Tag: ahaz

Categories
Isaiah Devotionals

Choosing to trust

For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you.

They say, ‘Let’s go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’

This is what the Lord God says: It will not happen; it will not occur. (Isaiah 7:5-7)

As I read that, I wondered: “How often do I worry about things that will never happen?”

I can remember times I have actually lost sleep worrying about things that never happened.

How much better is it to trust God? How much better to remember that he is with me.

Two thousand years ago, he gave me a sign of his presence. The sign came in the form of a baby, lying in a manger.

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. (14)

As Matthew points out, “Immanuel” means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:22-23)

It’s easy to criticize Ahaz for refusing to trust God. But how often do I fail to look at the sign he has given me and trust him?

Jesus you are always with me. You truly are Immanuel. So whenever I’m tempted to worry, help me to turn to you…and trust.

Categories
2 Kings Devotionals

Remembering whose we are

En Gedi caves
Joe Goldberg from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

So Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son…” (2 Kings 16:7)

If you want some background to this story, read Isaiah 7.

It was in the midst of Ahaz’s problems with Aram and Israel that Isaiah made his famous Immanuel prophesy.

The sad thing is that in Isaiah 7, God was telling Ahaz, “Trust me. Your enemies won’t succeed. I’ll even give you a sign so that you can believe me. Just ask for one.”

But Ahaz refused to trust God, declining to ask for a sign. Instead, he sought Assyria’s help.

He got it, but it came at a great price. Eventually, Ahaz’s “master” and “father” turned against Israel and became its enemy.

How much different would things have been if Ahaz had turned to God, saying, “I am your servant and your son”?

I’m facing my own issues right now, and I just felt God reminding me, “Remember whose you are. You are my servant. More importantly, you are my beloved child. Seek me. Trust me.”

He then brought this psalm to mind.

God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.

Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil…

“Stop fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”

The Lord of Armies is with us (Immanuel!);
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” (Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11)

Categories
2 Chronicles 2 Kings

Almost perfect

Kings & Chronicles

In this passage, we have a very short account of the reign of King Jotham of Judah. For the most part, he was a good king. It says in 2 Chronicles,

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 27:2)

Uzziah, of course, got in trouble because he entered the temple to offer incense, something that only the priests were supposed to do.

Jotham also had great success against his enemies, conquering the Ammonites. He became powerful because,

He walked steadfastly before the Lord his God. (2 Chronicles 27:6)

So why do I say he was almost perfect instead of perfect? It says again in verse 2,

The people, however, continued their corrupt practices.

What corrupt practices are they talking about? We find it in 2 Kings.

The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 15:35)

So while Jotham walked steadfastly before God, the people he was supposed to be leading didn’t.

And it was for this that prophets like Isaiah and Hosea condemned the people, as we have already seen.

What’s worse is that Jotham apparently neglected to raise his son Ahaz in the worship of the Lord. And so when Ahaz took over the throne, he led Judah even deeper into idolatry.

What can we learn from this?

We may be walking with the Lord, doing his will, but God has given us a sphere of influence.

It may be our spouse, our children, our neighbors, or our coworkers.

And it’s not enough that we simply live for the Lord. We are also to make a difference in the lives of the people God has given us.

If we don’t, God will hold us responsible.

Of course, we can’t make decisions for people. We cannot make the people around us serve the Lord.

But especially in cases where we have authority over them—namely our children—we are to do everything we can to teach them about the Lord and encourage them to follow him.

Who has God put in your life?

Are you satisfied with just serving the Lord yourself?

Or are you encouraging the others around you to do the same?