Watch out with the World
2nd Kings 16
My wife and I recently went to the movies. We love going to the movies, it is a fun thing for us to do. There are certain movies in which you may already know the plot and you figure out how it is going to end. My wife is really good at it, almost too good. She will lean over and whisper, “Jon, this is how it will end.” I sometimes laugh and sometimes say, “Don’t ruin it for me.” She is good about reading the plots and knowing how the movie is going to end.
In last few chapters of 2nd Kings we have somewhat of a knowledge of what the future holds for both kingdoms. Israel so far has not had a king that did right in the eyes of the Lord. The closest one was, Jehu (2nd Kings 10) and that was because he got rid of Ahab’s descendants. Judah on the other hand has had some kings that have done good in the eyes of the Lord except, Jehoram (2nd Kings 8:16-24), and now King Ahaz. Because of the evil the kings are leading the people in we see that God will bring upon the enemies of Israel (Deuteronomy 5:33). We know the plot and it does not look good for Israel or Judah.
Ahaz-Why?
It starts the same like all the other kings, either they walked in the ways of the Lord or did evil. Ahaz did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The only thing is he was a king of Judah, these guys always walked in the ways of the Lord, right? No, and he followed after the ways of the northern kingdom, Israel. We read in verse 3 how bad he was. He burned his own son at the altar as a sacrifice to some false god. Yikes! He was off his wagon.
A result of his false worship and leading the nation down a wrong road, God sent the Syrian army as well as the Israeli army against him. Instead of him going to God for help; like Isaiah the prophet told him to do (Isaiah 7:7-11), he went to the Assyrians for help. He told the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, he would be his servant and gave him a nice bribe in the process.
Yeah, the Assyrians releaved the war against Judah and saved them for a time but what a price that was paid and I am not talking about the gold, silver, and bronze given.
Want to Copy the World (10–20)?
We read that Ahaz went to meet the Assyrian king at Damascus and when he was there he saw an altar and he liked the way it looked. The Assyrians worshiped an idol, Assur. Assur to the Assyrians was god over the universe. Ahaz liked what he saw and brought it back to Judah and not just Judah but in the temple area. He got rid of the bronze altar that Solomon had built and placed this new altar in its place. He was showing that this new altar and worship was more important than the worship of the TRUE GOD.
How sad is this, but we see the same thing today but instead of worshiping an idol people worship themselves or other things not knowing that they are worshiping it. I have seen people that have gone to church a while and know who Jesus is and the truth that he brings but still see things in the world and follow after that thing and deny who Jesus is. They bring the world back with them and influence the church. Instead of helping the church grow in the kingdom of God they cause it to fade away and blend in with the world. Romans 12:1-2 says it best, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We need to conformed to God and not to the things of the world. Do you find yourself compromising? Do you find yourself wishing that you could do this or that? I have been there before and that is why everyday I need to go and seek after Jesus as the one who set me free from the things of this world. Sin is pleasing for a time but the heartache soon follows. Just like eating a lot of junk food before you go to bed, it is fun until that stomach ache comes.
