Year 2, Day 14: 2 Kings 16

Ahaz – The Beginning of the End

Today we meet Ahaz in Judah and we see the beginning of the downward spiral in Judah.  Ahaz does not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Ahaz does despicable things – especially with respect to the practices of the Canaanites who were in the land before God brought His people into the land.  In fact, we even hear that Ahaz sacrificed his own son on the altar – a far cry from the father of his people, Abraham, who trusted in God to provide the sacrifice!  As we have seen in Israel, when the leadership falls away, the decline of the people is sure to happen unchecked.

Then we have the story about Syria and Israel coming up to wage war against Ahaz in Judah.  It seems as though Ahaz does the opposite of Pekah in that he goes to Assyria and asks for help.  Yesterday I griped about Pekah going against God’s will, so surely today I should support Ahaz, right?

No.  Doing the opposite of a wrong action does not always make a righteous action.  In fact, I would seldom say that doing the opposite of a wrong action turns out to be a right action.  Yesterday I commented that Pekah is resisting Assyria and that Assyrian was the agent of God’s correction so therefore Pekah is going against God.  One might think that embracing Assyria (as Ahaz appears to be doing) would therefore be right.  Again, though, let me reiterate: no.

Assyria was God’s choice to bring the Israelites into captivity, not Judah.  Assyria was God’s agent against Israel.  Up until now, the kings of Judah had been doing an alright job in leading the people and God’s anger was not burning against the people as was His anger burning against Israel.  So Ahaz is not embracing God’s plan, Ahaz is actually refusing to believe in God by embracing something that is not God’s plan!

Let me explain this a little more fully.  In Isaiah 7:1-9 we hear about a message the Lord gives to Isaiah as Israel and Syria come to battle against Judah.  God tells Isaiah to go before Ahaz and tell him to not fear these two nations.  God tells Ahaz that God will deliver them.  But what does Ahaz do?  Ahaz goes and makes a treaty with Assyria.  Ahaz puts more faith in the help of another nation than he puts in God.  Is there any wonder that between this and the sacrifice of his son that God has an issue with Ahaz?

By struggling against Assyria in the last chapter, Pekah was struggling against God’s plan for Israel.  By embracing Assyria, Ahaz was struggling against God’s plan for Judah.  Now while it might sound like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth, there is a very good reason I have spent all this time unpacking this thought.  It is important that we as human beings do not assume that the opposite of an evil act is good.  As we see in the actions of these kings, the opposite of an evil act my actually be yet another evil act!

We can learn a tremendously important lesson here: the only act that is good is an act that is in line with God’s will.  Let’s look at the prior examples in this light.

• Pekah should have humbled himself to God and asked God what was His will for Israel.  He would have discovered that God desired Israel to learn about polytheism under the thumb of Assyria so that they might appreciate the monotheistic faith of the Hebrew people (of course, among a bunch of other lessons).
• Ahaz should have humbled himself to God and asked God what was His will for Judah.  He would have discovered that God wanted Judah to again see God’s power and specifically God wanted to teach Ahaz the importance of depending on God.

Since neither man humbles himself before God, their actions are unjust.  Their actions are polar opposite from each other, but one is just as evil as the other.  Neither man leads in a way that pursues God’s desires; therefore both men are guilty of doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.  This is a huge lesson for us to learn today.  The only good act is an act that is based upon God’s will.

What is the end of this for Ahaz?  As Ahaz relies upon the strength of other men, he also learns the worship of other men.  He begins to duplicate what he sees in Damascus.  He misses an opportunity to see the greatness of the Lord and He falls further away from God.  So it is with people who step out on their own understanding and don’t stop to check with God’s will.

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