” Prophet Hosea, he spoke of the evil that Israel was doing.
2 Kings 17:8-12 NASB and (Israel – the Northern kingdom) walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. (9) The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. (10) They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, (11) and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did, which the LORD had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the LORD. (12) They served idols, concerning which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this thing."
If you are doing things in what you think is secret, and think no one will know, you are sadly mistaken. If you are a “follower of Christ” and you are doing evil things, such as pornography, in secret, you will be found out. Will you be thrown into hell for being snared by sin, no, but you are playing with fire and you will get burned; these people did.
Verse 13 of 2 Kings 17 says.
“Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, 'Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments."
He is warning you.
More from my 2018 post. “It is not clear to me why, but the king of Assyria decided to have the land resettled.” We see this process in 2 Kings 17 starting at verse 24.
“The king of Assyria, brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.”
But they (these strangers) did not know the custom of the god of the land; I can assure you that most of Israel held no regard for the customs of God.
2 Kings 17:25-26 NASB At the beginning of their (these strangers') living there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore, the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them. (26) So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land."
This resolution seems to hold the key as to why the Southern kingdom hated those of the Northern kingdom.
2 Kings 17:27-28 NLT The king of Assyria then commanded, “Send one of the exiled priests back to Samaria. Let him live there and teach the new residents the religious customs of the God of the land.” (28) So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the LORD.
Consider the sarcasm in the words from The Bible Knowledge Commentary, “The priest moved to Bethel. If this had been his former dwelling place he was probably one of the priests involved in worshiping the golden calf there.”
As I have been writing this I found my mind drifting off to The Chosen, where Jesus is found sitting at the well when the Samaritan woman arrived. The conversation between them turned to jabs such as: you people say, and we worship on this mountain. All this protective and defensive verbal sparring on the part of the woman is wrapped up in the actions of tribal fighting between Judah and Israel; young men flexing their new found power; and an Assyrian tyrant who stripped the land of its residents, replacing them with gentiles that have no idea, and reinstalling one priest, who may have been part of the problem. She, of course, probably had no clue about what got them here, it did not matter as she, at this turning point went running back into town declaring that she has met a man, quite likely the messiah, who told me everything about my life, and there is NO way He could have known that unless He is a prophet.
ihttps://www.bibleanalysis.org/why-did-judah-and-israel-become-separate-nations-after-they-were-once-united-under-king-david/
