Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
As God’s people, would you agree one of our greatest challenges is figuring out how to live God honoring lives in the places in our world where our governments are fully opposed to God, God’s Truth, God’s Purposes and even God’s people!
Do you often pray for Christian people who live in such places? Perhaps you live in a place where you still feel reasonably free to worship God, own a Bible and even speak of Jesus, yet probably, if you look closely, you can see significant spiritual shifts happening as influential people, or even your government leaders, seem to be pushing God OUT of your society. Come with me back to Jerusalem in about 722bc and we’ll see it was happening there!
King Ahaz had been the king over Judah with its capital Jerusalem for more than 10 years. He had been watching the horrific decimation of the northern kingdom of Israel by the ruthless, vicious armies of Assyria. (2 Kings 17) Ahaz had gone to Damascus, Syria, as we saw yesterday, on a peace mission, seeking to avoid the same fate, as he met with Tiglath-Pileser, the Emperor of the rapidly expanding Assyrian empire. King Ahaz felt he would do almost anything to avoid his capture and destruction of Jerusalem.
Yesterday we saw Ahaz began making major changes to the Temple of God area in Jerusalem in deference to Tiglath- Pileser and the kings of all surrounding nations of Israel who worshiped other gods. Ahaz began removing some of the things around the Temple he felt might be offensive to other religions and he built altars and idols in the Temple area which were worshiped in those other nations. (2 Kings 16:10-16; 2 Chronicles 28:22,23)
Have you ever noticed, my friends, that once you start down a very dangerous road in life it is almost impossible to stop and turn around before you end up in a terrible place?
That is what happened to King Ahaz and other leaders, both political and spiritual, who joined Ahaz in his rebellion against God. This description is one of the most terrifying verses in the Bible for me to read: “Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the Temple of God and cut them into pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple and set up altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.” (2 Chron. 28:24)
The magnificent Temple of God constructed by King Solomon, with help of thousands of dedicated craftsmen, was being dismantled by the king of God’s people, a direct descendant of King Solomon! What exactly were those furnishings cut into pieces by Ahaz? Could it have been the Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place?
Is it really true that King Ahaz shut & locked the doors of the Temple of God forbidding the priests to enter and forbidding people to worship Almighty, Holy God at this very Temple which God had filled with the cloud of His Presence when King Solomon dedicated it? (2 Chronicles 7:1) And is it even conceivable that a King of God’s people commanded that idols for wicked gods of the surrounding nations be constructed on every street corner in Jerusalem!?
I’ve been in that great city, several times, so for me to imagine wicked idols on those street corners almost makes me nauseous! Can you imagine what it was like for the people of Jerusalem to watch this despicable transformation taking place in their city knowing it was not a foreign invading army doing it, but it was their own king, son of King Jotham, grandson of King Uzziah, and a descendant of King David & King Solomon!?
But Ahaz wasn’t finished. 2 Chronicles 28:25 reports this: “In every town in Judah Ahaz built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors.” Do you see the devastating damage of the dangerous leadership path King Ahaz was pursuing? It was not enough for him to forcibly change Jerusalem by outlawing worship of Holy God; destroying some of the sacred artifacts from the Temple; and shutting down the Temple; King Ahaz also replaced God with idols all throughout Jerusalem.
But even that wasn’t enough and Ahaz then sent orders and workmen to construct idols and places for worshiping those evil idols in EVERY town and village under his jurisdiction, all of Judah! Ahaz was determined to eradicate the worship and the Name of God from Jerusalem and Judah! Can you believe that? Can you even imagine it?
In my view this was one of the very darkest times in all of history for the nation of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel was being conquered and devastated by the armies of Assyria while at the very same time King Ahaz was seeking to erase God from any involvement in the southern kingdom Judah and the city of Jerusalem.
God had intended that the nation of Israel would be a beacon of HOPE for the world in every generation, showing the world what a glorious thing it could be if they lived with Almighty God as their Lord and King. But in the end, in that era of time, the world saw nothing but darkness and failure as they looked at Israel whose leaders had turned their back on God. The light in the northern kingdom Israel was being extinguished by conquering Assyria and the light in the southern kingdom Judah was being extinguished by their own king Ahaz and his fellow wicked leaders.
But rather than striking Ahaz dead on the spot, God in His mercy sent His prophets Isaiah and Micah to bring Ahaz powerful messages from God to this hard hearted, wicked king. Ahaz refused to acknowledge God or change his wicked course of action, yet it was some of these messages of Isaiah which we cherish so greatly today as Messianic messages announcing Jesus!
In Isaiah 7:14 God spoke through His prophet Isaiah that despite the darkness and wickedness of that hour for Israel, there would come a day when “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel…” . 720 years later as an angel of God was appearing to a man named Joseph, that angel said: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:20,21)
Do you remember that Matthew gives us this explanation, as he was led by the Holy Spirit: “All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had said through the prophet [Isaiah]: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.’ (which means God with us).” (Matt. 1:22,23)
Sometimes it is in the darkest hours that God speaks His powerful words of truth and hope. While Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s words, I’m sure many of the priests and other spiritually minded people grasped those words of promise and thanked God that despite the abject failure of their hard hearted king, God would not abandon His people and God foresaw a future when miraculously God would come to reside in Israel as Savior! We know that happened in the person of Jesus Christ.
So look around today my friends and no matter how dark things may be where you are, God wants to speak His hope to you and to me. God’s hope is built on the person and truth of Jesus, God incarnate, who came in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy even though that prophecy was rejected by Ahaz. That’s important for us to remember… God’s great purposes will not be thwarted, even by powerful kings who oppose God! Here’s a song to help us take hope in that and I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow, my friends!
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chron.28:22-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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