August 10, 2022

II Kings 17: 27, 28 (NIV)

Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled . . . came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

It’s possible to believe in God and still think like a pagan.*

So what is happening here? The King of Assyria has taken the Israelites captive and is attempting to colonize their former land of Samaria with settlers from Babylon and other places. As the colonists were taking over and establishing their religions, God sent lions among them to terrorize them because they were not worshiping him. In an attempt to appease the god of the land, the Assyrian king assigned one of his priests to study up on the religion of the Israelites and then sent “missionaries” to teach the colonists how to worship God. And how do you think that worked out? As someone has observed: “It was not a very promising way for these peoples to discover the real truth about YHWH.”* Verse 33 sums up the sad outcome of this endeavor: “They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods . . .” 

As distasteful and as futile as it sounds for a heathen to teach someone about God, it is not so different from what we allow in our churches today. We listen to preachers and teachers without questioning the truth of their message. False teachers will answer for their actions, whether their intentions were malicious or they acted out of ignorance; but when it comes to matters of salvation, there is no loophole, no clause for those who listened to the wrong people. Not everyone who preaches and teaches is trying to lead you astray – but “trust, then verify” is a good policy. Your only protection against false teaching is to know the truth. 

Paul advises in I Corinthians 15: 2, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Examine the word of God and allow the Spirit to speak to you. Don’t believe in vain!

God alone ultimately judges who is and is not a Christian.*