2Ki 17:41 So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

2 Kings 17 sees the end of the kingdom of northern Israel. Verse 7 to 23 records the reasons for her fall. The main reason was the entire nation forsook the commandments of God and serve Baal. God raised up the king of Assyria to conquer and deport the entire nation to foreign lands. The king of Assyria brought people from other provinces in his kingdom and placed them in the cities of Samaria. Then, a strange thing happened to the people: The new settlers were visited by lions. The settlers regarded this as a punishment from the deity of the land whom they did not worship. Therefore, they asked the king of Assyria for a priest to teach them the right and proper manner of worship to this God of the land so as not to offend Him (v.24-27). The king of Assyria complied and sent an Israelite priest out of exile to teach them about the God of the land. Unbeknown to him, the priesthood of the kingdom of Israel was corrupt. Therefore this nameless, corrupt priest taught the new inhabitants of the land a corrupt religion. He was not interested in worshipping the one and only true Jehovah God. Hence, the priest-for-hire did not tell the new inhabitants of the land that they must only worship the LORD God of Israel. The result is, the inhabitants continued to make gods of its own (v.28-41) The author seems to contradict himself in verse 33 and 34. “They feared the LORD and served their own gods” (v.33).  “They feared not the LORD” (v.34). The question is: Did they fear Jehovah God or not? The answer is this: They were afraid of Jehovah who had sent lions among them and therefore they offered him a sort of worship that he might not thus afflict them, but they continued to serve their own gods and devoted themselves affectionately to them. But in another sense, “they feared not the LORD” in the sense they did not follow His commandments and ordinances (v.34b). To acknowledge Jehovah together with other gods is in reality, not acknowledging Him at all. Our Lord says: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23, 24). True worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. “In spirit” refers to the attitude when one comes to worship God; he must be sincere, in faith, and with reverence. “In truth” refers to the manner the worship is conducted. The worship must be according to God’s commandments. Men cannot worship God in any ways they deem fit. The new inhabitants of Samaria worshipped God not according to His statutes and ordinances (v.34). God was displeased. Our Lord says all worshippers must worship God in spirit and in truth. It is not up to man to decide how to worship God. God has specific instructions on the manner to worship Him. He did not let the Hebrews worship Him in whichever ways they deemed fit; He specified the method to worship Him in the Old Testament. Do you think that God did not give us a pattern in the New Testament? When He said we MUST worship Him in truth, obviously, He has specified the method. Today, many have the audacity to change the manner of worship because they fear not the LORD. They care little about offending God because they fear not Him. What about you? Do you fear God? Are you worshipping Him only in the ways He has specified? Think about it.