The main character in todays passage is King Ahaz, whose life can be summarized as 'not like David'. Hes a great example of what we shouldnt be like. Today, lets take a look at the text to see how we should orient ourselves in the year 2025. Heres what a life not like David looks like.
First, it upsets the spiritual order.
His father Jotham had walked uprightly in the sight of God, but Ahaz walked in the way of the kings of Israel and did an abomination: he offered human sacrifices, passing his own son through the fire. Ahaz had a huge inferiority complex and a sense of victimization, which is what happens when someone like this is given power. He also revived idolatry by sacrificing in the high places and on every green tree. He put himself above God, which is the result of pride. If you think about the environment Ahaz grew up in, he grew up in the wealthy environment that his father Jotham had built, and he never went into the temple. Because of this, he never learned to worship God. So the best environment we need for our children is an environment where they worship God. The parents must worship themselves. The cause of Ahazs distorted spiritual order lies with Jotham, who did not enter the temple. By sacrificing his child to an idol, Ahaz is doing it for his own throne, which is ultimately for my sake, and by sacrificing to an idol, I am allowing him to pass through the fire for my own security, for my own position in life.
Second, you dont win, you lose.
Elath symbolizes the restoration and prosperity of Uzziahs time, and it is lost before it is even fifty years old. In the time of Ahaz, Jerusalem faces its greatest crisis when it is besieged, not just besieged, but there is a great slaughter, 120,000 people are killed, 200,000 are taken to Samaria in northern Israel. Ahaz, whose worship is missing, eventually loses it all, one by one. He may have all the world, but he will not prevail because he does not walk uprightly in the sight of the Lord, because he is not like David. In fact, what makes a David a David is not the outward appearance, but the center. It is repentance, turning to God. After the Bathsheba incident, when David heard the prophet Nathans rebuke, he was an invincible king. He could have turned a deaf ear, he could have kicked Nathan out and arrested him, but he repented in a watershed moment, saying that he had sinned against Jehovah. Thats the upright way, the honest way, the straight way, the true way, and Ahaz completely twisted this spiritual order and put himself in the place of God. May the 2025 slogan, 'Turn and live,' be true for all of us, in every home, in every ranch, in every church. The only way to live in a situation that looks like death is to meet the Lord, but to do that we must make the choice to hear the Word, which is repentance.
Third, seek solutions rather than interpretations.
When King Ahaz was attacked by the king of Aram and the king of Israel, he bribed the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser with an offering of the royal palace and temple, asking for deliverance. This shows how lightly Ahaz, a descendant of David, regarded God and how much he feared Assyria more than God. After taking Ahazs bribe, the Assyrian king attacked Aram, captured Damascus, and killed Rehoboam, the king of Aram. But after taking the bribe and attacking Aram and winning, the Assyrians had a change of heart. They thought they should take Judah as well, so they sent their army south and attacked Jerusalem. Ahazs expectation that bribes would buy Assyria was wrong. You should know that the moment you give a bribe, you become an 'e.' You should always be honest, but because you twist and turn like this, you get dragged along. You should always be greedless and live by principle. In Isaiah 7, before Jerusalem is attacked by the allies of Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Aram, God, through the prophet Isaiah, tells Ahaz not to be afraid and not to lose heart. God says that the event of the enemies coming in with great force is not an event of destruction, but an event of salvation. He tells them not to be afraid, but to repent and turn quickly. In this way, God doesnt just give the elect events, but always the Word. The very fact that we dont let go of the Bible and continue to meditate on it every day as a cutie is proof that we are Gods elect. Our salvation is not at the level of problem solving our life is a series of problems until we die. If our values dont change, no amount of money will solve them. You have to interpret your life with the Word, and Ahaz doesnt listen to this interpretation that Oded of northern Israel brings him, and he doesnt listen to Isaiah the prophet when hes right in front of him, and he just tries to solve the crisis and the problem thats right in front of him, and so he robs the temple of all its offerings and gives it to the king of Assyria, and he becomes a vassal, a slave, and yet later on, this most evil king is in the genealogy of Jesus, so youre not saved by works. Folks, problems are given to us to interpret, not to solve. God doesnt think that much of us. When He gives us a problem, He also gives us an answer. We only need to write as little as the Word tells us, and that is interpretation.
This is a community sharing from a small group in Gwangju. A sister said that her husbands infidelity and her sons difficult adolescence caused her to divorce and remarry. When her husbands infidelity happened, she thought she had gone to the end of the world, and her heart hurt like blood was flowing from a hole. She was emotionally abusive to her son, telling him how hard it was for him because of his dad, and he would always comfort her by saying, 'Mom, you have me.' But when he hit puberty and had an ego, he would curse at me and ask me what I did for him, just like he did for my husband, and he couldnt express that he liked his dad because his mom hated him, and he realized that this was real abuse and repented.
As we begin a new year, may we be the kind of people who seek first to interpret the Word, not the kind of people who seek only solutions. May we be like David and enjoy the Beatitudes in abundance this year.
