We have all had a job that needed to be done and that we couldn’t complete without help. On some of these occasions, we’ve asked for that help from the wrong person. For example, we might have needed some help fixing our car and a friend told us they could help us because they really know how to work on automobiles. We found out, however, that our friend wasn’t a very good mechanic. We learn from experience that sometimes a person talks a good game but isn’t the right person to solve our problem.

There is an example of this in 2 Kgs 17:24-33. The nation of Israel had fallen deep into idolatry. The people had set up golden calves to worship and then imported the worship of Baal and many other idols. They tried to justify their actions by worshipping God as well. There were priests who told the people how to please God and the other gods at the same time. They saw Him as a good luck charm. By worshipping a great number of idols, and God as well, they thought they were covering all their bases.

Of course, this dishonored the Lord. They were not to have any other gods. To treat God as simply one of many was to blaspheme Him. As a result, the Lord disciplined His people by allowing the Assyrians to defeat them and carry them away into captivity. The Assyrians left a few people behind, but mainly brought in people from other countries to repopulate the land. These people brought in their own gods and worshipped them in Israel.

Even though God had disciplined His people in this way, He still manifested His glory in the Promised Land by punishing the new people who dwelt in the land because of their idolatry. He sent lions to kill the inhabitants. The people concluded that the God of Israel was angry with them. They were superstitious and wanted to know how to placate Him.

The Assyrian leadership decided to bring in an “expert” on the subject. They would ask a priest of Israel who had been taken into captivity to return in order to teach the people in the land how to divert the anger of God. Such a priest stepped up to do just that.

This guy talked the talk. He had the appropriate title, calling himself a priest of the God of Israel. I’ll bet he even wore the right clothes. He no doubt told the people about how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt and into the land. They needed to respect Him. Of course, he did not tell them that their many idols were false. In fact, he would have told them that having lots of idols was a good idea. They could continue to “fear” the Lord while simultaneously engaging in the worship of their idols.

Anybody reading this account will conclude that the people turned to the wrong guy for help. The people should have been able to figure out that this priest didn’t know what he was talking about. After all, the God of Israel had removed him and his buddies from the land for not doing what pleased Him. He was not the guy to listen to. The author of 2 Kings concludes that his advice contributed to the spiritual darkness that infected the country for years to come (1 Kgs 17:34-41).

This is a clear example of the blind leading the blind. The Lord warned that people can call the wrong person when they need help with spiritual things (Luke 6:39-40). It doesn’t take long to find out that there are many people who claim to have the answers people are looking for when it comes to things of the Lord, just like the priest who returned from Assyria. Many, for example, teach that salvation from hell is through works. They do not understand the grace of God.

Like the priest from Assyria, these modern-day false teachers also know how to speak the language. They have the appropriate titles, often accompanied by appropriate degrees. And, as with the priest from Assyria, many listen to what they have to say.

In the time of 2 Kings 17, listening to the wrong guy was devastating. The same is true today. When multitudes listen to preachers and teachers who do not understand the things the Lord has revealed in His Word, they walk in darkness. They have no assurance. Even if they have believed the message of grace in the past and have eternal life, they will experience defeat in their Christian walk.

When we read 2 Kings 17, we are forced to ask: “Why did they call for that guy? Why did they listen to him?” Unfortunately, the same questions could be asked today.