I cannot imagine the troubles and trials that were avoided because of the prayers of my Grandma Kellerby who prayed daily for me.  I admired her wisdom in asking for God’s protection over me. Did she know something my driving capabilities? Probably. As an eighteen-year-old who commuted 45 minutes from home daily to the university of choice to become a teacher, while holding down a part time job, I took risks in driving too fast down backroads to avoid the traffic so I could get there in 30 minutes or less!  I confess this sin to all who think righteousness ends when we get behind the wheel of our vehicles. At that time in my life, leaving all that I knew was right and good for me and others on the road did not stop me for the thrill of making it to school in record time!  These are thoughts of the young and foolhardy.

On my way to school, I saw more than one person fail to negotiate the infamous curve on this country road and end up in the ditch in front of a farmhouse. I guess they didn’t have a prayer warrior speaking to God on their behalf! Something within me told me to slow down for that obstacle!  Mm.  Seriously though, we need the wisdom of those who love us to intervene in prayer for us until we have the wisdom to pray asking for protection, wisdom, and guidance ourselves with a humbled trusting and obedient heart—not as one who will do anything to beat our previous times of arrival at our destination!  Do not test the Lord, Your God!

We begin our study today with the foolhardy activities of King Ahaz.  He not only “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” but pushed the limits of how many ways he could sin against God and his own family!  How low into the disgusting ways of sin does he go?  Friends, the king sacrificed his own children to gods of evil! 

Our sin separates us from God who is perfect and holy and without sin. God, by His nature and character will not occupy the same space as sin. God will not abide in people who knowingly sin against Him. People who sin, therefore, forfeit His protection.  

King Ahaz chose sins of evil over and against God.  Because of this; he no longer has God’s Hand of protection over him and the people who sin with him. God’s love, compassion, provision, and protection is still within reach; but the king refused God.  It was the King and the people who left God and moved out from underneath the shadow of his wings of protection!  The young king’s rebellion against God will come at great cost.  King Ahaz’s forefather, King David, a man after the heart of God, writes;

“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”—King David, Psalm 36:5-7, NLT

King Ahaz refuses God and all His benefits.  Here’s what happened when he did…

2 Chronicles 28

Ahaz King of Judah

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. ² He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. ³ He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.

⁵ Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus.

He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him. ⁶ In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁷ Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king. ⁸ The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.

⁹ But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.”

¹² Then some of the leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—confronted those who were arriving from the war. ¹³ “You must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”

¹⁴ So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly. ¹⁵ The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners, ¹⁸ while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. ¹⁹ The Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. ²¹ Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.

²² In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.

²⁴ Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The other events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Sins gives birth to more sin.  Sin compounds sin.  Sin exponentially produces more ways to sin.  I think we get the picture, so I’ll stop. After reading this passage, you might be thinking like me, is there anyone in Judah who is committed to God and still worships Him alone? 

Ahaz was the son of Jotham, a good king, and the father of Hezekiah, a very good king. Ahaz, however, was not a godly man or even a good man. King Ahaz’s sins against God were far reaching!  He took all the sins of all the enemy nations around him and multiplied them!  Instead of discovering and doing the will of God, Ahaz imitated the wicked kings of Israel and even the pagan practices of Assyria. He even adopted the horrible worship practices of the pagans and sacrificed his sons to a pagan gods such as Baal or Molech. Of course, this practice was clearly prohibited in the Law God gave to Moses and His people! See Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 18:10. Sinning was the kings decision.  Imagine the Enemy of God standing by proudly as the King self-destructs in front of him without God’s protection.  But God still loves His people…that has not changed in this story of rebellion.

The Lord raised up a prophet named Obed in Israel who brought to light their own sins against God and reminded them that Judah and Israel were part of the same family!  Making slaves of their own brothers and sisters was indeed against the Law of God.  Remarkably the leaders of Israel listened and accepted God’s message!  They repented and immediately changed their treatment of the prisoners. They clothed and took care of their injuries before returning them back to their homes!  They were the first “Good Samaritans!”

The greatest sin of King Ahaz was to look for help in all the wrong places and put his faith in all the wrong people.  Imitating evil as demonstrated by the aggressive Assyrians led to his downfall. The King, like us today, had two choices in life—he chose to be without protection of God. What is our response?

WITHOUT PROTECTION—To follow evil and be consumed with committing the sins of darkness which eventually leads to death

WITH DIVINE PROTECTION—To believe, follow, trust, and obey the One and Only God who knows all and is always “ready to help in times of trouble” with His Mighty Hand of protection in all circumstances.     God is our Source of Life!

King David writes and sings of God’s protection!  If only King Ahaz would have listened to his forefather’s songs of truth! 

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.” Psalm 46:1-2 NLT

David is making it clear that the Lord will be with us in ALL types and times of trouble. Go to God first in times of trouble and doubt with a repentant heart who seeks His will.  God answers those whose hearts are committed to Him with his guidance and protection. God’s love for all He has created in his own image never changes and never fails in all of life’s circumstances.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes!

Lord,

This passage is full of sin and the darkness that sinful behaviors cause to those who no longer seek you for help, wisdom and protection. It grieves our hearts but also reminds us that we too fall for the worry that sin breeds within us.  Holy Spirit, thank you for bringing to our mind the Hope of heaven we have in Jesus.  Father God, Your Love is unlike any other on earth.  Your love drives out our fears of the unknown and secures our longing for protection when we seek you with all that is within us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I will meditate on these words all day long.

In Jesus Name, Amen