October Reading from The Message
“What’s the latest and greatest?” That’s a question that drives our society and leaves us on a hunt for satisfaction. But is newer actually better? In 2 Kings chapter 17, we see the danger that comes from fixating on what’s trending, especially when it comes to our relationship with God. Ahaz, King of Judah, did not want to wait on God, instead taking matters into his own hands to ally himself with the Assyrians and enrich himself in the process. His son Hezekiah would spend a lifetime trying to undo the damage from his actions.
Ahaz, King of Judah, sent envoys to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria with this message: “I’m your servant and your son. Come and save me from the heavy-handed invasion of the king of Aram and the king of Israel. They’re attacking me right now.” Then Ahaz robbed the treasuries of the palace and The Temple of God of their gold and silver and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.
The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. He deported the people to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed.
King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing and set of blueprints of the altar. Uriah the priest built the altar to the specifications that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. By the time the king returned from Damascus, Uriah had completed the altar.
The minute the king saw the altar he approached it with reverence and arranged a service of worship with a full course of offerings: Whole-Burnt-Offerings with billows of smoke, Grain-Offerings, libations of Drink-Offerings, the sprinkling of blood from the Peace-Offerings—the works. But the old bronze Altar that signaled the presence of God he displaced from its central place and pushed it off to the side of his new altar.
Then King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest: “From now on offer all the sacrifices on the new altar, the great altar: morning Whole-Burnt-Offerings, evening Grain-Offerings, the king’s Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, the people’s Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, and also their Drink-Offerings. Splash all the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices against this altar. The old bronze Altar will be for my personal use.”
The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz’s orders to the letter. Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its bronze. He stripped the bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen that supported the huge basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement. Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.
The rest of the life and times of Ahaz is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah became the next king.
Scripture Insight
Tempted by Religious Trendsetting
If Assyria was the strongest, most respected, most extensive world power, the Assyrian religion must have been the strongest, most respected, most extensive religion; coming to that conclusion, King Ahaz had his servants copy the dimensions of the Assyrian altar and take the blueprints back to the high priest in Jerusalem in order to make a replica.
The obvious thing Ahaz did was change his religious loyalty. He pushed aside the traditional worship of the Lord, who had revealed himself to Israel, and replaced it with something trendier—something that granted power, prestige, and prosperity to its worshipers.
The not-so-obvious thing Ahaz did was become not less religious but more religious. You see, the Assyrian altar didn’t represent atheism; it represented activity. Religious activity. It revealed Ahab’s compulsive desire to have the best religion, the most faith—and to be a trendsetter rather than a traditionalist.
If you’re committed to a religious life, you’ll always be tempted by the Assyrian altar. When nothing seems to be working in your life, the temptation is to go looking for something that does. When failure comes, the temptation is to find some formula for success, wherever it may be. Newer is better, or so it seems. You and I are susceptible to that kind of temptation because we live in a consumer society that’s used to having products superseded by newer and more advanced versions, making last year’s models obsolete. The carryover into our lives with God is obvious. Instead of looking to God’s ancient wisdom, we search for contemporary wisdom. More updated solutions. In short, we look to the altar in Assyria.
8 Lesson Bible Study on How God Meets Us
God hasn’t abandoned us, God is with us! The Advent season celebrates Jesus, who is the living Word of God, moving into the neighborhood, joining us in life. Each lesson in Incarnation guides you through a specific passage of Scripture, using the down-to-earth language of The Message, and takes you on a journey of anticipating and celebrating God’s presence as it transforms us and our neighborhoods.
