215. Deliver from Enemies
2 Kings 17:39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
This conditional promise was not kept, because the people of the nation of Israel did not keep the condition: if you fear the Lord, then He will deliver you. But they did not fear the Lord; instead they served other gods and disobeyed His Commandments and broke the Covenant. The author of 2 Kings is explaining why the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel, destroyed the capital Samaria, and carried the people away into exile (never to return). God did not deliver them from their enemies because they did not fear the Lord their God.
To “fear the Lord” means to believe God so strongly, trust Him absolutely, serve Him only, love Him devotedly, and worship Him exclusively. They should believe God so much and love Him alone that they would be afraid to offend the Lord or disobey Him. Proper fear is genuine faith, knowing the Holy God who punishes sin and knowing the God of love who forgives sin and brings blessing. They did not have such fear, and therefore the Lord did not deliver them out of the hand of the enemies. (By the way, the same Assyrian army came against Jerusalem and Judah and did not take it, because Hezekiah was a faithful, God-fearing king.)
The region of Samaria was repopulated with foreign pagan peoples from other lands of the Empire. However, lions attacked them, because it was said that they did not know the manner of the God of the land. So they brought back from captivity a priest to teach the new settlers the ways of the Lord (of that land). But the pagan people kept their old gods as well. Thus the mixed religion of Samaria became the despised religion of the Samaritans of Jesus’ day.
Syncretism, accommodation and compromise also become familiar ways of life and dangerous temptations for Christians everywhere, even today. But we read the stories and hear the promise, and then we repent and believe the gospel of forgiveness and life. And by so doing we fear, love, and trust in God all the more.