The last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, Hosea came to the throne by intrique and assassinating the reigning king, Pekah. He spent the first few years of his nonreign as nondescript reign as vassal of Assyria (during which also Hezekiah became king in Judah, 2 Ki 18:1) but then he made a foolish mistake that was to bring a tragic end to his kingdom and the ten tribes that composed it. Possibly thinking that he could follow Hezekiah in the latter's resistence to the Assyrians, Hoshea withheld his tribute to his overlord and make overtures to King So of Egypt (2 Ki 17:4). Hoshea seemed not to have understood who Shalmaneser was or the moral and spiritual resources Hezekiah had as a result both of his faith and the counsel of a man like Isaiah at his side. Shalmaneser marched against Israel; Samaria held out a siege against it for three years. The end came in Hoshea's ninth year, when the Assyrians broke the siege. Assyrians were not known to be gentle with traitors and especially not when they were made to wait such a long time to get their hands on them. The whole nation was sent into exile, and the ten northern tribes of Israel forever lost.
©ALBERITH
190520lch