beginning in verse 1 of chapter 16. In the 17th year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, Ahaz, the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done.

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Indeed, he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. Then Retzin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war.

And they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. At that time, Retzin, king of Syria, captured Eilath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Eilath. Then the Edomites went to Eilath and dwell there to this day. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son.

Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel who rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria heeded him, for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Retsin. Now, King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus.

And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. Then Uriah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Uriah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar.

And the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering, and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offering on the altar. He also brought the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, from the front of the temple, from between the new altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the new altar. And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, on the great new altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering and their drink offerings.

And sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by. Thus did Uriah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded. And King Ahaz cut off the panels of the carts and removed the lavers from them.

And he took down the sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a pavement of stones. Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the temple, and he removed the king's outer entrance from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of Assyria. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz, which he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.

Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as we have considered throughout this book of 2 Kings, it's a history, obviously, of the kings of the north and the kings of the south, with reference to Israel and Judah. We have seen, by and large, that they are wicked men. By and large, they are bad influences upon the people, and they bring down upon them and the people the judgment of God. We certainly see in a passage like this what Solomon speaks of in the Proverbs, that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

In the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 28, it tells us that he caused a moral decline in all of Israel, because of his idolatry and because of his wickedness. Again, there's been other wicked kings in Judah. There's only been wicked kings in the north and Israel, but this man Ahaz stands out. He is certainly a benchmark in terms of wickedness up to this point. in the narrative concerning the Judean kings.

I want to look at three things tonight with reference to this chapter. First, the idolatry of Ahaz in verses 1 to 4. Secondly, the submission of Ahaz, verses 5 to 9, his submission to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. And then thirdly, the innovations of Ahaz.

You see that Ahaz comes back from Damascus with Damascus religion. He comes back with Syrian religion and he institutes that in Jerusalem. So he innovates. What he is suggesting or what he is doing here is telling us that God's orthodox way of worship is deficient.

You see, Ahaz thinks he has a better way to go about the worship of the living God. So he co-ops the worship of Syria and brings that into Jerusalem. So that is never a good thing. So we see his idolatry, his submission, and his innovations.

The Idolatry of Ahaz

But note first his idolatry. Again, we have seen these kinds of formulas over and over. This one's a little bit different in that it strengthens or heightens or shows just how much more wicked Ahaz was. Now, the timing involved is probably he did a bit of co-regency with his father Jotham.

That would account for any disparity in terms of the numbers. The time frame is 735 to 715 BC. That is when Ahaz reigned in Judah. And then notice in verse 2, it says, he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done.

David is the standard. David is the benchmark in terms of godliness and faithfulness in terms of kingship. in Judah, in Israel as a whole. David sets the standard and all other kings are measured by that. Remember, David was not a perfect man.

David sinned grievously against God, but David was a man after God's own heart. He loved God He never departed from God. He never went into idolatry or anything like that. So David is the one that men are measured by.

And then notice, he imitated the kings of Israel. Verse 3a says, he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. This is also mentioned of Jehoram and Ahaziah in chapter 8, verses 18 and 27. Now, Jehoram and Ahaziah were linked to the house or family of Ahab by marriage.

So it's not sort of outlandish that they would have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, but this man is not joined to the house of Ahab or the house of Israel by marriage. He's just a wicked man. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Notice then, thirdly,

Child Sacrifice and High Places

he made his son pass through the fire. In verse 3b, indeed he made his son pass through the fire according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. You can turn back to Leviticus chapter 18 for just a moment. Leviticus chapter 18, where this prohibition is found in terms of children passing through the fire.

In 1821 it says, you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Now, this is a form of child sacrifice. This was a means by which Molech was worshipped.

It was through the sacrifice of one's child or children into the fire that surrounded this particular idol. Obviously, Israel would be prohibited against such things. And intriguingly, in our text, it says this was the practice that was done by those whom the Lord had driven out of the land that had done these things before Israel. If you look down further in Leviticus chapter 18, you see that very same thing.

Verse 24 says, Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled.

Lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Now going back to 2 Kings chapter 16. It is absolutely an abomination that Ahaz would engage in this sort of worship unto Molech wherein he would offer up his child, passing him through the fire in this particular manner.

But also we need to appreciate that God's judgment is not arbitrary and it's not capricious. God didn't tell Israel to go in and dispossess the land of the Canaanites because God had a particular axe to grind against the Canaanites. They were sinners that stood under his judgment, so God uses Israel to be the means by which those wretches are driven from the land. But when Israel engages in the same sort of conduct that the Canaanites did, then God raises up Assyria, and God will raise up Babylon to drive them out of the land.

So God's judgment is not arbitrary. It's not just at whim, but it is based on His standard. It is based on His law. When the people of Israel imbibe the conduct of the Canaanites, then God will deal with them severely.

You'll see that next week in 2 Kings 17, when Assyria comes and destroys the Northern Kingdom. We'll see it later in 2 Kings 25, when Babylon comes and destroys the Southern Kingdom. And you see this already back in the book of Judges. One of the things that Judges treats is how the people of Israel became like the Canaanites they were supposed to dispossess.

They didn't dispossess the land completely of the Canaanites. So what happens? That Canaanite influence pervasively influences the people of Israel, such that they engage in the same sort of wickedness, and we get to this place of ripening, and the Lord will deal with them the way that he dealt with the Canaanites. So it is an abomination that Ahaz engages in this particular activity.

It will happen later in Israel's history as well. Jeremiah speaks to it, Ezekiel speaks to it. It's something that they engaged in, this sacrifice of their children to Moloch. And then finally in verse 4, sort of rounding out this who's who of idolatry with reference to Ahaz.

Notice verse 4, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. on the hills and under every green tree." Now, for most of the kings of Judah, I didn't have time to go and look at every single statement, but for the most part, the kings of Judah, under their reign, the high places were not removed. The high places still stood intact. But the kings themselves did not participate in them. The kings knew that they were going on, but they did not participate in them.

Ahaz, however, engaged in it. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. John Gill says, which none of the kings of Judah before him ever did. For though they connived at this practice in the people, they never encouraged it by their own example.

Even good kings during the reign, say of Jehoshaphat, the high places were still there, but nevertheless Jehoshaphat did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Jehoshaphat was a godly king. Though that high place stood and shows some inconsistency, Jehoshaphat wasn't there with them worshipping those idols and engaging in that act of idolatry. So Ahaz is similar to the other bad kings in Judah, but he's worse even.

He engages in things that other Judaic kings did not do.

The Submission of Ahaz

Now note the submission of Ahaz in verses 5 to 9. We need to know a little history about what's happening in verses 5 and 6. We've already seen something of this coalition between Israel, the northern kingdom, and Syria. This was called the Syro-Ephraimite alliance or the Syro-Ephraimite coalition.

Ephraimite means Israel. Sometimes the northern kingdom is called Ephraim, based on the son of Joseph. And so this Syro-Ephraimite coalition or alliance, these two nations got together, the northern kingdom and Syria, and their purpose was to withstand Assyria. Assyria is a growing power, it's going to become a world empire, and it is gobbling up people groups, nations, provinces, and territories.

So the Syrians and Israel make this alliance to try and withstand the Assyrians. You see it back in chapter 15. Notice in verse 29, in the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ajahn, Abel, Beth, Mechah, Jenoah, Kadesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried them captive to Assyria. And then notice under the reign of Jotham, the king of the south, verse 37 in chapter 15.

In those days, the Lord began to send Retsin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, against Judah. So you see, you have this alliance of these kings, and then we see this again in verse 5 in chapter 16. Then Retsin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war, and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. Another place that deals with this is the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 7.

Isaiah ministered at this particular time. In fact, Isaiah told Ahaz not to worry about it, that Israel and Syria would not be successful in capturing Jerusalem. That's even here. Notice in verse 5, they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

Now the parallel in 2 Chronicles 28 tells us that Edomites are invading Judah, that Philistines are invading Judah, and that Israel and Syria are invading Judah, and nevertheless Jerusalem does not get captured. God the Lord is protecting the city. Isaiah told Ahaz that God the Lord would protect the city. It's in that context that the sign of the Virgin is given.

It's a proof to Ahaz that God will protect Jerusalem from invading Assyria or from Israel and Syria. So that's what the historic background is. Now in Isaiah 7, and I think at least by implication here, it fills in for us what's going on here. Israel and Syria, this alliance, wanted Ahaz to join with them.

We're stronger together. The king of Judah steps in with the king of Israel and the king of Syria, then we have even more strength to withstand Assyria. But Ahaz didn't want to. He rejected that.

So they then attempt to seize control of Jerusalem, and they want to install a new king in Jerusalem. Again, this is Isaiah 7, 6. If you're ever reading Isaiah 7, you're wondering what's happening. It's the Syro-Aphromite alliance that has come against Jerusalem, very specifically, and Ahaz, to try to get him to join along.

Now, the alliance was thwarted, but they did inflict heavy casualties on the southern kingdom. 2 Chronicles 28 records that for us. And then notice in verse 6, in chapter 16, at that time, Retsin, king of Syria, captured Alath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Alath. Then the Edomites went to Eilath and dwell there to this day." They had just recovered Eilath. It was a very significant place in terms of trade and in terms of strategy and position.

It was a big thing to lose in this particular instance. But nevertheless, Jerusalem is protected. God the Lord does make good on his promises. So at this time, not only you have this Syro-Ephraimite alliance that is plaguing Ahaz, but he's got Edomites, and he's got Philistines, and he's got a whole bunch of problems.

That's going to set the stage for what follows in this section. To whom does he turn when he has all these problems? It's not to God. It's to Tiglath-Pileser.

It's to the king of Assyria. See, this is what the writer wants you to appreciate. When there is political turmoil, when there is military threat, when there is invading enemies, the answer is not, go to the pagan king. The answer is, trust in Yahweh, the living and true God.

House summarizes. He says, as has been mentioned, Ahaz inherits Jotham's problems with Israel and Syria during a time when Tiglath-Pileser III poses the greatest external threat to the small nations in the region. Syria has always fought Assyria, and now Pika changes Israel's policy from a pro-Assyrian stance. Remember back, well, probably you don't, but in chapter 15, Menahem paid tribute to Assyria.

Menahem wanted Assyrian protection. Well, Pekah comes after Manahem and says, no more Assyria. I'm going to support or we're going to support Syria. He says, Pekah changes Israel's policy from a pro-Assyrian stance to one of hostility against the invaders.

Judah is left as the sole appeaser of Assyria and endures a siege instituted by Pekah and Retsin in 733-732 BC. Their purpose is to seize control of Judah and install a new ruler. Although Judah suffers heavy casualties, their enemy's overall purpose is thwarted. Retsin does drive Judah out of Elath and captures the city.

Judah is in desperate straits. To whom will Ahaz turn? So, just that little bit there in verses 5 and 6, that historical sort of aside, sets the stage to answer the question, to whom will Ahaz turn? Now, some have suggested that the author in chapter 16 doesn't really theologically comment on Ahaz's conduct.

He most certainly does, through and through. The author doesn't have to say, and what he did here was a bad thing because Deuteronomy 20 says not to do that. I mean, he expects us to pick up certain clues. He expects us to understand that any violation of God's law is obviously condemned by God.

So that sets the stage. Now, notice his submission to the king of Assyria. In doing this, he rejects the prophet Isaiah. Now, you've got to have rocks for brains to reject the prophet.

Rocks for brains to reject any jot and diddle of the word of God, period. But when Isaiah tells you, everything's going to be okay, God's going to cover you, God's going to protect Jerusalem, then you really should listen. But he didn't. He didn't listen to that. he submits to Tiglath-Pileser.

And he does so in a way that is just absolutely contrary to everything we've come to expect in Judean kings.

Servant and Son to a Pagan King

Notice in verse 7, so Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son. Remember the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7, 14. What does God say about the Davidic king that sits upon his throne? He will be my son.

And here Ahaz calls himself the son of a pagan king. He calls himself the son of Tiglath-Pileser III. He then goes on to cry out to Tiglath-Pileser to be his savior. Notice, as Davis says, he wants him as his personal savior.

Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel who rise up against me. He then goes on to bribe the king. Notice in verse 8, Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord. It's a general rule when once you sin, all other sins become, you know, not that big of a deal.

If you reject the living and true God, you reject the prophetic word spoken by Isaiah the prophet, and you turn to Diglas Pileser, and you submit to him as servant and son, and you trust in him as your personal savior, it's not a stretch to think that you're going to just take things that don't belong to you. like the silver and gold that belong in the temple, the silver and gold that are in the palace based on taxpayers' hard work, and then you're going to send that as a present to the king of Assyria. We ought not to misinterpret. This is not a good translation. He doesn't send it as a present.

It is a bribe. Asa did that. as well in 1 Kings chapter 15. In 2 Kings chapter 15, we see that Menahem bribes or sends tribute to the king of Assyria as well. And notice in verse 9, the king of Assyria heeded him.

For the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people alive to Kir and killed Retsin. Now, just to sort of summarize this, I think Davis nails it. He says, Ahaz is in deep trouble and appeals for help to Assyria. He acts not as a covenant believer, but as a shrewd politician.

Ahaz sells his birthright at the very first, I am your servant and your son. Ahaz repudiates the Davidic covenant as he licks Tiglath Pileser's boots. He wants to accept the Assyrians as his personal savior. And as usual in politics, a handsome bribe buys salvation.

It may have been blatant unbelief, but it was successful policy. He may repudiate the Davidic covenant, but he saved his own skin.

Pragmatism Versus Promise

Shucked to the bone, the choice is between pragmatism or promise. It's very important. Now, it may take us a bit to sort of make the application to our own situation, but hopefully it may not. How often do we rely on the promise of God or the pragmatic approach to solving problems?

You know what pragmatism is. Pragmatism is doing what works. It's being practical. It's figuring out the best course.

It's not always wrong to be pragmatic. I mean, if you're digging a ditch, It's good to be pragmatic and use the proper tools. You don't dig ditches with spoons. You get shovels.

Or better yet, you get tractors. And best yet, you have somebody else do it. I don't know. You're pragmatic.

Pragmatism isn't necessarily bad in every context. But when it comes to a believer's life before God, are we living by pragmatism or by promise? You see, this is where the rubber meets the road for us. We're often like Ahaz.

When troubles come, when distress hits, when trials beset us, instead of relying on the promise of God, we run the other way and we seek help. from Tiglath-Pileser. We seek help from whatever it is that may offer that form of help to us, and that is precisely what Ahaz is doing here. So we see his idolatry, verses 1 to 4. We see the submission to Tiglath-Pileser, verses 5 to 9.

The Innovations of Ahaz

Now notice his innovations with reference to worship in verses 10 to 20. Notice in verse 10, by the way, 16.9, Amos had prophesied that such would take place in Amos 1.5. You need to know that just because 2 Kings is here and Amos is here, it doesn't mean that this happened before Amos. Amos was an earlier prophet than this particular instance, and Amos 1.5, he tells specifically that this is going to take place.

Again, Isaiah chapter 7, this is the specific historical situation that Isaiah is dealing with, with Ahaz. But notice, with reference to verse 10, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus. So he probably went there to congratulate him on his victory over Damascus. He's there to, you know, make sure that everything's going well in terms of their agreement and their arrangement.

Did you get the bribe that I sent? Are you happy with the gold? Are you happy with the silver? I hope it's enhanced your life and I'm looking forward to a great help from you in terms of resisting my particular enemies.

But while he's there in Damascus, he sees an altar. And King Ahaz, verse 10, sent to Uriah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern according to all its workmanship. There is a particular view of this passage that everything he does here, he was forced to do. In other words, as a vassal now, or as a subject to the king of Assyria, he would have to toe the line in order to please the king of Assyria.

I don't think the text reads that way. I think that everything that Ahaz is doing, he is doing here voluntarily. He's not forced into idolatry. He is just acting consistently with his idolatry.

We already see his character in verses 1 to 4. When we get to this innovation in worship, this is just the liturgical application of a heart that is far from God. Now, Assyria did not make religious impositions on its semi-independent vassal states, like Judah, as they might have done on provinces. That simply means that Assyria didn't force their religion down the throats of every state that they had gobbled up.

Didn't mean that they necessarily approved or they would participate in it, but they didn't stop you from worshiping Yahweh if you happen to be a Jew. So that idea that he was forced into it and that this was an Assyrian altar is probably incorrect. It was a Syrian altar, it was at Damascus, and King Ahaz liked it. He sends to Uriah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.

Notice as well, 2 Chronicles 28, tells us very specifically there of where his religious alliances were at this time. 2 Chronicles 28. specifically in verse 23. We'll notice chapter 28 a little bit later when we conclude our study tonight. But notice in verse 23, for he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus.

So this was a Syrian altar. This was the gods of the Syrian sort of a thing. Now you might say, what's the big difference between Assyria and Syria in this way? Well, if it was Assyria, then the case might be made that he was forced by Tiglath-Pileser to do this.

But I don't think that's it. Syrian gods, and he is a willing worshipper and idolater of those gods. He's not forced in it. He's not, you know, towing the line to please Tig of Assyria.

He is doing this most happily and most joyfully. Now, note the religion of Damascus in verses 11 to 18. It is brought to, imported to, Jerusalem.

The Complicity of Urijah

Note the complicity of Uriah. Verse 11, then Uriah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Uriah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. Should Uriah have done that?

We must obey God rather than men. You talk about a proof text against state churchmanship or state churches. You talk about a text that ought to be studied by every student of church and state. And you do, incidentally, should see throughout Old Covenant Israel a genuine separation of church and state.

It may not be as distinct as we would like it. There's certainly interplay and there's overlap to some degree, but there was a distinct stately office and a churchly office. And in this regard, the priest Urijah should never have taken his orders with reference to the worship of the living God from Ahaz the idolater. Now this demonstrates for us that weakness and spinelessness can advance wickedness or evil just as much as blatant wickedness can.

Ahaz is just a wicked idolater, so he's going to advance evil. Uriah is a spineless wimp, so he's going to advance evil. He doesn't stand up to the king, but rather he submits. Instead of a, we must obey God rather than men, he says, I must obey this man rather than God.

He has his marching orders, and it's to the law and the prophets, he must go. But rather than that, he fears man. He demonstrates that he's a jellyfish, and he complies, and even has the altar constructed before the king came back from Damascus. Now note, when the king arrives in Jerusalem, in verses 12 and 13, he offers sacrifice.

Now the way that he's described here is very similar to the way that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, is described in 1 Kings. And it's probably the case that the author is saying that what Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was to the north This is what Ahaz is to the south. And what is the result of Jeroboam the son of Nebat's religion? Well, chapter 17 is going to tell us.

It's utter destruction with reference to the northern kingdom. And so what our author is doing is foreshadowing for us that what's going to happen to Israel in chapter 17 isn't going to take long to happen in Judah, because Ahaz is functioning as a Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He's making, or he's preparing the offerings, he's preparing the sacrifices, he's going to the altar, and he is offering these things up to the Syrian gods. The king then, notice in verses 14 and 15, for a time you've got two altars.

You've got the new great altar, and you have the altar of the Lord. But slowly but surely, what happens to the altar of the Lord? It gets displaced. It gets further removed.

Matthew Henry says, his superstitious invention at first, this is his altar, his Syrian altar,

God's Altar Displaced

his superstitious invention at first jostled with God's sacred institution, but at length jostled it out. You see, this is always the calamity involved. Well, we're going to do this to enhance the worship of God. We're going to do this to help us worship God.

Before long, you got a, you know, a Metallica stage up there and the pulpits nowhere to be found. Well, we're going to get these guitars, and we're going to get these drums, and we're going to get these things, and they're going to assist us in our worship to the living God. And then instead of faithful proclamation of the Word of God taking the bulk of the service, you've got faithful riffing by some guitarist that's shredding. This is not good, brethren.

It jostles with, and then ultimately jostles it out. And then Matthew Henry makes this application. Note, those will soon come to make nothing of God that will not be content to make Him their all. You see, he puts this altar up, moves God's back, and eventually God's is, you know, off in the corner somewhere.

And what has center stage? This great altar that he has innovatively put in its place. The priest, again, verse 16, obeys men and not God. And then notice in verses 16, I'm sorry, verses 17 and 18.

Some of this is a bit difficult, but he removes the labors and the bulls, and this was most likely preferential. He didn't need money. Some again say he did this because he had to pay Tiglath-Pileser. He had to pay him off.

This stuff was bronze. He already paid off Tiglath-Pileser with gold and silver. He's not going to come up now with bronze to pay his debt. He does this out of preference.

He is remodeling the temple. He doesn't like what God instituted. He doesn't like what Solomon built. He doesn't want things the way that they are.

He wants to move these things out. Now, in verse 18, it says that he does this on account of the king of Assyria. And again, some interpret this and say, well, he only did all this in order to appease Tiglath-Pileser. No, I don't think so.

I think Proven is right on. Proven says it has been sometimes suggested that it was a matter of financial necessity. This verse 17, 18, this cutting off the panels of the cart, the removing of the labors from them, the taking down the sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, put in a pavement of stones. Some say this was for financial necessity.

Proven says no. There is certainly no evidence for this in the text. The gift described in verses 7 and 8 includes no bronze, and its giving obviously precedes in narrative time the actions of verse 17. He says, it is simply that travel has broadened Ahaz's mind.

Ahaz had become a man of the world now. He had gone to Damascus, he had seen the way that they worshipped, and he wanted that in Jerusalem. Now, I don't think the text is forbidding us trips to Mexico. It is forbidding us, however, co-opting the religion of pagans and bringing it into the house of God.

It's not wrong to go to Damascus necessarily, but it is wrong to bring their altar back and put it in the temple of Yahweh. It is wrong to go to Damascus and then come back and say, you know, I don't like what God instituted here. I don't like how God designed this. I don't like the way Solomon constructed this.

Let's do some rearranging. Ours is not to rearrange the house of God. Ours is simply to obey God. Ahaz is in very dangerous waters at this point.

He says, this is Proven again, he has gained some new ideas. You hear it, right? The pastor, the worship leader goes to this conference, he comes back and he says, you know, brethren, we've been doing this all wrong. We should move the pulpit to the side or, you know, better yet, just get rid of it, put an easy chair up, let our pastor sit there with his hands in his pocket and speak to us for 10 minutes and tell us nice stories.

And we'll fill the rest of the time with worship music and bands and singing and praise. I mean, on the one hand, there's nothing wrong with praise. Obviously, we should praise. It never ceases to amaze me that we can't praise God during preaching.

I like to think that when people hear a a good word, they're praising God. Their hearts are beating saying, thank you, God, for the fact that Jesus died for my sins. How is it that we can only praise with a tambourine in our hand? Can't we praise when it comes into the ear duct and goes into the heart, and we silently say, thank you, God, for saving a miserable sinner like me?

Why isn't that praise? Why doesn't that qualify? I have to lose my mind and bounce up and down for it to be legitimate praise? He goes on to say, only in the case of the last two innovations is it said that the motive was deference to or fear of the king of Assyria.

Again, there is no hint here of requirement. He doesn't do it because Tiglath-Pileser forced him, only of a desire to remove a possible source of offense. Ahaz is presented as a king who is open to foreign influence in his religious policy. He is not presented as one who is under foreign control.

So do not read this chapter and say, well, because of this So the relationship he enters into with Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria, well, he had to do these sorts of things. No. What does Hezekiah do? He resists Assyria.

He says no to Assyria. He just said no in verse 7 of chapter 18. I mean, the high point of this chapter is that Ahaz dies. That's the beauty of this chapter, is praise God Almighty the guy dies and that from his loins a decent human being is born.

Hezekiah wasn't perfect, Hezekiah wasn't Jesus, but Hezekiah instituted reform and Hezekiah resisted Assyria. So it's not the case that Ahaz here is forced. He's a man who's traveled. He's a man who's been enamored with the religion of Syria.

He has co-opted that. He has brought that back to Jerusalem, and he has innovated with reference to the worship of the living and true God.

Application and Conclusion

Well, in conclusion, I think we learn a couple of lessons, and then we'll close. The first is the apostasy of Ahaz, and there are several things that we ought to review and a few we ought to consider from chapter 28 in 2 Chronicles. First, the idolatry of verses 1 to 4 demonstrates a heart that is far from God. So by the time we get to his innovations with reference to worship in Jerusalem, we don't have to think that the king of Assyria forced him into this.

Here's a man who caused his children to pass through the fire to Molech in terms of child sacrifice. I mean, it's chump change for a guy like that to bring an altar from Syria and put it in the temple of the Lord. His idolatry in verses 1 to 4 demonstrates already a heart that is far from God. Secondly, his submission to Tiglath-Pileser shows a heart that does not believe God.

God promised to the kings of Judah His protection. God promised, specifically through Isaiah the prophet, His protection. And this man rejects that, which demonstrates that he does not believe God. He's got a fundamental problem with unbelief.

When you look at the sin of apostasy, these sorts of things are present. A heart far from God, and a heart that does not believe God. Thirdly, the innovation in worship indicates a heart that knows better than God. You see, this is where we need to tread very carefully when it comes to worship.

The Regulative Principle of Worship

This is why the Reformed Church is subscribed to what is called the regulative principle of worship. We do what God commands. We don't add to it, and we certainly don't take away from it. We don't get creative, we don't get innovative, we don't get stylistic or stylish, but rather we hopefully become obedient.

This is what God's looking for in worship. He's not looking for the best flags in that interpretive dance. He's not looking for the best drum solo on a Sunday morning. He's not looking for the guy that can shred on his Gibson.

He is looking for obedient people that worship Him in spirit and what? Truth. It's the truth that dictates, mandates, demands, and commands how we are to approach our God. And so all of the innovations that we want to introduce into worship are things that God has not commanded.

Now, fourthly, the conduct of Ahaz encouraged moral decline in Judah. 2 Chronicles 28, 19. tells us that the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. You see what happens? When a man rules a nation and he's a godless man, he's an idolatrous man, he's a wretched man, it causes this climate of moral decline in the entirety of the nation. No doubt the people follow his example.

No doubt the people then open themselves up to the very judgment and wrath and fury of God. Now notice, fifthly, the presence of distress, trial, difficulty, furthered his unfaithfulness. Notice in 2 Chronicles 28, 22. Now in the time of his distress, King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord.

This is that King Ahaz. Now this, I think, underscores a particular principle that we ought to pay attention to. What do trials and sorrows and difficulties and hardships in the Christian life do for us? They're supposed to further conform us unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

They're not supposed to drive us further from the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, our approach to trials, our approach to afflictions, our approach to distresses will be either we draw nigh unto God or we depart from God. We complain about him, we get angry at him, we say, why in the world would you do such a thing? In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord.

Now you read or you compare that or you contrast that with, say, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, when the apostle Paul went through a whole host of distresses, a whole host of trials, a whole host of sorrows, What did it do for him? It didn't cause increasing unfaithfulness, but rather increasing faithfulness on the part of the apostle. Our response to trials, they will either be a vehicle to draw us closer to God or to send us further from God. And then notice, paradoxically, Not paradoxically the statement, but paradoxically the verse.

My statement is this. The practice of idolatry brings ruin, not restoration. Notice verse 23. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, saying, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.

But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. So the practice of idolatry brings ruin, not restoration. That should be self-evident. You know, Psalm 115 says, Those who make idols become like them.

This is why Israel is upbraided, because they have ears that can't hear and eyes that can't see. Well, they've imbibed the very characteristics of their idols. The idols, according to Psalm 115, they have eyes, they can't see. They have ears, but they can't hear.

All those who make them, or all those who worship them, will become like them. But notice, intriguingly, he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, saying, because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them. Go back to 28.5. This is the paradox. the paradoxical thing that I mentioned.

Therefore, the Lord as God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. Isn't that interesting? He thought the gods of the Syrians defeated him. It was Yahweh who had defeated him by means of judgment.

And here he is ascribing this defeat that he suffers to the prowess of the gods of Syria. So he offers up sacrifices to them. The end of verse 23 says, but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. So the apostasy of Ahaz, I think has a lot of similarities. to the sorts of things that you and I might encounter in our daily lives.

And then secondly, we ought to at least appreciate, not like in a good way, but consider the weakness of Uriah. The weakness of Uriah.

The Weakness of Urijah

The church doesn't need spineless men. The church needs men with backbone that are going to stand up for what was right. The priest was responsible to obey God, not men. And his conduct here demonstrates that evil is advanced by weakness as much as by wickedness." That's what Davis says, and I heartily agree.

Now, perhaps Uriah was the kind of guy that didn't want to make waves. You know, Ahaz wants an altar, Ahaz gets an altar. I don't want to ruffle his feathers. I don't want to make him mad.

I mean, he's had a rough time. He's been in distress. The Syrians, the Israelites, Edomites, Philistines, I don't want to add to his burdens. I'll just do what he wants me to do and, you know, keep the peace.

Davis shares an interesting historical sort of story, not story like it's false, but historical illustration of Benjamin B.B. Warfield. You've probably heard of B.B. Warfield.

He wrote many, many good things and was a seminary professor. Well, Davis relates this story. He says, Benjamin Warfield once happened to meet Mrs. Stevenson, wife of the president of Princeton Seminary on a Princeton street.

Mrs. Stevenson was worried about the fireworks that might erupt at the upcoming Presbyterian General Assembly. Dr. Warfield, she pled, I hear there is going to be trouble at the General Assembly.

Do let us pray for peace. To which Warfield replied, I am praying that if they do not do what is right, there may be a mighty battle. And then Davis says, that must be our attitude. Not because we crave conflict, but because we fear spinelessness that shares in other men's sins.

Uriah is a wonderful example of the kind of whimpery and spinelessness that goes on all over the place today. Well, the state said we have to marry these sodomites. The government says they'll take away our tax exam status, and we can't infringe on the rights of others. If it's a violation of the word of God, we need to stand firm.

We don't need Urijahs, we need Benjamin Warfields. We need men that say, I am praying that if they do not do what is right, there may be a mighty battle. Praise God Almighty for Warfields and men like him. And then finally, I think as we leave this chapter, we ought to see something that I'm not sure is always so apparent to us.

The Appeal and Danger of Idolatry

There is something appealing about idolatry. I mean, why do people engage in idolatry? Because it feels good. Why do people engage in sin?

Because they want to and because they get something from it. Idolatry is a real temptation because it typically offers something that we want. Right? Ahaz wants relief from his present distress.

So what does he do? He runs to his idols. What does he do? He submits himself to a pagan king.

He thinks... Now, it's satanic rationale. I mean, idols aren't real to begin with. And the thought that they can bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places is an absolute lie.

But because man is what man is, we have a tendency or a propensity or a desire to follow that which does at least promise good things to us. In this instance, why wait for Yahweh when Tiglath-Pileser, when offered silver and gold, will deliver the goods right away? We need to remember that this is in fact a reality. This is why John tells us at the end of his first epistle, my little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Why do you think there's so many prohibitions against idolatry in the Bible? Because there's something in us that wants the idol. There's something in us that would much rather walk by sight and not by faith. It's difficult to live based on the promises of an unseen God.

It takes faith. Faithlessness craves immediate gratification. Faithlessness craves the comfort that is promised to them short term. Faithlessness craves the easiest way possible.

The faithful, however, rest upon their God. The faithful rest upon the living and true God, and they realize that He is for them, that He is working all things for their good, and they trust in Him, and they wait upon Him. We, unfortunately, I don't mean we, you guys are all just idolatries, but there is that tendency in our hearts to bend toward Baal. to bend toward Moloch, to bend toward Mammon, and we need to resist that and keep ourselves from idols. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these descriptions of these godless men in the Old Testament, and we see them in the New Testament as well, and forgive us if we miss the lessons, if we miss the teachings of passages like these. Help us to take heed, help us to guard our own hearts, help us to walk faithfully before You, trusting in Your promises, receiving and embracing Your Word, and not resisting and rejecting it. We ask that You would go with us, we pray that You'd bring us together on the Lord's Day, We pray that you would help us as a church to be obedient to you, and we pray through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Leviticus 18:21; 18:24-28
• Proverbs 14:34
• 1 Kings 15
• 2 Kings 8:18; 8:27; 15; 15:29; 15:37; 16; 16:5; 16:6; 16:7; 16:8; 16:9; 16:10; 16:12-13; 16:14-15; 16:16; 16:17-18; 16:18; 17; 18:7; 25
• 2 Chronicles 28:5; 28:19; 28:22; 28:23
• 2 Samuel 7:14
• Psalm 115:8
• Proverbs 14:34
• Isaiah 7:6
• Amos 1:5
• 2 Corinthians 11
• 1 John 5:21