Title: God's Path of Love
2 Kings (37) God's continued love path
(2 Kings 16:1-9)
< The 3rd Evil of Ahaz, the 12th King of the South >
After Israel was divided into north and south, northern Israel was founded by nine dynasties and 19 kings passed through through numerous rebellions that killed the king. On the other hand, Judah in the south had several rebellions that killed the king, but the dynasty continued as a descendant of David, and 20 kings passed through it. The 7th king, Ahab, had the most evil influence in northern Israel, and the 12th king, Ahaz, had the most evil influence in the southern Judah. In the text, there are three major mistakes that Ahaz committed. What is it?
1. Promoted Mixed Religions
Beb In the 17th year of Pekah son of Remaliah, the 18th king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became the 12th king of Judah in the south (verse 1). Ahaz became king at the age of 20 and reigned for 16 years, but he did not do what was right in the sight of God like his father David (verse 2). So, like many kings of Israel, he made his son pass through the fire according to the abominations of the Gentiles (verse 3). The expression “to make his son pass through the midst of the fire” in this verse means “to burn his son and offer it up as a burnt offering.” However, the Bible strictly warns against the practice of sacrificing children according to the religious rituals of Gentiles.
Also, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places and on the hillside and under every green tree (verse 4). At that time, people with shamanic beliefs held religious ceremonies on the mountain to bring them closer to the gods, and sacrifices were held under the lush green trees to create a sense of mystery. In the time of Ahaz, such pagan and shamanic high-place sacrifices were prevalent, and even at the end of his reign, the temple apparatuses were destroyed and the temple was closed (2 Chronicles 28:24).
2. Relying on foreign powers to attract
One day, Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they were not defeated (verse 5). At that time, when Rezin king of Syria conquered Elath and drove out the Jews, the Arameans came to live in Elath (verse 6). The loss of the port of Elath, an important economic and military base, was a great loss for Judah, so Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to humiliate him. “I am the king’s servant and the king’s son. Now the king of Syria and the king of Israel have struck me. Come up, please, and save me from his hand” (verse 7).
In Isaiah 7, at that time, Isaiah told Ahaz that the real enemy was Assyria, and sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, sternly warning him not to form an alliance. At that time, Assyria expanded its power and became a great threat to neighboring countries. Isaiah warned that if an alliance with Assyria was made, Judah would eventually become subordinate to Assyria. In fact, from then on, Judah began to become subordinate to Assyria. Relying on and attracting foreign powers for the survival of one's own country is ultimately the path to defeat.
3. Abuse of God's Material
At that time, Ahaz not only humiliated himself, saying, “I am the king’s servant and the king’s son.” He even took silver and gold from the temple and the royal treasury and sent it to the king of Assyria as a gift (verse 8). It was also wrong for him to bribe the king of Assyria, but his act of bribing with temple treasures was the greatest of all. Such disrespect for the temple and misuse of God's material calls for God's wrath and judgment.
In the end, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria heard Ahaz's request and went up right away, took Damascus, carried the people captive, and carried them to Gir, and killed Rezin king of Syria, and Syria disappeared from history (verse 9). That was 732 B.C., 10 years before Northern Israel was destroyed by Assyria. Looking at this scene alone, it seems that Tiglath-pileser helped Judah, but he used Ahaz's request for salvation as a means and opportunity to fulfill his ambition to advance to the West, and in the end attacked Ahasah (2 Chronicles 28:20). At that time, how much would Ahasa regret his misjudgment that brought in foreign powers?
< God's Continuing Love >
There is a saying that the shrimp will burst in a whale fight. Without strength, you can suffer from the battles of powerful powers. Israel often struggled for survival by sticking to one side or another in accordance with the international situation as the shrimp exploded in the whale fight between the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. How self-deprecating is that? Then, in the end, it was defeated. If you don't have the strength, you'll eventually get hit. You need to build strength. However, do not rely on strength alone. The more difficult it is, the more you need to depend on God and pray to God.
In Isaiah 7, Ahaz's biggest problem was that he was exhausted after working hard without praying. At that time, Ahaz was trying to solve all the problems on his own ahead of the mass problem. At that time, Isaiah went out to the main road of the launderer's field at the end of the upper pool and met Ahaz (Isa 7:3). Likewise, Ahaz did not trust others, did not trust God, and tried to work alone.
There are people who fall into severe self-blame if they do not succeed. So, like Ahaz, I think that if I work at least 20 hours a day and barely slept all week, things will go well. Then you will eventually burn out. If you think that you have to do both success and revival and put too much pressure on yourself, you will become spiritually exhausted and lose the strength to pray. You must work hard, but leave the results to God and learn how to rest.
When a person is spiritually exhausted, he is spiritually abusive, emotionally wounded, impatient, dealing with bad things, and eventually falls into deeper frustration. Why did King Ahaz perform child sacrifices? Because the soul is exhausted, reason, common sense, and morality have been lost. He even sacrificed his own son. Because I was too exhausted spiritually, I gave up my faith, turned away from the Word, and went to a catastrophic situation. Such loss of the strength to pray leads to a state of out of control and loss of common sense and morality.
The situation at Ahaz was so grim. But then, God gave the words of Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” ‘Immanuel’ in this verse means “God is with us.” We lost all our dreams and were so exhausted that we couldn't even pray, but even then, God is still with us.
The appearance of the baby Jesus born in the stable is like this silent cry. “Wait! It's not over yet. God is still with us.” Even in a situation where there seems to be no hope at all, God will open a new way. Sometimes, when we are so exhausted that we want to run away from God, God will be with us in His Holy Spirit just as He gave Emmanuel Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago at that very moment. Be blessed spirits who believe in God's continued love and walk and create hope even in desperate situations.