“the children of Israel … had feared other gods” [II Kings 17:7]

<b>“the children of Israel … had feared other gods“.</b>  They could only do this because they stopped fearing or worshipping the Lord Jehovah. It happened after a number of evil kings had ruled in Israel and the nation was carried captive into Assyria.

You cannot worship other gods unless you turn away from the Lord and you cannot worship the Lord and other gods at the same time. It is ‘God or Mammon’ not ‘God and Mammon’! Many try and make it the latter. In fact, the Israelites tried to worship the other gods secretly (see verse 9), as though Jehovah would not notice!

Where Jesus is Lord there is room for no other: when Jesus is Lord there is no desire for another. Once you turn from the Lord the options are many but the outcome the same – captivity.