GOD’S STANDARD ONLY
Opening Prayer
Blessed Lord, I come to find rest in your presence. Shape within me a heart after your own heart. Mold me into a vessel that pleases you and brings you glory.
Read 2 KINGS 16
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Ahaz King of Judah
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 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. 3 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. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
5 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. 6 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.
7 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.” 8 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. 9 The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.
10 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. 11 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. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings[a] on it. 13 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. 14 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.
15 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.” 16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.
17 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. 18 He took away the Sabbath canopy[b] 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.
19 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? 20 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:12 Or and went up
- 2 Kings 16:18 Or the dais of his throne (see Septuagint)
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What things do you look for in your government leaders? Are they the same things that you believe God considers important?
Ahaz, unlike David, does not do what is right in the eyes of God (v. 2). He is condemned for walking in the ways of Israel’s kings (v. 3a). How? Like Israel, he follows the Canaanite practice by sacrificing his son in the fire (v. 3b), which is counted as a reason for Israel’s doom.1 Like Israel, Ahaz worships at the high places (v. 4).2 The sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat are presented as the cause of Israel’s downfall.3 The unusual comparison of Ahaz with the kings of Israel reveals the author’s deliberate technique of mirroring here. Facing the threat from Aram and Israel, Ahaz turns to Assyria for help (vv. 5–9). Like Israel’s foreign policies, those of Ahaz pave the way for the same fate of destruction.4 The loss of Elath to Aram and then to Edom clearly indicates God’s judgment on Judah (v. 6).5
Meeting with his Assyrian suzerain in Damascus, Ahaz is impressed by a Syrian altar and he determines to build one on this model (vv. 10, 11). On his return to Jerusalem, Ahaz dedicates the new altar by making offerings (vv. 12, 13). He moves the old bronze altar (v. 14) and uses it for seeking guidance (v. 15). All these changes are implemented to please Assyria (v. 18). To sum up, Ahaz lives by the standards of others instead of those of God.
Without following God’s ways, Ahaz tries to keep his inheritance for his own well-being, but ironically, he loses it. To curry favor with the Assyrian king, he loses God’s favor. How often do we please humans more than God? Do we conform to the values of the world instead of doing the right things in God’s eyes?
Apply
Examining your own life, are there areas where you are tempted to compromise what you know is right for the sake of expediency or reputation?
Closing prayer
Dear Lord, by your grace help me live up to your standard so that your name is glorified. I want to serve you and live for you alone.
1 2 Kings 17:17, 18 2 cf. 2 Kings 17:9–11 3 2 Kings 14:24; 15:9, 18, 24, 28 4 2 Kings 17:19, 20 5 cf. Deut 28:52, 63
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