Theological Commentary: Click Here
In 2 Kings
16 we meet Ahaz, the next king in the line of Judah. Unlike the two kings that came before him,
Ahaz does not do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. In fact, he even offers his son as a sacrifice. He brings back the old religion that was
being worshipped by the Canaanites. The
Bible even hints at the fact that such acts were the reason that the Canaanites
were kicked out in the first place!
What I find
interesting is that Ahaz’s contempt for God is obvious in so many other
dynamics. When Israel and Syria come
against Judah, Ahaz turns to Assyria for help instead of God. Note that he doesn’t turn to his own gods,
either. Ahaz doesn’t have an eye for
spirituality; Ahaz has an eye for the natural world and what is best for him.
In fact,
when Assyria comes and saves Judah, Ahaz goes to meet the king of Assyria. Along the way, he sees the altar in
Damascus. These are the altars that
initially led to Israel’s fall away from God back when the kingdom split
apart. Ahaz sends the designs back to
Jerusalem and orders the priest to duplicate them. Then, Ahaz goes into the temple of God and
begins to repurpose the temple furnishings for his own purposes!
As if this
isn’t bad enough, one of the true places of sorrow in this chapter comes
here. The priest goes through with the king’s
plan. Naturally, the priest was probably
in a position of listening to the king or losing his position (and perhaps his
life). The priest chooses to keep his
position and follow the king’s wishes instead of standing up for the Lord. It is sad when people choose their own
material security instead of spiritual righteousness, but I find it especially
troubling when a priest makes that choice.
If anyone should have been able to say no to the king, it should have
been Uriah the priest.
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