1. Israel's last king (1-6)

Hoshea was Israel's last king. He had been paying tribute to the king of Assyria, but then stopped and began making an alliance with the king of Egypt. When Shalmaneser king of Assyria discovered this, he seized Hoshea, the land and the entire nation, taking them to Assyria and settling them there. The nation of Israel was no more.

2. Because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord (7-23)

What took place was not the result of political dealings gone awry. It all took place because the Israelites worshiped other gods. The Lord warned them repeatedly, but they would not listen. They rejected the Lord, and so the Lord rejected them as his people and removed them from his Presence. The Lord is patient, but he also is the judge of sin.