Ahaz Reigns in Judah

 

 

2 Kings 16:1-9

 

October 27, 2021

 

 

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.   Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done,  but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.   And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.   At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day.   So, Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”   Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria.   And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.

 

Wake up Church, do you understand that brothers are fighting brothers, both believe they are standing on solid ground, and both have departed to the little gods of this world, just as has our Nation.  Is the Church, and let me be clear, the Church I’m referring to is one that believes Jesus is the only way to eternal life, it cannot be earned, it is a gift of faith in Jesus Christ and Him only.  It is time for the Church if it is serious about finding the truth, to ask two questions, number one: Is there a God?  Number two:  If there is, has he said anything?  My friend asked this of a Jewish friend he worked with, and Carroll went on to say to him; If you will honestly search for the answers to these two questions, I guarantee that you will find the truth.

 

I believe we need a “Faith that Works (between Sundays) and my mentor and friend Carroll Ray Jr. sent me a Manuscript on this subject that was never published and I believe it needs to be.  I want to share a small portion of page 51.

“We have been taught to believe that unless something can be seen or touched, it isn’t real.  This mindset even affects religious activity.  We measure success by things which can be quantified: how much, how many, and how often.  When raising funds for the church, we act as if God is on the verge of bankruptcy, and when recruiting volunteers, we look for natural talents or aggressive personalities.  When we pray, we often sound more like we’re talking to each other than to God.  I was visiting a church once where the pastor stood to give the offertory prayer and he prayed these words . . .” Lord, I wonder how many times people sin during  the offering by not giving what they should?”  He wasn’t fooling anybody.  They knew he was talking to them, trying to increase the offering by laying guilt feelings on them.  This only reinforces the idea that anything to do with God is unreal.  If the holy man doesn’t seem to talk to God when he prays, why should a layman think God would listen to him?”

 

I end this paper with another comment from the Manuscript.  “We are to have a different attitude: faith in God.  A faith that says, “You are Lord, and I respect your right to reign in my life.  You are the Master, and I am your servant.”

Only when the Church acts on that truth, “You are the Master, and I am your servant, and I will spend time in your Word so that I can know your ways, then and only then will the Church have influence in a fallen world.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice