So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. – 2 Kings 17:33 (ESV)
With the deportation of Israel, Assyria now plants other people in the cities of Samaria. Since these new people did not fear the Lord, lions were sent to kill some of the people. The Assyrian government tries to solve the problem by having a priest of the Lord go back so the people can learn about the 'law of the god of this land' (2 Kings 17:27). As you might have guessed, the people quasi-feared the Lord but they still served their other gods. Syncretism does not please God anymore than outright idol worship. This is such a dangerous trap for us to fall into – we try to make God into something that occasionally challenges us, but by and large, we want Him merely to endorse what we are already doing and thinking.
