daily bible readings

Evil King Ahaz found himself in dire straits. He had suffered heavy losses at the hands of Syria and Israel. He was being harassed and threatened by the Philistines and the Edomites. In desperation, Ahaz sought an alliance with Assyria. He reached out to Tiglath Pileser III. This would prove to be a very bad move.

King Ahaz faced the possibility of a two front war. The Edomites and the Philistines lay to the south of Israel and the Syro-Ephraimite war raged in the north. Ahaz was desperate and formed an alliance with a foreign nation - something God has expressly forbidden. See Exodus 23:32 and other similar passages. A.J Thompson reveals the significance of the source of help that Ahaz so desperately sought. “The verb “help” is important to the Chronicler. God was ever available to “help” faithful kings (1 Chr 5:20; 2 Chr 14:11; 18:31; 25:8; 26:7, 15; 32:8). Such “help” (ʿāzar) was not available from other sources (vv. 21, 23). Ahaz had turned to human—indeed foreign—help instead of to the God of Israel.”

It would appear that Ahaz has not learnt his lesson. But, the narrative continues. Tiglath Pileser came to Ahaz but gave him trouble instead of relief (v20). Ahaz sought to buy his favour by taking the articles from the Temple of the Lord and giving them to the powerful king as a tribute. The approach failed miserably (v21). In desperation Ahaz became ever more unfaithful to Yahweh (v22). Rather than seeking God, he offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus thinking, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” The writer sums up the consequence of such a sinful approach. “But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.” 2 Chronicles 28:23.

While we may think that Ahaz had reached the limits of godlessness and faithlessness, we continue to read of his downhill slide. “Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 28:24. Ahaz shook his fist at God and turned and walked away from God. Shutting the Temple doors is a symbolic picture of  closing the doors on Yahweh and wanting nothing to do with Him. Ahaz had failed to learn his lesson. His sin grew like a malignant cancer.

Some times we are similarly hard hearted and don’t learn our lesson from God. When calamity overtakes us or when life goes south, we are often quick to put into action our own plans and schemes. Prayer and seeking God often come last on the agenda, after plan A, B, C and maybe even D, E and F have failed. In concept, this is no different to what Ahaz did. Sometimes, we’ll go through another series of calamities or down turns and we repeat the same pattern! DOH!

Just imagine with me how different life could be if we made up our minds to seek God and to find His pathway through the chaos and downturn. Imagine how much fruit our life might bear if we resolved in our heart and mind to seek God first in every trial and every calamity. Imagine the joy in our lives if we were more concerned about walking in God’s ways than in recovering our comfort, our orderly life or our financial freedom. Imagine what great works God might do among us if we learn our lesson now and resolve never to do it our way but to always do it God’s way.

Prayer: 

Adoration:

• Adore God that He is compassionate and slow to anger and to judge people.
• Adore God that He longs for all people to come to a saving knowledge of the truth, to repent and to believe in Jesus for salvation.

Confession:

• Take time to confess your sins to the Lord and to ask for His forgiveness.

Thanks:

• Thank God that he has given you a regenerate heart and that He has granted you salvation.
• Thank God that you have opportunity to share the grace of God with others in your life.

Supplication:

• As we gather for worship service tomorrow, pray that the Lord would grow His people and instil in them a deep and immovable desire to be compassionate and loving towards the poor and the needy.
• Pray that the Lord would grow our desire to be holy, both corporately and individually as we worship Him and grow to be more like Jesus.

Discussion Questions

1. Why does the writer focus so extensively on Ahaz’s sins?
2. What is strange or different about the ending of Ahaz’s narrative in vv26-27 when compared to the other kings? Why is it so different?
3. What sins did Ahaz commit?