Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sermon preached on 2 Kings 17:24-41 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/27/2020 in Novato, CA.







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Today’s Scripture passage is in many ways a bleak and dark passage. This whole chapter is dark and bleak. Actually, stretch back two chapters and we find this whole section of chapters 15-17 are a dark and bleak point in Israel’s history. These chapters record the fall of Israel to Assyria, as well as a foolish turn of Judah to be more like Israel. So, today’s passage records the aftermath of Israel’s demise where the Assyrians begin to resettle the land that had formerly belonged to Israel. The dark and the bleak continue in this passage. Yet, in the midst of the bleakness, God was still at work through it all.



Our first point for today is to observe God’s judgment of reversal. While on the surface this passage is about Assyria resettling the land of Israel, the bigger point is about Israel’s fall due to its failure to fear and worship. God reverses the history of Israel in judgment by removing them from the land he had brought them into. We see this point being made in the last part of today’s passage. If we look at verses 34-40, at first they start off as a critique on the people whom Assyria resettles into the land. But they quickly turn things back around onto Israel. It was with Israel that God had made a covenant after he redeemed them mightily out of their Egyptian bondage. It was to Israel that he gave the law at Sinai through the ministration of Moses. God had called Israel to fear and worship him and him alone. God had instructed Israel how to go about worshipping him. God had specifically told Israel not to fear and worship other gods – the false gods of the nations whom he would be driving out before their eyes. This God had done. God expelled those pagan idolatry-loving peoples out of the Promised Land and settled Israel there. They were to be a holy people unto the Lord living in a special land God had set apart for them as his chosen people.



But as we’ve read again today, Israel forgot that covenant God had made with them, and did not keep the laws God gave them under that covenant, verse 40. So then, that is why we are here today, in the aftermath of God’s judgment of Israel. God had expelled Israel from the land, just as he said he would do from the start if they forsook him. This is the reversal aspect of God’s judgment here. God had displaced the pagan nations to originally give the land to Israel, who was then to be a special people set apart unto the worship of the LORD. Instead, Israel had acted like the nations with all their idolatry and false gods. So, God displaced the Israelites and then gave the land to the pagan nations who moved into it here in today’s passage. We can see a reversal of sorts. Israel becomes the uprooted and the pagan gentiles repopulate the land.



How sad this is after all the special privilege Israel received. Conquered exiled Israel’s position at this point is exactly what the prophet Hosea had prophesied just a few years before. Hosea 1:9 prophesied that God would call his people the name “Not My People”, saying, “For you are not my people, and I am not your God.” Hosea had prophesied that Israel would experience a disowning by God. That is exactly what this represents when Israel is cast out of the land and the nations brought into it. It is God saying to Israel that they had rejected him as God, so he was rejecting them as his people. That is the bleak picture we have here. The resettling of the land of Israel is ultimately a fruit of God’s judgment on Israel where he reverses their special position with him.



Let us then turn next to consider this resettling of the land and to observe that it is the orig...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/27/2020 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on biblical history, discussing the period of the early Christian church.



Note: Due to technical difficulties, only a portion of the audio for this class was recorded.

Sermon preached on 2 Kings 17:1-23 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/20/2020 in Novato, CA.







Sermon Manuscript



Thus ends the northern kingdom of Israel. Today’s passage reads as a legal brief against Israel. Indeed, they had breached the terms of their covenant with God, and he finally executed the final sanctions of that covenant on these northern tribes. This passage stands then as a sobering record of the result of unbelief from a people who had received such grace and privilege from the LORD.



Let us begin with the historical record of the fall of Samaria. Here we see God’s judgment delivered upon Israel through the hand of Assyria. We pick up the narrative in Israel’s history in verse 1 with the record of the last king of the northern kingdom. Hoshea, whose name means “savior”, and is linguistically similar to the names Joshua and Jesus, would be no savior for Israel. It’s not that Hoshea didn’t try to save Israel from the monstrous threat of the powerful Neo-Assyrian empire. But the Assyrians proved too powerful to overcome. The history books record that the Assyrians had grown to become the largest empire in the world. Their army was powerful, used advanced military tactics, and were believed to be the first to equip their soldiers with iron weapons.



We’ve already read back in chapter 15 that Assyria had become a threat to Israel. There we found that King Menahem was able to temporarily appease them with tribute. However, then during King Pekah’s reign of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria conquered signification portions of the northern and eastern parts of Israel. Today’s passage picks up in the next generation, with now King Hoshea ruling over a much-diminished Israel, and King Shalmaneser now ruling the Assyrians.



So then, the same sort of story again plays out with Israel again here. We find in verse 3 that King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Israel and King Hoshea. Hoshea’s way to “save” Israel at that time is to again pay tribute to the Assyrians. And that “worked” for the moment in the sense of halting Assyria’s efforts of military conquest of Israel. But then we come to verse 4. The king of Assyria finds treachery in Hoshea. This results in Assyria somehow capturing and imprisoning Hoshea. They then invade Israel and ultimately put the capital of Samaria under siege for three years.



We’re told in verse 4 that the treachery that Assyria found in Hoshea is that he had messaged the King of Egypt and had stopped paying tribute to Assyria. What seems obviously implied here is that Hoshea was trying to save Israel from the yoke of the Assyrians by reaching out to help from Egypt. Yet, there are various places where God speaks against Israel trying to find help from Egypt. Just remember the history. It’s there in verse 7. God’s special relationship and national covenant with Israel is deeply rooted in the fact that God had powerfully redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage in great power and wonder. There would be no salvation for Israel if Hoshea sought it in Egypt. The only hope for Hoshea to save Israel is if he were to seek it in the LORD God. But alas he does not.



So then, verse 9 records that Samaria falls to Assyria. The history books record this as happening in 722 BC. As Samaria is captured, Assyria then deports the Israelites off to Assyria and its various territories. Next week, we will read in the rest of the chapter of how Assyria resettles Samaria with foreigners that it brings there. God’s judgment had fallen on apostate Israel, as he had threatened. And so, thus ends the northern kingdom of Israel.



That leads us to our second point,

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/20/2020 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on biblical history, discussing the period of the early Christian church.



Note: Due to technical difficulties, only a portion of the audio for this class was recorded.

Sermon preached on 2 Kings 16 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/13/2020 in Novato, CA.







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It is very fitting that the Bible records King Ahaz’s name for us exclusively as Ahaz. What I mean is that the Assyrian records under the King Tiglath-Pileser mentioned in this chapter record his name as King Jehoahaz. The Assyrians were pretty good at keeping records and they have a record at this time of the different kings that paid them tribute. Our Ahaz here is listed there as Jehoahaz. Ahaz, of course, is a shortened version of that name. Ahaz is a short form of Jeho-ahaz, or Jehoahaz. Such shortened versions of names were not uncommon, but in Ahaz’s case it was especially fitting. You see, the full name of Jehoahaz means, “Yahweh has held” or “Yahweh has possessed”. Many of the Davidic kings took names that had references to Yahweh God in them. So then, the Bible refers to the king as simply Ahaz. In other words, that shortened version takes the Yahweh part out of his name. But that is a very fitting name for this king because that is exactly what we see him doing: effectively taking Yahweh God out of his life. This godless king is one of the worst of all the Davidic kings. We will see instead in this chapter on whom he seeks and on whom he looks to follow and emulate.



Let us begin in our first point for today by looking at the summary of his reign in verses 1-4. Sadly, we are told in verse 2 that he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Notice in there that it likewise says that he did not do as his father David had done. We’ll see different people today that he does model his life after, but sadly his godly forefather David was not one of them. Notice that this summary is also a break in the common refrain we’ve been seeing over the last several generations of David kings. Typically here it would have said that the king did right in the eyes of the LORD his God, like his father, but not like his father David. Instead here, he doesn’t even measure up to the somewhat good report of his more recent fathers, and definitely he was not a David.



So then, look at who Ahaz was like according to this summary. Verse 3 says that he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. When you read that, I think you should think first of Baal worship. In fact, the parallel reading of 2 Chronicles 28 tells us that Ahaz brought Baal worship into the land. That was the way of the most notorious kings of Israel – specifically that wicked house of Ahab and Omri. Similarly, when verse 4 says that he worshiped on the various high places, etc, the Chronicles account clarifies that much of this was to other gods. Ahaz had become a rank polytheist. So, not only did Ahaz not model his religious life after his recent fathers let alone David, he instead chose to model his life after the first-commandment-breaking kings of Israel. When we hear that he followed after the ways of the Israelite kings, we might also remember their persistent second-commandment violations with their different perversions of worship of Yahweh God through things like the golden calves and an illegitimate priesthood. We do see various second-commandment violations by Ahaz in this passage, and we’ll consider them when we get to our third point for today.



These summary verses of King Ahaz also tell us one more role model of sorts for Ahaz. Verse 3 says that he followed the despicable practices of the nations by burning his son as an offering. This was an egregious practice at that time – where some of the pagan nations would perform child sacrifice in their heathen cultic practices. Here that wicked practice gets introduced into what was supposed to be the godly kingdom of Judah. We learn elsewhere that the place this was conduc...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/13/2020 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on biblical history, discussing the period of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Sermon preached on 2 Kings 15 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/06/2020 in Novato, CA.







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Our text today gives us a whirlwind of kings! We might be tempted to want to do a sermon on each of these kings. But I’m going to instead keep our general pace because the book of Kings here obviously gives us this whirlwind for a reason. In fact, what we find is a helpful contrast between the circumstances in Israel versus Judah. While we learn about eight different kings here, Judah only has two during this timeframe while Israel has six. Judah experiences a relatively stable period compared to a period of great upheaval and unrest in Israel. Other points of comparison can also be seen. As we compare these circumstances, we will recognize that behind them all are the providential plans of God who is always faithful and true to his word and character – for he cannot deny himself.



Our sermon titled reflects the theme for today, “So It Came to Pass”. That’s from verse 12 where it references God’s promise that he kept to Jehu that his sons would sit on the throne unto the fourth generation. That is also my first point for us to consider today. Verse 12 notes in the context of King Zechariah’s death that the dynasty of Jehu’s house came to an end. But is noted positively, saying, “This was the promise of the LORD that he gave to Jehu, ‘Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’ And so it came to pass.” This passage records how God faithfully kept his promise to Jehu.



Recall back to that promise. God made that promise to Jehu back in 2 Kings 10:30. This was God’s reward to Jehu for his faithful obedience to God who had raised up him with a mission. God commissioned Jehu to annihilate the wicked house of Ahab and Jezebel and to rid the nation of Baal worship. Jehu succeeded in both those tasks. God was pleased in this regard and made a sure promise to Jehu that his house would reign in Israel unto the fourth generation of his sons. While such a blessing from God was not nearly as glorious as how God had promised to David that his house would reign over an everlasting kingdom, it nonetheless was a good promise to Jehu. And God kept that promise – it came to pass.



Let me add that not only did God promise and keep this promise to Jehu, but Israel enjoyed its longest period of stability under his dynasty. Israel really only had two stable houses for dynasties. The house of Omri which had four kings over an approximately forty-five year period. And the house of Jehu which had five kings over an approximately ninety year period. And while the house of Omri suffered great troubles its entire time with the Syrians, the house of Jehu was able to finally gain substantial victory and relief from the Syrians. So, in Israel’s history, God being true to his word to Jehu, resulted in a grand period of stability for Israel. In contrast, the rest of Israel’s royal history was full of conspiracies and treason – of which we see a lot of in today’s passage.



We might also note that this promise to Jehu came despite the fact that his obedience did not include getting rid of the golden calf idolatry that his royal predecessor Jeroboam son of Nebat had instituted. Back in chapter 10, that point was made right alongside the promise God made to Jehu. The sense you get is that if Jehu had also dealt with the golden calves, then maybe God might have granted his dynasty to reign even longer. But Jehu didn’t get rid of them, nor did any of his descendants, including his great-great grandson Zechariah that is mentioned here. Verse 9 tells us this so that we don’t forget that God hadn’t forgotten about this. Despite all the blessing God gave Israel during the Jehu dynas...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 09/06/2020 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on biblical history, discussing the period of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Sermon preached on 2 Kings 14:23-29 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/30/2020 in Novato, CA.







Sermon Manuscript



We return again to see what is going on in the northern kingdom of Israel after spending some time in the last passage looking at what was going on in Judah under King Amaziah. As we return to look at the post-Ahab Israel, we might be surprised to see that they even still exist. Remember, God had raised up the swords of Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha against Israel because of their great Baal worship and idolatry. Yet, God had also promised that in the aftermath of such a three-pronged judgment that he would preserve a small surviving remnant from which to rebuild the nation. It was Elisha’s dying prophecy to King Jehoash of Israel to signal the beginning of that rebuilding of Israel. King Jehoash was granted to strike the Syrians three times and finally throw off the yolk of King Hazael of Syria. So then, our passage begins with King Jehoash’s son Jeroboam beginning to reign. And it is really under King Jeroboam’s reign, who much like his name, seems like a bit of a restart to the northern kingdom of Israel. By the way, historians will typically refer to this Jeroboam as Jeroboam the II, but as I’m sure you understand he is not actually related by blood to the first King Jeroboam since God had allowed his lineage to be blotted out.



So then, let us begin in our first point for today to recognize that Israel under King Jeroboam II enjoyed a time of great national renewal and prosperity. We can see some of that in our passage for today and also in other places in Scripture. In our passage, for example, it highlights the military success that Israel had under King Jeroboam that allowed them to regain many of their previously lost territories. In verse 25 we see that Israel’s borders were restored from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, AKA the Dead Sea. In other words, from the north-west to the south-east, all their traditional borders get restored at this time. Even the key Syrian cities of Damascus and Hamath are taken by Israel, according to verse 28. So, there was great military success during this time.



In verse 25 we might also note that this military success was actually prophesied by the prophet Jonah. This is the same prophet with the Biblical book named after him – you know the one that reluctantly preached to Nineveh after being in the belly of the great fish for three days. Don’t miss how wonderful that is. Think of what the prophets most often seemed to do in Israel. It seemed they often brought and oracle of God’s impending judgment upon Israel. But here God brings a prophecy of salvation through the prophet Jonah. And that prophecy came to pass and was fulfilled under the time of King Jeroboam II.



Well, we might also reference the prophets of Hosea and Amos during this time. While they are not mentioned in this passage, those prophetic books record that their prophetic ministries were conducted during this time of the reign of King Jeroboam II. They also reference these extended borders (c.f. Amos 6:14) and paint a picture consistent with a nation that was in many ways growing in materialism and certain forms of outward prosperity. Amos 6:4-6 speaks, for example, of their ivory beds and abundant meals from the flocks and the glut of wine and their use of the finest oils. Likewise, Hosea 10:1 speaks of Israel becoming like a luxuriant vine that yields much fruit which were then used on building projects.



And in case this was not clear already, I refer you to verse 27 to note that God brought this salvation and time of prosperity through King Jeroboam. There in verse 27, it says that God saved them from their enemies by the hand of King Jeroboam.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 08/30/2020 in Novato, CA. This week we continued our series on biblical history, discussing the period of Jesus’ earthly ministry.