Today’s passage: 2 Kings 16:1-20
Helpful thoughts:
- The king of Judah burned his son to death in worship of Molech, the god of the Moabites.
- The phrase at the end of verse 3 refers back to God’s command from Deuteronomy 18:9-12.
- No king of Judah was said to have worshiped the false gods at the high places since Solomon.
- Urijah was the High Priest in the Temple. So, just to review:
- The King of Judah sent the silver and gold from the Temple of the LORD to get help from the Assyrians.
- The King of Judah went to the king of Assyria and desired to worship the same way Tiglath-Pilesar did.
- The King of Judah asked the High Priest of the Lord to make the Temple conform to the standards of the Assyrians (Which required the Temple be made UN-like the way God commanded) and the High Priest did it.
- The Temple for the LORD in Jerusalem was now being used to worship like the Assyrians. The worship of the Lord became the secondary form of worship in the temple. And, some of the instruments had been repurposed for pagan practices.
Questions to consider:
- Who is the King to whom Ahaz should have plead for rescue in verse 7?
- Why should the actions of Ahaz be so shocking? What did he do beyond simply remodeling the Temple?
- In verse 18, we are told that Ahaz had the king’s entrance to the Temple removed on account of the king of Assyria. This means he was hoping to prevent the King of Assyria from getting to the Temple from the throne should he take it. Ahaz wanted to be able to hide in the Temple! What is the irony of this action? What had Ahaz just done to the Temple? Whom did Ahaz truly fear and what did his misplaced fear result in?