2 Kings 15:23-31
"23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25 And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place.26 Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years.28 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.30 Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 31 Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel."
The beginning of the end for the northern kingdom is recorded in 29 when the mighty forces of Assyria began to encroach upon the northern territory and the tribe of Naphtali was carried into captivity. One would have thought that this would have had a sobering effect upon the rest of the nation, but no, neither Pekah nor his successor seem to have had any realisation that the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them in judgment or that there might still be time to repent and save the remainder of the people. It is one of the terribly frightening aspects of sin that it blinds men so utterly to the warnings of God that they rush on heedless to their ruin. This should teach us a lesson about present world-crises, and explain why governments should be so blind to what some individuals can see only too clearly - that the steady encroachment of totalitarian communism upon the free world is the judgment of God upon our western decadence and spiritual bankruptcy. It would not have mattered who had succeeded Pekah - Hoshea or any other - for the whole evil brood were abandoned to sin and ripe for judgment. This is likewise why it is vain to pin hopes on a change of party in government - it is not a new party-line, but a new moral tone that we desperately need. And, alas, there is little sign of such a change. It may be that the writing is on the wall for the western world!