2 Kings 16:10-11 “Now King Ahaz … saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship. So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.”

This chapter is a summary of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign. He was perhaps the worst king of Judah.

King Ahaz of Judah was interested in religion.
But instead of being concerned about God and His Word, he became fascinated with an pagan altar he had seen in Damascus.

God had given very clear instructions how he wanted his altar to be constructed.

He had a sketch made of this altar with “detailed plans.”
He sent these to Urijah the priest, with instructions to build an altar just like it.

Then he rearranged the furnishings in the temple in Jerusalem, placing the new altar in a prominent place.

Here we don’t know how Ahaz’s new altar was different, except that it was evidently larger than the Israelite altar.

But bigger is not always better in God’s kingdom, especially if the larger thing is something we have done and not God.

To Ahaz, it didn’t matter that God had provided specific directions for His altar and every element of worship.

Ahaz, the anointed leader of the people, was trying to change the way God was worshipped.

He pushed God aside and developed his own form of worship.

Today around us, we can see the Christianity heading down the same path.
People want the Church to be more like the world and emphasize the need to be relevant religiously, culturally, and politically.

As we do so, we send a very wrong message to our children, to our churches, and even to the unbelieving world around us. How many churches and denominations have taken the pure worship and relationship with The Lord ?

In order to avoid offending anyone many churches have removed the cross from their sanctuaries. They interpret the Bible to fit their own interests and ignore anything they don’t like.

The Bible makes clear that we are not to build our lives around the subjective ideas of any human beings, with our flaws and limits.
Instead, we are to start with God and His Word.
Instead of living according to our own ideas, we are to take up our cross daily, die to self, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).

It can be easy to criticize Ahaz, but the fact is that many people, including many Christians, are tempted to create their forms of worship.

Today,…….
📍 dedicate our life anew to God.
📍 Seek His wisdom.
📍 Stay faithful to His timeless principles.
📍 And don’t give in to compromise.
Jooley Mathew Z
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

God’s patience does not last forever 2 kings 17:1-40

The Lord made it clear to His people that He was to be their only God. I will take you as my own people and I will be your God Ex 6:7 For centuries God was patient when His people wandered from Him.

They (Israelites) followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless 17:15. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watch tower to fortified city, they built themselves high places in all their towns, they set up sacred stones and Asheesh poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 2 kings 17:9-10.

So the Lord disciplined them. He allowed them to be conquered by foreign armies and king Assyria invaded the entire land and captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria in 722 BC The southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586BC.

The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion Num14:18 but he won’t be patient for ever God allows His people to hit hard times until they come back to him.

Cynthia Sathiaraj
Chennai