Continuing from last week, the story of King Ahaz, who was not like David, is recorded in all 16 chapters.The reason God recorded the story of Ahaz, who was not like David, is because we are so much like Ahaz. Today, lets look at what happens when we fear the king of Assyria.
First, the altar is brought in.
King Ahaz had bribed the king of Assyria for help against an attack by Northern Israel and its Aramean allies, and he had conquered and destroyed the Aramean capital of Damascus.Ahaz wanted to look good to the king of Assyria now that the troublesome Aram had been destroyed, so he traveled to Damascus to thank him.
He travels to Damascus, and his jaw drops when he sees the magnificent, ornate altar in the center of the city. He immediately sends the plans for its shape, structural details, and materials back to Jerusalem and has the priest Uriah replicate it. The failure of previous kings to abolish the altar has become so commonplace that its become a commonplace of evil, and Ahaz guiltlessly brings it into the city and sacrifices on it himself. Ahazs bringing in of the altar was not a sudden occurrence, but an outburst of the greed he had been building up all along. We, too, are tempted to bring in altars that we envy, covet, admire, and are jealous of, because we are still afraid of Assyria, the king of the world.
Second, he moves his seat in front of Jehovah.
Now that Ahaz had a new altar in the temple in Jerusalem that was a replica of the Assyrian altar, the brass altar in front of the LORDs temple looked too geologic.The comparison would have been even more stark with the 230-year-old old altar next to the big, colorful, and refined new Assyrian altar. So Ahaz moved the brass altar away from its place in front of the LORD. It was useless, but he didnt want to throw it away. This is the idea of moving the QT marks before the LORD, because if you throw them away, you will be punished unnecessarily, and you dont want to do it.
We have a temple, intangible and tangible, and it is worship that I take up the cross for in my life. But Uriah, the priest, cannot refuse to move the temple, but rather compromises and brings in the ways of the world, putting the king of Assyria over God. Ahazs greatest evil is bringing in the Assyrian altar in hindsight, what a blessing it was that Uzziah was struck with leprosy.Ahaz is bold in his sin because there is no immediate discipline. He scoops up more water and removes the waterpots on either side of the temple and places them elsewhere.The troughs symbolize the people as a whole coming to the place of worship with a holy heart to wash themselves, repent, and come to the place of worship, so he removes them and leaves them on the stone tablets. Again, Ahaz disrupts the spiritual order by moving, changing, and removing what God has placed there for a specific purpose.
The altar service is a self-serving service, and we as believers need to look at exactly who our zeal for God is really for. You fear and serve the king of the world, Assyria, more than you do God, so youre moving the worlds standard and changing its appointed place. Youre not supposed to move your place before God.You must keep your place before God until God moves it. This is the life of fearing God and loving the Lord.
I hope that in 2025, you will be able to keep your place in the mission that God has established for us until the end and bear much fruit between the spirit and the flesh. In particular, I hope that all the members of Gwangju Chapel, which is starting anew, will humbly and silently fulfill their mission.
Third, we give up the Lords day.
Verse 18 says that all of this happened out of fear of the king of Assyria.Ahaz moved two other sacrifices for Sabbath use: the covered passage into and out of the temple for Sabbath worship and the special passage for the king. The king of Assyria saw the special passage to the LORDs temple and took it away from the temple.When we stop living before God and leave Him, it seems like freedom will come, but like Ahaz, we end up living under the watchful eye of the king of the world, Assyria. Fearing worldly power, money, honor, and the pleasures of success, we end up living as slaves to the Assyrians. And when King Ahaz brings in an Assyrian altar to serve him and moves the temple, there is no priest to tell him no.
Why is it important to keep the Lords Day holy? Because its a 'command of God,' which is also found in the Ten Commandments. And because God created the world and rested, we, as copycats, should take one day out of seven to remember and worship our Creator. And because God delivered us from Egypt
we should set aside the Sabbath as holy to remember when we were slaves in Egypt.Because we humans are made in the image of God, we have a mission to show God to others.
The cutie and the ranch preaching worship and sharing are all pathways, wastes, that connect us to the temple.
Ahaz ascended to the throne at a young age, reigned for 16 years, and left his son with a lot of trash to clean up. In 2 Chronicles 28:22, King Ahaz sinned even more in his time of need, sacrificing to the gods of Damascus and fighting with all the nations next door. But his son Hezekiah, who was considered the most virtuous of kings, became king. This shows that Jehovahs zeal and will to fulfill the Davidic covenant cannot be thwarted by human actions. If we are Gods elect, we can trust that God will remain faithful to us, no matter what difficult circumstances we face.
When you fear the king of Assyria, you bring in all of its forms and structures when you study the ways of the world, you shuffle your place before the Lord when you grow distant from God, you give up the Lords Supper.
Yet, today, the Davidic dynasty continues. I believe that no matter what misfortune and unbelievable visions, the Davidic dynasty will continue for those who hear today.
