Thursday, February 4, 2016

II Kings 16: Who Do You Want To Be Like?

God's people often get in trouble when they decide to imitate someone or something in the world rather than the model that the Lord has provided.  Ahaz had a couple of major stumblings in this area.

The Bible says that Ahaz "walked in the way of the kings of Israel" (vs. 3).  Rather than following in the footsteps of his father Jotham or grandfather Azariah, or his more distant ancestors David and Solomon, Ahaz copied the idolatrous practices of the nations that Israel had driven out, as well as the pagan worship of the powerful Assyrian Empire.

For instance, Ahaz offered human sacrifice, passing his own son "through the fire" to the god Moloch (vs. 3).  This detestable practice was one of the reasons that the Lord wanted to drive the Canaanites out from before His people!  Ahaz, however, adopted these evil rituals for himself.  He also "sacrificed and made offerings on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree" (vs. 4). This was always condemned by God as a form of idolatry.

When Ahaz was summoned to Damascus to meet his protector King Tiglath-pileser of the Assyrians, he was so impressed by an altar he saw there that he sent plans for a replica to the priest Uriah in Jerusalem (vs. 11).  Uriah followed the orders of the king in replacing the bronze altar of the temple with Ahaz's preferred version.  Nowhere in this chapter does it say that God led the people in making this change.  Instead, Ahaz took it upon himself to make the worship of Judah more like her pagan neighbors.

When it comes to asking who we want to be like, our answer should always be to be more like Christ.  Jesus is our pattern, our example, our model.  Asking WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) isn't simply an outdated fad - it should be our standard operating procedure all the time!

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