Ahaz becomes the king of Judah and follows in the ways of the kings of Israel. That is bad, bad, bad! Israel is a nation that is doomed and will soon be carried into exile. We have read of a steady stream of bad kings who led Israel away from the God of their salvation and now we have a King in Judah who imitates Israel. This cannot go well and it doesn't. Ahaz worships at the temple of Molech. Molech is a god that requires human sacrifice. The altar of Molech is a figure with outstretched arms. It is heated to red hot and then a baby is layed in those evil arms to burn to death. This is an atrocity commit ed against the God who has sought to bless Israel. Then Ahaz enters into an alliance with Assyria. This is tantamount to saying that Judah can no longer trust God for their deliverance. I guess that might be right when you refuse to worship God! Judah pays tribute (think bribe) to Assyria. Then Ahab erects altars to Molech and other false gods within the walls of the temple. Some of these new altars are bigger than God's altar and displace it as the center of Judean worship. Ahaz even begins to deconstruct the temple. Many of the items carefully crafted by Solomon and other kings who loved and worshipped Jehovah were removed from the temple. Can anything good come of this? I doubt it.
There are many references throughout our readings that refer to the Annals of the kings of Judah (or Israel). Wouldn't it be interesting to read some of those chapters and know if anything good came during the reign of some of these jokers? These books did not make it into the Hebrew Bible and are considered to be lost books of the Old Testament.
Hoshea is the last of the kings of the state of Israel. God has endured all of the evil that he can. He allows Assyria to overrun Israel and carry its inhabitants into exile. Israel had been a vassal state to Assyria but was seeking to enter into a treaty with Egypt and drive Assyria from their territory. When Assyria learns of Israels' treachery they attack with a vengeance. Isn't it interesting that Israel has become so disloyal to the God of their creation that they carry this behavior over into their political life and that disloyalty becomes their end. Is there a lesson in there for us about how God feels about loyalty? Israel had set up false idols, worshipped stone gods, erected idols of Golden Calves, put up Asherah poles in the high places......they had failed miserably to keep God's commandments and to honor him with their lives.....now the chickens come home to roost.....God has been patient but in the end, failing to bow before God will result in something none of us wants.....to be estranged from the very author of life, the creator of love and all that is good. Assyria repopulates Israel with foreigners, Babylonians and others; the very people that Joshua and the 12 tribes had been called on by God to eradicate. Now God uses these evil people to punish those who had refused his love and protection. These were indeed a stiff necked (bull headed) people.
I know we think that we are better than Israel, but we should be careful to observe our own behaviors and motives. Are we elevating improper things into places that belong to God? Are we failing to be a light to the world and a city on a hill? While we may not be sacrificing our children to Molech, we may be sacrificing them to the standards of this world rather than the eternal one that God desires of us.
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