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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord.
As for the other events of Jotham’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? (In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.) Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David, the city of his father. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.
Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.
Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.
King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.
King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.
As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 15:32-38, 16:1-20
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When faced with challenges in life do we trust the Lord or do we sell out to the world and either place our faith in others or in ourselves?
That’s the fundamental question that our scripture raises for us as we continue to examine the reign of kings and in particular today, the kings of Judah.
As our passage opens, we read about Jotham, son of Uzziah, who assumed the throne at the age of 25 and reigned in Jerusalem for 16 years. We don’t learn a whole lot about Jotham except that he did what was right as his father had done and “rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord”. He also erred in that he failed to remove the high places and so the “people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there”. Jotham would die and be laid to rest “with his ancestors” as he was “buried with them in the City of David”. His son Ahaz would succeed him as king.
So would Ahaz continue the good reign of his father?
Not quite.
For as we read in Chapter 16, verses 2 through 4, that Ahaz “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” and instead “followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”. He also “offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree”.
How would God deal with this insubordination?
Well, looking back to Chapter 15, verse 37, we read where the Lord had begun sending some challenges toward Judah, namely “Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah”. And during the reign of Ahaz, the attacks started on Judah.
For we read where “Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz” but were unable to “overpower him”. This didn’t stop them from impacting the kingdom though as the king of Elam, Rezin, “recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah”, opening the way for the Edomites to move into Elath.
So who would Ahaz turn to in this time of need?
Not the Lord but rather another ruler, Tiglath-Pileser…the king of Assyria.
Scripture tells us that “Ahaz sent messengers…to Tiglath-Pileser” with the following message:
“I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”
Instead of turning to the God of Israel…the God who had delivered His chosen people to the Promised Land…the God who had shown over and over and over that He can do all things…Ahaz chose to turn to a rival king of a nation who placed their trust in every god except for the one true God, backing up his call for help by offering himself as a servant and slave.
How often do we do the same? How often so we sell out God and turn to other sources when we get into trouble?
And if it wasn’t bad enough that Ahaz sold himself away, he also “took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria”. He further desecrated the Lord by handing over all the sacred items of the temple.
In return for Ahaz’s heinous actions, our passage tells us that the king of Assyria attacked and captured Damascus, deporting “its inhabitants to Kir” while putting “Rezin to death”. Ahaz then “went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser” and during that encounter, he “saw an altar” and sent a sketch of it to Uriah the priest “with detailed plans for its construction”. In turn, “Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before (he) returned”. Once Ahaz “saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it”. He offered the “burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar”.
So it wasn’t bad enough that Ahaz had been disloyal to God, ignoring him completely when he was in trouble and selling his service and the temple furnishings to Tiglath-Pileser, but now he chose to use a pagan altar to bring his offerings, moving the “bronze altar that stood before the Lord” to the “north side of the new altar”.
Ahaz gave the following orders to Uriah, his priest:
“On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices”.
And what about the bronze altar of the Lord?
Ahaz decided to not forget about it completely but rather to use it to seek guidance.
Really?
Why would Ahaz all of a sudden be interested in seeking guidance from the Lord when he hadn’t done so up to now?
My suspicion is that Ahaz was just saying this. He wasn’t really interested in seeking the Lord’s guidance but made it sound that he would to his priest. For is Ahaz was truly faithful and loyal to God, then he would have turned to him and trusted him all along.
What confirms my thoughts is the next action taken by Ahaz.
For we read where he “cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands” before removing “the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base”. He then “took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria”.
In other words, Ahaz held the king of Assyria in higher esteem and reverence than the King of Kings.
And soon the entire southern kingdom of Judah would find themselves swept away by a foreign king to a foreign land, removed from Israel and left crying out to the God they turned from.
Friends, are we destined to continue to repeat the mistakes of the past? How many times do we have to turn from God, place our trust in the world, and find ourselves defeated and running back to the God we should have relied on in the first place, before we will learn our lesson and trust Him first?
God expects us to sell out to Him…to give Him our all…just as He gave His all to us in the way of His only Son Jesus Christ…the One who provides us the perfect example of self sacrifice.
Will you trust Him today and never stop trusting Him?
Or will you be like Ahaz, sell out to the world, and allow yourself to lean on its ways, turning your back on God and traveling on the path to destruction?
The choice is yours to make. My advice is to choose God.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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