Welcome to Week Two of our study from the book of Isaiah. This week we’re looking at the life of a man named Ahaz. He was Uzziah’s grandson and had become the king of Judah. All was not well in the kingdom of Judah during Ahaz’s reign, because unlike his grandfather, Ahaz was a wicked king who led the people into all manner of sinful practices.
Because of Ahaz’s wickedness, God had given Judah into the hands of Syria and Israel, but they had been unsuccessful in taking Jerusalem and thus conquering Judah completely. The account from the book of Isaiah begins with these two kings coming to besiege Jerusalem. Ahaz gets a visit from Isaiah and an encouragement straight from the Lord. How Ahaz chooses to respond gives us a potent illustration of what happens when we choose to put our trust in men instead of God. This week’s study is full of somber warnings. Let’s get started.
Index to Days 2 through 5
Day 1
FAITH OVER FEAR
Observe
Things start off already in crisis mode, with the kings of Syria and Israel coming to besiege Jerusalem. (Because of Ahaz’s wickedness, God had already given Judah into the hands of Syria and Israel, but they had been unsuccessful in taking Jerusalem and thus conquering Judah completely.) God sends Isaiah to meet Ahaz and give him a message from the Lord.
Isaiah 7:1-9
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3 And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord God:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
8
For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
Ephesians 6:10-18a
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
The Lord’s message to Ahaz was an emphatic exhortation to faith over fear. A verb commanding attention in verse 4 (“be careful”) is followed by three others counseling trust instead of fear. God’s description of the two enemy kings (“smoldering stumps of firebrands”) reinforces that Ahaz has nothing to fear. God would protect Jerusalem. Verse 1 tells us the invading kings could not mount an attack against Jerusalem. Although we’re not told why, verse 6 suggests the invaders plan involved bluffing (“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it”). Isaiah ends the Lord’s message with a somber warning: if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.
- How has your faith helped you stand firm and resist fear?
- Can the practice of faith over fear be carried to an irrational level?
Heavenly Father, even though I choose to have faith, still fear grows in my heart. It’s a disconnect between what I know and choose to believe, and what my emotions seem to do on their own. Be with me, Lord, at those times when fear seems about to overwhelm me. Instead, let me feel your hand upon me, so I can stand strong. For you are my strength and you are always with me. Amen.
Day 2
CHOOSING HUMANS
Observe
Our passage from 2 Chronicles records how Ahaz, after suffering defeat against Syria and Israel, reaches out to the king of Assyria for help. Despite Ahaz emptying a portion of the treasury (both the kingdom’s and the house of the Lord), Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, exploits Ahaz instead of strengthening him.
2 Chronicles 28:16-21
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. 20 So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21 For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Romans 8:31-32
God’s Everlasting Love
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Historians record this conflict was during the time of the Syro-Ephraimitic War, in which Syria and Israel fought against the Assyrians. They wanted Judah to join them, but Ahaz refused, and their attacks against Judah were a combination of wanting to protect themselves against Judah and wanting to force Judah to join them. Ahaz not only turned his back on the Lord’s promise of protection, he turned to the Assyrian king for help. This one-sided relationship didn’t go well for Ahaz, as the more powerful king Tiglath-pileser was happy to accept Ahaz’s tribute without lifting a finger to help him.
- Why do you think people choose human relationships over a relationship with God?
- God is infinitely more powerful than we are, so why is a relationship with him not one-sided?
Dear Lord, you are omnipotent, nothing is too hard for you. Your hand is mighty. You can create worlds with a word and send them to their place with a thought. Yet you are gentle with us, kind and loving, caring for us like a shepherd cares for the flock, giving us everything we need. Thank you for your grace that is beyond all measure. Amen.
Day 3
GOD ON OUR TERMS
Observe
The account of Ahaz from 2 Kings 16 covers the same time period, but from a slightly different perspective than 2 Chronicles 28. Although Ahaz had godly examples to follow (it mentions David, and even his father and grandfather were described as doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord), it’s clear that Ahaz wants to fit in with the pagan practices of the world around him.
2 Kings 16:1-4
Ahaz Reigns in Judah
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, 3 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
Isaiah 29:13-14
13
And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14
therefore, behold, I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
It’s interesting to note that “he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” and “he walked in the way of the kings of Israel” are synonymous with one another. Israel set the gold standard for wicked kings, it seems! Here we see just how far Ahaz had gone in his pagan practices, verse 3 says that he burned his own son as a sacrifice. The account in 2 Chronicles 28 tells us it was more than one son. Sacrifices to the Lord were to be made in the temple, so Ahaz making sacrifices in all these different places would mean these are probably sacrifices to pagan deities. Ahaz wanted gods he could predict and control, who would work for him. He wanted God on his terms.
- Perhaps we’re not as blatant as Ahaz, but in what ways can we also be guilty of wanting God only on our terms?
- What do you think it means for our relationship with God to be on his terms?
Heavenly Father, forgive me for any times that I may have approached you insincerely. I know at times my reverence for you becomes just a ritual because I am consumed with my own needs and desires. Yet I also know your glory is beyond any words to describe it. May I always keep that as my first thought when I approach you. Amen.
Day 4
SEEMS LIKE IT’S WORKING
Observe
Ahaz grovels before Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, and sends him tribute. This time, the Assyrians march into Damascus and kill the king of Syria.
2 Kings 16:5-9
5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.
Psalm 73
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of Asaph.
1
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4
For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14
For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15
If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18
Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23
Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
Back in the days of analog clocks, there was a useful saying: “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” Someone who is turning away from the Lord and seeking solutions to their problems from other people can be successful—in the short term. When Tiglath-pileser killed king Rezin of Syria, Ahaz had to be thinking things were starting to turn his way. However, there is only one king that rules forever and one day we will be judged by him.
- From our related verses, what distressed the writer of Psalm 73?
- What did the Lord reveal to him in the end?
Lord, it is hard to be patient when I see all that goes on in the world around me. People’s inhumanity toward their fellow human beings. Those who deny you, even mock your name, seem to prosper while your children suffer both here and around the world. But you let me come near to you, Lord. Because of you, life has meaning, and you give purpose to my days. For now, that is enough. The day is coming when your justice will make all things right. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen.
Day 5
THE LONG TERM EFFECTS
Observe
Ahaz visits his patron in Damascus and there becomes enamored with a Damascene altar.
2 Kings 16:10-17
10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13 and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
17 And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Godlessness in the Last Days
3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
The construction of the Temple and everything in it (including the altar!) was done according to very specific instructions from God. In 2 Chronicles 28, we’re told Ahaz chose to sacrifice to the gods of Damascus because “they defeated him.” He believed those pagan gods had defeated the God of Israel. He winds up grievously offending the Lord on two points. First, he commands sacrifices be made to the Lord upon the pagan Damascene altar. Second, he instructs that the bronze altar of the Lord be pushed aside so he might use it for his “inquiries” (that is, his pagan divinations). What began with Ahaz turning from God and looking to earthly powers for help winds up with Ahaz brazenly and pointedly provoking the Lord.
- When someone turns from the Lord and follows the path of human wisdom, it always seems to lead to a growing animosity toward God on their part. Why do you think that happens?
- Despite all that wickedness and foolishness of Ahaz, he is mentioned in the book of Matthew as part of the lineage of Jesus. What does that mean to you?
Heavenly Father, sometimes it feels like my ears are constantly filled with voices that try to distract me from you. Keep me from becoming fascinated by the newest, shiniest things. I know that walking with you and keeping the things you have commanded me to do is the safest and best place for me to be. Even if I wander, Lord, you are still my rock and my redeemer. Amen.