2 Kings 16:1-20


Throughout history it is easy to observe that the saying: “what the parents tolerate in moderation the children will practice in excess” is true.  King after king in Judah has done what was right in the eyes of the Lord only they did not remove the high places.  While the kings themselves did not make sacrifices at the high places; they tolerated it in the people that they led.  Now Ahaz is king and decides that if his father and grandfather permitted their people to make sacrifices there that it must not be so bad so he went to extreme idolatry.  We must be very careful what we tolerate in our families as our children will very likely go beyond what we have permitted and that is how faithful families eventually become faithless families.

AHAZ INSTIGATES IDOLATRY IN ISRAEL: The previous kings had failed to remove the high places so Ahaz feels free to use them and takes the worship of idols to extreme levels.  He is said to have worshiped under every green tree and gone so far as to sacrifice his own son on the altar of a false God.  This was precisely the practice of the people of this land before Israel came in and now we see the king of Judah practicing the very same abominable sin.  God brings war to the land, however, Ahaz is able to make an alliance with the king of Assyria and he is able to be victorious and only lost small portions of the land in the war.  As we have seen in the past, victory does not necessarily mean a stamp of God’s approval.  Sometimes the wicked do prosper.  In this case, we have a hard time finding a king in the war that was just.  Pekah, the king of Israel, Ahaz, the king of Judah, and the two kings of Syria and Assyria are all wicked and idolatrous.  At time in history it is hard to see how the hand of God is at work in the lives of men but we must trust that He knows what He is doing and will eventually accomplish His will.

AHAZ IMITATES THE IDOLATRY OF ASSYRIA: When Ahaz goes to visit Damascus, the capital of Assyria, he sees an altar that impresses him so he sends word to Uriah the priest requesting that a replica of this altar be made in the temple of the Lord.  Unbelievably Uriah capitulates and we see Ahaz making sacrifices to idols on an altar that is copied from an idolatrous nation in the temple that was built for the Lord.  The altar that the Lord had commanded Solomon to build was cast aside and it seems as if there is no hope in Judah.  When political leaders command spiritual leaders to do that which is abominable to the Lord; the spiritual leaders must have the courage to stand firm on the Word of the Lord and do what they know to be right.  When men abandon the Word of God they will quickly find themselves under the influence of diabolical men who will lead them to destruction.  God has called us to set an example for the unbelievers around us to imitate.  It is a very tragic thing when the people of God become imitators of the pagans around them.

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