23/09/2021 - DID WHAT WAS RIGHT

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And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 2 Chronicles 28.10

The love for money doesn’t let people reason as they should. If any opportunity arises for them to make an easy profit, they usually don’t care about their actions, as happened with the Israelites, when they took many from Judah to be their slaves. They didn’t remember that they were all captives in Egypt, and the Lord delivered them from the oppressive power of Hell, which used Pharaoh in those days.

The verse in question speaks of Ahaz, grandson of Uzziah, an important king of Judah. The sad part about Uzziah was that while he sought the Almighty, he prospered; then his heart was lifted up and he entered the house of God to burn incense – something allowed only to priests. Because of this, Uzziah became leprous and died (2 Chronicles 26:16). Ahaz, in turn, also took wrong actions.

One could say that Ahaz was too foolish, because when God taught him the right way to proceed, not giving him victories by walking outside the Word – he provoked the Lord with forbidden practices in Israel, such as witchcraft. Ahaz reached the extreme of his rebellion, making an altar in Jerusalem to the god of Syria, thinking that if it helped the Syrian people, it would also help him. Poor king! He didn’t bow down to the Almighty.

In one battle against the kingdom of Samaria, as well as in the others he fought, the defeat was so great that in one day 120,000 men of war of his people died, for they had left the Lord. His son Maaseiah and the good officers of his kingdom were also killed (2 Chronicles 28:7). The king knew that all this was from God; after all, he had forsaken the Lord and sought help from the cults practiced in the Northern Kingdom.

The Most High had to hand Ahaz over to the monarch of Syria, who took captive many of his kingdom, and to the king of Samaria, also used to teach him a lesson for his humiliating failure (2 Chronicles 28:5). On that occasion, Samaria took 200,000 women and children, as well as great spoil. Ahaz didn’t follow David’s example.

When the men of the Northern Kingdom were near Samaria, Oded – a prophet, came out to meet them and rebuked them severely, saying that they were victorious only because the Lord was angry at Judah’s behavior. He also warned them to return the prisoners to Jerusalem, with all that they had taken (2 Chronicles 28.11-15). But even with this advice, Ahaz didn’t amend himself and asked for help from the king of Assyria, thus experiencing further embarrassment.

The conclusion is logical: whoever turns away from the Almighty falls into the hands of Satan, who is ruthless. Therefore, check how you have been walking before the Lord. If He gives you over to the enemy, you will prove how bad it is to rebel against God’s Word!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares