2 Kings – Chapter 16

And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. 2 Kings 16:14 – While the northern kingdom of Israel had been plagued with wicked kings, the southern kingdom of Judah had its fair share of holy kings. Yet this chapter retells the stories of King Ahaz, the most wicked king Judah ever had on its throne. He brought it the most wicked forms of idolatry, even sacrificing his own son to the demon idol of Molech. We see in our verse above that Ahaz wasn’t opposed to even changing the temple for of the Lord to make space for the worship practices he wanted to have. This verse speaks a truth that we must come to embrace. We can’t worship another god without first dethroning and replacing the Lord. Scripture is very clear that we cannot serve two masters. It’s either God alone or not God at all. Ahaz thought he could squeeze in his altar and his ways of worship into the same temple as God so he could worship both. Yet worshipping idols and God is not worshipping God at all. How then have you tried to “squeeze in your own altar” within your worship of God? Have you tried to keep your secret sin under wraps while worshipping God on Sundays? Have you chosen to place your job as the most importance thing in your life and it determines how you spend your day? Has there been an unhealthy mindset that God has called you to let go of that you’ve chosen to hold on to? While no these aren’t an idol like a demon as in our passage, they are us still trying to squeeze our own ways of worshipping into our life of worship of God. Let’s instead worship the Lord only how He calls us to worship Him. Drop what He says to drop, leave what He says to leave, do what He says to do, and let His word be the director of our worship of Him, not ourselves. If God has our full worship like this, there won’t be any room to squeeze the worship of anything else in anyways. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3082

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 2 Kings 16:3 – Our enemy the devil is in total opposition to what God is doing. The idea to bring the world salvation and forgiveness is in stark contrast to the plan our enemy has for us in where he wants to burden us with guilt, shame, and death. What we see within this passage is just how opposite our enemy works compared to how God works. What we see here is a false god commanding the sacrificing of a son in order to be appeased, yet look how different that is from our God. Rather instead our God sacrificed His own Son for us so we could be made right with Him. We must remember how our enemy works, it’s in total contradiction to how God works. If God wants to bring you joy, but you’re overwhelmed with depression, where do you think that negativity is coming from. If God wants you to know you’re loved yet you’re feeling forgotten where is that discouragement coming from? The only way the enemy can have victory is by leading us away from God. Filter out the directions you’re getting, if it’s leading you in an opposite direction to that of how God would lead you know that’s your enemy giving you that direction. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 387

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 2 Kings 16:7-8 – Compare what’s happening here with our relationship with God. Rather than us having to remind God we’re His sons and daughters He came to us first declaring that over us. Rather than us having to plead for His rescue, He began the process of our rescue the moment we needed it. Rather than us having to sacrifice all our valuables to sway Him, God sacrificed the most valuable thing to Him for us. Why are we so easily putting our trust in anything other than God to handle the struggles that come in life? He’s made it clear He is for us always. Today let’s seek to remember that truth. Let’s lean on Him the moment struggle arises rather than running to Him as a last resort when our strength and other resources have failed us. God’s here for you and is able to help you, lean into that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1039

And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by. 2 Kings 16:15 – During a trip King Ahaz saw a wondrous looking altar and just had to have one for himself. He has one built just like it and replaces the altar of the Lord with this new altar that will be used for the worship of false gods. The king then tells what to do with the “old” altar. It will be put aside and I’ll use it when I need to get answers. What a dangerous way to handle the Lord and the Lord’s ways. Essentially what’s being said here is I’m setting God aside because He is in the way of how I want to worship and if I really get in a bind I’ll use that original altar to get the answers I need so I can go back to doing things how I want. For me, after reading this passage, I’m not filled with fury towards the king because I can’t help but see how I’ve done this in my own way. I’ve chosen paths that weren’t God’s but they sure helped me do what I wanted. I’ve chosen to handle things like prayer and scripture in ways like he used the altar, something I can go to in a bind but not something I use how I should. How then can we make sure we respect the Lord and handle things of the Lord more correctly in our story? How have we chosen our way over His way? Dwell on how you might answer these questions this morning and see how we can more faithfully follow Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2222