2 Kings 16:15: You may not remember that there was a time when there were two altars at the temple in Jerusalem. It happened in the reign of King Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah. It was a terrible time in Judah. (16:7)
Here’s a brief account of what happened. Judah
was invaded by the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Syrians. The two kings could not overcome the defense
of Jerusalem but did take “Elath” on the Red Sea in the south of Judah (16:5-6). Ahaz was able to withstand the attack on
Jerusalem, but still the king made a terrible error. Instead of trusting in the Lord, he trusted in
the King of Assyria, taking the gold and silver from the temple as a present
for Tiglath-Pileser (16:7-8). The
Assyrians accepted the offer, taking the people of Syria captive and killing
the king of the NK (16:9).
To say thanks, Ahaz went to Damascus to
congratulate the Assyrian king and his army.
While there he saw the altar that the King of Assyria had built for his
god. This was not just a religious
move. It was an acknowledgment of the
greatness of his god, that the Assyrian god was greater than the Syrian
god. Ahaz was so impressed that he gave
a description of the altar to the priest back in Jerusalem, with instructions
to make one just like it and then put it alongside the bronze altar that was
already there (16:10-14). The
instructions as to the use of the two altars was given in 16:15. The new altar was for the daily offerings and
other sin offerings. But the original one
was to be used by the king to inquire of God.
I assume Ahaz thought this through. To some extent he was finding his hope of
salvation in the use of the new altar that had connections with the god(s) of
Assyria. Yet, when he needed direction,
he still wanted to seek the God of Israel.
In v18 there is evidence that he made other moves to satisfy (honor?)
the king of Assyria.
What we have is akin to the times of the
Judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Ahaz’s decisions had terrible
consequences. The worst thing was that he
turned away from God. Thus, the alliance
he made with the Assyrians turned out to be disastrous. The Assyrians would, of course, under the
successive kings Shalmaneser and Sennacherib, attack and disperse the NK, then
come down into Judah and wreak havoc in all the cities of Judah, destroying
cities, killing many people and taking many captives. Hezekiah’s faith in God would be the deliverance
of Jerusalem (2 Ki. 18-19).
I am sure there is a principle here. We have a saying, “flattery will get you
nowhere.” Actually, what we see here is
that flattery will only make matters worse.
Flattery is a lie, and is a form of pride, and pride goes before a
fall. Ahaz made Tiglath-Pileser his “lord”
when he said, “I am your servant and your son” (16:7). What the flattery did was take a kingdom that
was already on the rise, and give the king license and opportunity to establish
his authority in Judah’s part of the world.
There are many other stories of God’s people
and leaders making alliances with the godless or evil people around them. Ahaz had apparently not read, or did not care
about, the words of the prophets.
To King Asa: “Because you have relied on the LORD your God
therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.” (2
Chron. 16:7)
To Jehoshaphat: “Should you help the wicked and love those
who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath
of the LORD is upon you.” (2 Chron. 19:2)
Later prophets said the same:
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on
horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because
they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek
the LORD!” (Isaiah 31:1)
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his
strength whose heart departs from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
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