God's chosen nation became a dead branch floating down the river—its destruction as a nation was swift when God took His hand of protection and guidance from it.  The tragic story of the nation of Israel due to their own sin had paved their way into Assyrian captivity. The judgment of God came after many warnings through His prophets. 2 Kings 17:13 [MSG]: GOD had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, "Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I've kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets." God sent them away because they were irreparably corrupt as a nation. The only provision according to the mercy of God was to chastise them through the hand of the Assyrian king. 

The Sin of Israel— Idolatry: 

The major sin of Israel was Idolatry. They made their own gods and worshipped them, just like the pagan nations before them. 2Kin 17:15 [CEV]:  They ignored the LORD's warnings and commands, and they rejected the solemn agreement he had made with their ancestors. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. The LORD had told the Israelites not to do the things that the foreign nations around them were doing, but Israel became just like them. God had overthrown the pagan nations right in front of them because of the same sin, but they did not heed to the lessons learned through the history of other nations. "Another person's shipwreck aught always to be a beacon to us" (C H Spurgeon)
Along with the sin of Idolatry, all kinds of pagan practices entered the community—including immorality, sorcery, sacrificing children to Moloch, black magic and all sorts of disobedience. The land became polluted in all ways and brought in the judgment of God into their Nation.

 
The Sin of Contemporary Christians:

As we read in; 1 Cor 10:11 [MSG]:  These are all warning markers—DANGER!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. If we don't take heed to what God says to His people, we will also end up in the same peril as our ancestors. 

In today's churches, we can see a lot of people who are self-catered and not Christ-centered. They want their way and not the way of the Lord. We are again warned about godlessness in the latter days in 2nd Timothy chapter 3.

2 Tim 3:5 [NLT]:  They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!  Let us learn from the shipwrecks that happened to Israel and stay pure from all kinds of Idols in our life. Turn away from Self-centered life to a Christ-centered life. Trust in God like a child. 

Prayer: 
Dear Father, I pray that You guide me step by step every day to walk free of a self-centered life and to avoid idols in my life.

Let my life be Christ-centered and may it be a pleasing aroma to You. In Jesus name.

Amen.