ONLY ONE MASTER AND JUDGE

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In Christ, Mark

** Writer’s Note: Today I am currently overseas for a few weeks. I will try to post as well as I can but there may be a break in The Christian Walk if I end up without Internet access. If that happens, I will resume upon my return in early August.

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children 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.

Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus.

He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him. In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king. The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.

But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven. And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.”

Then some of the leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—confronted those who were arriving from the war. “You must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”

So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly.

The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were

naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria.

At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. The Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel,  for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the Lord. Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.

In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.

Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

The other events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Chapter 27 of 2 Chronicles, we read of a king who managed to break the string of sinfulness that had plagued Judah’s throne during the reign of his two predecessors. Where his grandfather Amaziah and father Uzziah had fallen short in remaining faithful to God during their entire time on the throne, Jotham maintained his faithfulness through his entire time on the throne of Judah. He was praised for walking steadfastly with the Lord during his rule and as a result, he had gained great power and respect from the surrounding nations.

Would his son Ahaz carry on his righteous ways after he assumed the throne?

Not exactly. In fact, not even close for we don’t read anything good about Ahaz who reigned for the same number of years as his father did but filled that time with sinfulness vice holiness. Here are some of his documented transgressions:

- He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals.

- He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children 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.

How evil was Ahaz? Evil enough to sacrifice his own children by fire. It’s little wonder why he was not buried with the rest of the kings of Israel. He didn’t deserve any honor as such.

Well, obviously God wasn’t going to stand for any worshiping of false gods. He hadn’t up to that point and wouldn’t now. And so we read where He delivered Ahaz and the people of Judah into the hands of the king of Aram and his army who defeated Ahaz and took many of his people to Damascus as prisoners.

The Arameans weren’t the only attackers however. For God’s word tells us that Ahaz was also given into the hands of the king of Israel who inflicted heavy casualties, killing a hundred twenty Judean soldiers as well as Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king.  The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters and a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.

In other words, the Judean Israelites were about to be enslaved by the Israeli Israelites, the people of God from the Southern Kingdom exiled under the control of God’s people in the Northern Kingdom.

This action didn’t sit well with God. We know this because He sent the following message via a prophet of the Lord named Obed:

“Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven. And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.”

This message from the Lord caused the Israelite leaders in Ephraim to speak out against those who had returned from war saying:

“You must not bring those prisoners here or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”

The soldiers listened to the concern and responded in compliance with the leaders wishes. They clothed and surrendered the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly. They ensured the prisoners had food and drink and healing balm before returning them to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms.

So what was going on here? Why did God stop the Judean Israelites from being enslaved by the Israeli Israelites?

The first issue was this. God had not ordained the action.

God was, is, and will always be Master of all. And unless God deemed for His people to be enslaved, no people had the right to do so. God was the only One who could delegate the power and position of master to another, and even when He did, it was for a finite period such as we’ll see when He exiles the Israelites to Babylon for seventy years. He had not deemed for the Northern Kingdom to enslave the people of the Southern Kingdom and thus would not support that effort.

The second issue was more fundamental. The Israelites of the Northern Kingdom were no less sinners than their brothers and sisters in the south. Thus, they had no business passing judgment on Judah and imposing an enslaved exile upon them. In fact, as the leaders of Ephraim so aptly mentioned, Israel’s sin and guilt were already great. Why would they want to add to it by enslaving the Judean Israelites?

You see, God was and is not only the sole Master of all. He is also was and is the sole Judge of all. It is He and He alone who has the right to judge and pass judgment, just as He is the only rightful Master of all mankind. And just as God can delegate temporarily choose to delegate His mastery over a people, He also can use others to pass His judgment as well. He could have done so with the Israeli Israelites of the north but He didn’t. In fact, as we read, they were already in a position where they might receive their own penalty for sin. And so since God had not authorized mastery or judgment by the Northern Kingdom, they could exercise neither.

Friends, we would be well served to remember this today. For too often, we think we have the right to lord over others or to pass judgment when we have no business doing so. Perhaps we would be better off letting these things to the One that the honor belongs to and invest more of our time in recognizing and dealing with our own sinfulness, realizing we all fall short when it comes to measuring up to His standards and expectations. 

If we did these things, I believe we would be more of the kind of people the Lord wants us to be. His word is calling for us to consider it today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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