#506 First Things

In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.

3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.

4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.

14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.

15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.

18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead. 2 Kings 16 KJV

Ahaz was not devoted to God or his people. He ruled with his eyes, seeing the size of the Assyrian empire, he made that his awe, and attributed glory short of the true God. I will be your servant to pay you tribute, your son that learns at your mouth, and I have already walked my children through the fire of Molech. I love your strength, am enamored with your culture, only deliver me from Syria and Israel. One man has the power,  apparently, to take not only the treasury of the government but also that of the temple. Another king crosses the line of separation, and sells the liberty of his people. After he is delivered from his enemies, he goes to pay homage to the devil he paid to be friends with, and he is ever more certain that he was in the right. It has paid off well for him, and as they talk in Damascus, he sees an altar that is more ornate, more beautiful in it's design. He sends to the priest at home to make a replica of it, for he will sacrifice now on it. The altar that God had given the design for is no longer good enough. It would never suit a man who had left off God for the shiny and dramatic things of this world. What amazes me is that it is too obvious a comparison in every age, that the church has done this a hundred times, but we first in this, give up the Word of God. We loathe the manna, can't make it even this far into the Bible. Christ is not an altar beautiful nor a sacrifice interesting enough for our taste. We should take a vote upon who God is, and the majority takes all. What of the truth, we should vote on that as well, and if the king of Assyria can deliver us, then maybe he is god. Ahaz is wrong and gross, but I am far more disgusted with Urijah, the priest who despises his call so much, that he will sell his birthright for this pot of beans. You, who are the guard of the temple, the keeper of the law and the honor of God, you do not even care about your king enough to correct him. Not only do you not stand up, but you make another way to hell, inside the temple of the only true God. Thus did the priest according to the king, what a horrible thing to say. He removed the basin where the priest were suppose to be cleansed, like there is no need. Repent and be saved, no need for that, no need to be made clean, no need to understand that this is for sin, uncleanness. My new daddy's wisdom requires that I remove the covert from the house to the temple. I shall have this face another way, for I will not honor the Sabbath any more. I will not look to the God of Abraham as the creator of the universe, and I will lift the burden from the oxen's back, and set it aside on the stones. The things that men celebrate, and I know that I cannot brag here since I hate so much to be wrong. Defending yourself in your position it is always so easy to find the things that support your view, making them more valuable then those things that oppose it. We are all such hypocrites and will consider being louder a victory, embarrassment a victory, bullying a victory, but where is patience, waiting upon God's deliverance? Where is truth, knowing God's word? Where is love, so we are not so easily offended? Ahaz would turn anywhere else than God, for He was too antiquated for him. What would Christians be like, who took the things of God and made them their priority to check all else against?

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[j]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”[k]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11: 33-36