What You Think is Good May Not Be

2 Kings 16:1-20

You?d think that Ahaz, with kings before him like Uzziah and Jotham, would have been a pretty good king. His father and grandfather were okay, but both had their own problems?Uzziah suffered from spiritual pride that led to leprosy, and Jotham, though he didn?t make the mistake of Uzziah, he still didn?t go all the way to following Yahweh, and the ?people still followed corrupt practices.? (2 Chronicles 27:2).

It was a time of peace and plenty, and it led to rottenness spiritually and open sin and rebellion when it came time for Ahaz to reign.

Ahaz?s story comes in three parts: 1) his character (verses 1-4), his war with Syria & Israel (5-9) and his steady walk away from God (10-18). Ahaz was a copier. He copied the practices of the people to the detriment of his own family, and he copied the institutions of worship he saw in foreign lands and replaced Yahweh worship with them.

There are two other sources for material about Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 28, and Isaiah 7-12. But the real focus of this chapter is none other than Jesus Christ.

1 ? 4

The author makes a point of bringing out Ahaz?s worst practice, that of the worship of Molech?child sacrifice. Leviticus 18:1 specifically prohibits this. This took place at the confluence of the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley in a place known as Topheth. It?s likely that there really was no god named Molech, but it was the name for the practice of child sacrifice to Ba?al (a similarly named place of Topheth in the Phoenician colony of Carthage used the name MLK ? same consonants in the Semitic name Molech).

The place was so wicked that later Jesus used it as a metaphor for the punishment of the wicked (Matthew 5:22, 10:28, 13:42, 18:9, 23:15, 33, and 25:41). 2 Chronicles 28 says he sacrificed ?children.? He also sacrificed to pagan gods, presumably, in the ?high places? like the other Judeans. Chronicles also says he made metal images to Ba?al. It was because of this that God gave him into the hands of Syria.

5 ? 9

This is a very complex situation that operates on several planes. Politically, Syria and Israel wanted Judah to go along with the planned insurrection against Assyria (which Judah would not do). Spiritually it seems Satan is once again inspiring others to wipe out the David line. God will stop that, deal with apostate Israel, and also chastise Ahaz. Personally, Ahaz is given the opportunity, trust in Yahweh, or trust in Assyria. Isaiah 7:5-7 shows God would bring the Syrian and Israelite invasions to naught and that within 65 years Israel (Ephraim) will no longer exist as a nation.

The attack against Judah was twofold. Rezin came along the eastern portion of Judah, taking the seaport of Elath. Pekah came against northern Judah. The Edomites could then retake Elath, and the Philistines could attempt to take Jerusalem and install a puppet king.

What do we see in Isaiah? Ahaz was afraid of Syria and Israel ?the heart of Ahaz and the heart of the people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.? (Is 7:2)

But God tried to bring comfort to Ahaz saying ?Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands.? (7:4).

He then offered Ahaz a sign, any sign, to show the king that God was going to perform what He said. Ahaz refused the sign because he didn?t really want to trust Yahweh, he wanted to trust his deal with Assyria. Well, God wasn?t very pleased, and he gave a sign anyway?what was that sign? The virgin birth of Immanuel (Is 7 & 9).

Pekah killed 120,000 Judeans in one day (2 Chronicles 28:6) ?because they had forsaken the Lord.? They also carried away 200,000 captives with the intention of making them slaves, but prophets of God and even chiefs in Israel opposed this and the captives were returned.

The Assyrians did attack Syria and took Damascus. Both Rezin and Pekah lost their lives.

2 Chronicles says that Ahaz?s plan backfired and Tiglath-pileser came down and harassed Judah. ?For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.? (2 Chron 28:21). So Ahaz now goes to Damascus to appear as a vassal before the Assyrian king.

10 ? 13

Ahaz snaps some pictures of this altar he sees in Damascus and is so far away from God that he thinks he can just import it into the worship of Yahweh. He then comes back after the altar is built and performs all kinds of sacrifices normally associated with worshipping Yahweh, but on a foreign inspired altar.

Ahaz said (2 Chron 28:23) ?Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.? But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

We cannot import the world?s idea of religion into Christianity and think it is okay, just because we slap God?s name on it. But Ahaz isn?t done yet.

14 ? 18

Normally sacrifices would be done on the bronze altar, but because Ahaz now has a Syrian altar, he doesn?t need it anymore. Just like many people substitute the sacrifice of Jesus for some made-up kind of way to get to God outside of the cross. So he moves it out of the way. Eventually, Ahaz used the bronze altar for divination (?to inquire by? 15) which showed his following of Assyrian cult rituals. It may have been the command of the king of Assyria for Ahaz to build this altar in the first place, because it seems he also prescribed changes to the king?s items and entrance into the temple, perhaps to lower his prestige. He also considered the altar such a common thing that he used part of it for scrap metal.

19 ? 20

2 Chronicles also tells us that he mutilated the temple furniture and eventually closed down temple services altogether. From then on only sacrifices on the new foreign altar would be made, or at the various other altars he set up around Jerusalem. Ahaz had totally sold himself out to Assyria.

When you start out getting your help from the world, the world won?t stop until you are its slave.

Interestingly, bad king Ahaz gave birth to very good king Hezekiah.

Conclusions

When you make a deal with the devil, be sure to read the fine print

Out of the darkest days come the brightest promise

God wanted to break Ahaz? reliance on his own wits

Temporary victories the world?s way often turn into long term nightmares of slavery

How many times does God tell you He is going to prove Himself to you? What good did it do Ahaz?