Click to read 2 Kings 16
Synopsis
Israel and Aram were under Assyrian control and were trying to revolt against Assyria. They wanted to force Judah to join forces with them but the plan backfired as Ahaz went to the Assyrian king for help instead. Judah paid dearly for that as they became a vassal state of Assyria and had to pay high tributes (2Ch 28:20-21). Ahaz had to use the gold and silver from the temple to bribe Assyria.
Ahaz was an evil king who revived pagan practices in Judah, especially after he visited the Assyrian king in Damascus. He was so depraved that he even sacrificed his own son to pagan gods and replaced the altar of burnt offering with a replica of the pagan altar he saw in Damascus. He used the original bronze altar from the Temple for his own divination purposes, which was clearly against God’s instructions.
Ahaz was a weak king. Urijah was a weak high priest. Both compromised Judah’s religious status and turned the nation to sinful pagan practices.
Major Verses
V 3-4 – Human sacrifice was an abominable practice of the Canaanites. God had intended that Israel wiped out the Canaanites when they first entered the Promised Land. They did not do so and as a result, the Canaanites influenced the Israelites down the century. That disobedience eventually led God’s people to many pagan practices.
What I learn
When God gives an instruction to us, He has the perfect reason for it. If we fail to obey His instruction, we will have to bear the consequence of our choice. Let’s keep our hearts pure towards God and ask Him for wisdom to make right choices and strength to reject wrong ones.
V 10-11, 16 – Urijah was a weak high priest. Instead of telling Ahaz about God’s instructions, he compromised and even over-saw the building of the pagan altar to please the king.
What I learn
We may criticize Urijah for not upholding God’s standards but let us not forget that we too are capable of failing like Urijah. Let’s be careful not to mold God’s message to fit our personal preferences or worship Him for selfish gains. Let’s consciously purpose in our heart and seek God’s strength to keep His standards daily, lest we also fall. I am assured that as we reverently ask Him to keep us pure, He WILL!
V 12-15, 17-18 – This record showed how far Ahaz fell into paganism. He worshipped reverently before the pagan altar, offered sacrifices himself and instructed Urijah that all offering meant for God was to be offered to the pagan altar from that point onward. He went on to plunder God’s Temple, removed the furniture of worship to God, which were offensive to the king of Assyria. This was against specific instructions given by God (Ex 27:1-8).
What I learn
Ahaz was more eager to please the Assyrian king than to please God. He had more fear in man than in God and replaced God as Judah’s leader with a mere human. No matter how attractive or powerful a person is or may appear to us in our circumstance, we cannot allow him to replace God’s leadership in our lives. Honor God and He will honor us. That is His promise, we only need to believe!
Summary
Ahaz was an evil king and led Judah to pagan practices again. He was more afraid of the king of Assyria than of God and thus made Judah a vassal state of Assyria. Urijah was a weak high priest that did not stand for his believe and thus was an accomplice in this tragic act.
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What’s next … Israel will be wiped out as God used the Assyrians to punish them for their waywardness and disobedience. Check it out on 14th Jul.
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