2 Kings 17:1-5--Hoshea Reigns in Israel

2 Kings 17:1-5
English Standard Version

Hoshea Reigns in Israel
17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid 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 came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

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The name of this king means, "Salvation" (compare the name to Yeshua which means "The LORD saves" or "The LORD is my/our salvation" (the Hebrew name for both Joshua and Jesus).  Let's see if this king of Israel lives up to his name.

Hoshea became king of Israel in the 12th year of Ahaz, king of Judah.  The text does not tell us how old he was when he began to reign, but he only reigned in Samaria for 9 years.  Hoshea did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel that were before him.  He became a vassal king for the king of Assyria, and paid tribute to Assyria, but the king of Assyria found treachery in the king of Assyria, for Hoshea stopped sending tribute to Assyria and contacted the king of Egypt for assistance.

Because of this, the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison, then the king of Assyria invaded the land of Israel (the northern kingdom) and came to its capital city of Samaria.  For three years he besieged Samaria (and all of Israel with them).  This is the beginning of the campaign that will end with the northern kingdom of Israel going off into Exile.  It appears Hoshea did not live up to his name, for he was not able to save his people from Assyria, and he was willing to turn his people back over to Egypt where the LORD had told them to never return to in exchange for help against Assyria.  I believe this is the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD that was not like any of the other kings of Israel.