Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 11, Maliciousness and envy

 

Maliciousness is at the very heart of evil. Malice is what we get the word maliciousness from. Peter warned Christians, as did Paul.

 

1Peter 2:1  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,…16  As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

 

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

 

Colossians 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

 

Titus 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

 

Envy, which is also a form of jealousy, is a very common and desperately wicked character trait.

 

Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

 

We hate and despise someone for their position or good fortune, the blessings God has bestowed on them, their place in God’s plan. Envy over the approval of the many people who followed Christ is one reason the first century Jews wanted Christ killed.

 

Matthew 27:18  For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

 

Mark 15:10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

 

We know what a heart filled with murder is. We know the commandment from God and how Jesus’ defined it.

 

Exodus 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

 

Matthew 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

 

We can see by cross-referencing that thou shalt not kill was not a reference to self-defense or defending one’s home or land from attack.  

 

Murder requires malignant hate, a thirst and lust to extinguish the life of another who has done nothing to merit such contempt. The murderer kills because of the wickedness of his heart, a wickedness that God has permitted to reveal the depths of that person’s depravity. Christ Himself was murdered, being innocent.

 

Debate comes from a Greek word meaning strife and contention and it is defined as such in Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 58:4a  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate…

 

At the time of the King James translation it was linked to contention and controversy, to disputing. We see these endless, pointless arguments in politics that underscore this evil.

 

Debate goes hand-in-hand with deceit, linked with vanity, wickedness, cursing, mischief, fraud, guile, violence, and falsehood in several verses. Just some examples;

 

Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

 

Psalm 10:7  His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

 

Psalm 119:118  Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

 

Malignity is very similar to maliciousness but used only here reflects more of an evil disposition of the heart, an extremely sinful attitude, and a very bad character.

 

Whisperers secretly backstab, sew strife, and spread rumors to deliberately impugn another’s reputation or cause discord. They are tellers of false tales as the men who spoke lies about Christ at the show trials He suffered.

 

Proverbs16:28  A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

 

Backbiters are evil, malicious speakers, persons who defame others. We see them all the time in politics, even church politics, where a weak-minded but dominating individual tries to underhandedly tear down other people. In Early Modern English they were also known as slanderers.

 

Haters of God would neither obey His commandments, submit themselves to Him, or receive Christ, and their hatred of Christ extends to the Father because Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

 

Romans 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

 

Psalm 81:15  The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

 

John 7:7  The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

 

John 15:23  He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

 

Exodus 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Bible Study on Exodus 31, verses 1 to 11, I have filled him with the spirit of God

 

Exodus 31:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4  To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5  And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6  And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee; 7  The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, 8  And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense, 9  And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot, 10  And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office, 11  And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

 

In Old English there was no distinction between uppercase and lowercase. By Middle English whether to capitalize the first letter was inconsistent, I have read. By the time of the KJV, called Early Modern English, capitalization of proper names and nouns had become more standard. See Shakespeare’s use of capitalization. So, at the time of this translation uppercase and lowercase had begun to mean something. Notice here that the word spirit starts with a lowercase ‘s’. In a prophecy of Christ in Isaiah it is written;

 

Isaiah 11:1 ¶  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

 

The Holy Spirit, uppercase ‘S’, refers to the agency through which God works in creation and in the hearts and minds of His people.

Genesis 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 

Ephesians 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

 

The Spirit of God can be referred to as an it.

 

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God…26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

 

And can also be called the Spirit of Christ, as God is one being containing three parts as I have previously shown. See the following for the three parts of God mentioned in passages; Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13:14; 1John 5:7.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 

This is in contrast to the Holy Ghost, which is a reference to the third part of God, referred to, always, as he.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

 

But, spirit with the lowercase ‘s’ is a reference to a trait, a quality, a skill, an emotion, the foundation of an ability, or the spirit of man, the part of man that God uses to know our thoughts and the function of our bodies.

 

Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

 

These men have been given talents and skills to serve the Lord’s purpose and notice in verse 6 that God puts wisdom in those people whose hearts are able to receive it. We must remember, as said before, that wisdom and knowledge come from God. For instance, a scientist is prepared by training to receive knowledge and he or she discovers something useful as a result. The understanding came from God to a mind that was able to bear it. This is an important point to consider.

Ezra 7:10  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

 

The way to receive knowledge and wisdom and understanding is first to prepare the heart and mind. Then, it is given. Someone who wants to be a mechanic just doesn’t pray to God for the knowledge. God would say to him, “Study the trade and then I will give you understanding. Learn how to do it and I will give you wisdom.” It is a fact of life that if you want to do something of value you need to prepare yourself for it. I don’t remember reading about any brain surgeons or rocket scientists who said they woke up one day and just knew how to do their jobs to the best of their ability without education or training.

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 10, all unrighteousness

 

Now, back to Romans, chapter 1.

28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29  Being filled with all

unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

We don’t usually think of man’s specific flaws as being delusions sent by God, permitted by God, because of our wicked, rebellious hearts. But, not only all sorts of sexual sins but defects of character are part of the delusions God permitted us to have. What we get is the desires of our hearts to prove our sinfulness. Think of these things in their religious context in regard to God and to God’s people.

Unrighteousness is a general term for all wickedness from which the Christian is promised deliverance on condition although you are still capable of those things.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Fornication is associated with adultery and the sexual sins with which it is associated.

Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

And it is God’s will that we Christians abstain from all such sexual immorality, obsessions, and perversions.

Wickedness is a word linked with evil in Genesis 6:5, sin in 39:9, sexual immorality in Leviticus 18:17, and pagan sexual religious practices in Jeremiah 3:2. It is a word steeped in the rebellion of mankind after the Flood. It is used to refer to the nations surrounding Israel. See Deuteronomy 9:4 and Ezekiel 5:6.

 

1Corinthians 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

1John 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

 

Covetousness, desiring something that is not yours particularly in relation to sexual matters and even to God, is fornication and is a form of idolatry.

 

Ephesians 5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

 

Colossians 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

 

On a personal level;

 

Exodus 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

 

Romans 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

This is regarded as a type of theft.

 

1Thessalonians 4:3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;5  Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:6  That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

 

Israel craved the things of the nations around them and this covetousness was regarded as not only idolatry but a spiritual fornication.

 

Jeremiah 3:20  Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

 

You can see more of that comparison by reading Hosea and Ezekiel.

Bible Study on Exodus 30, verses 17 to 38, the common versus the holy

 

Exodus 30:17 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18  Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19  For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20  When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21  So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

 

Exodus 30:22 ¶  Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23  Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24  And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25  And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 26  And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27  And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28  And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29  And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30  And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31  And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32  Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35  And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36  And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37  And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 38  Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

 

There are many good commentaries on the tabernacle and on the ceremony and ritual surrounding the worship that God prescribed for the Hebrews. I see no need to simply repeat the work of others. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA and other places there are even displays of this tabernacle for teaching purposes.

Each ceremony and each command can be preached on with comparisons to Christ. Preaching expounds on the text, makes parallels, reveals types and symbols. The washing shows God’s abhorrence of sin, the perfume not being used for common purposes showing the difference His people must keep between sacred and profane things, the spices that made up the anointing oil in comparison to the spices that Christ was wrapped in etc. These are all important subjects for preaching. But, my purpose here is to move through the text and provide you with things that will help you open up the Bible everywhere you read.

 

With that in mind, there is a term in verse 33 that needs to be examined as it is also used in other applications. The term is cut off. To be cut off does not mean exiled or kicked out of the community as that was not an option. To be cut off from one’ people means something more permanent.

Genesis 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

 

Zechariah 13:8  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

 

2Kings 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

 

Bible Study on Romans 1, verses 19 to 32, part 9, Phinehas, Zimri, and Cozbi

 

Numbers 25:6 ¶  And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7  And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8  And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9  And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. 10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12  Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13  And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 14  Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. 15  And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

 

After the command given by Moses, Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, obeyed and killed both an Israelite and the daughter of a Midianite prince who were engaged in sexual relations.

 

Regarding verse 9 notice this curious verse in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.

 

1Corinthians 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

 

Bibles typically say 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to this passage in Numbers 25. The Modernist heresy in modern Christians then says, “those numbers aren’t the same! They should be exactly alike!” But, Paul is not wrong. The number he mentions is contained in the number given in Numbers. Paul is writing a letter and we have seen approximations before, conversational illustrations referring or alluding to the Old Testament writings. He does not have to be reading from the Scriptures when he writes this from memory as part of his argument. However, some commentators get around this by saying that 1Corinthians 10:8 is referring to a different event. That is fine as long as you don’t need a long, convoluted argument juggling numbers from different passages to get where you want to be.

 

Numbers 25:16 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17  Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18  For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

 

To underscore that there was something religious in Zimri and Cozbi’s sexual dalliance notice what is written. This incident relates to the worship of the local god or lord of Peor which clearly is a reflection and confirmation of the sexual nature of Canaanite religion and the dangers, the very spiritual dangers that the Israelites faced.”

 

Not only sexual deviance in the pursuit of religion was caused by this idolatry but many other character traits of humanity resulted.

 

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Bible Study on Exodus 30, verses 11 to 16, a ransom for his soul

 

Exodus 30:11 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13  This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14  Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15  The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16  And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

 

An important thing to note here is that the ransom for a man’s soul was paid to the Lord.

 

…then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD…

 

The Anglican clerics, Westcott and Hort, who were mainly responsible for the Revised Version of the Bible put forward the error that Satan was such a powerful entity, almost an opponent to God, that Jesus paid a ransom to him at the Cross. This is absurd as you can see as ransoms are paid to God.

Job 33:24  Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

 

Psalm 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

 

Matthew 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

 

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 

Christians have granted too much power and authority to Satan who is subordinate to God. He can do nothing without God’s permission and the book of Job says he must operate under the limits set by God. In the Persian religion there was a good god and a bad god; Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. This eventually resulted in the heresy put forward by the Iranian teacher, Mani, called Manichaeism of a very clear black and white universe where bad things that happen and good things that happen are clearly separated into the realms of distinct entities.

However, the Bible teaches God’s absolute sovereignty throughout. There is nothing that He did not either cause to happen or permit to happen for reasons He shows in Job we may never know on this earth. Our duty is to trust Him. Satan is wholly subordinate to God’s will and can do nothing that God does not permit. This is very difficult for Christians who have grown up in pagan Christianity where non-Christian ideas like Greek philosophy, are mingled in with Bible truth.

No ransom is now or was ever paid to Satan. That is heresy and blaspheming God’s sovereignty. Satan does not have a position where he can demand a ransom, nor is he ever said to request one.

Notice verse 14 about the twenty-year age mark. We often talk about the so-called age of accountability when before, a child is “safe” and not in danger of spending an eternity in God’s wrath, and after, when unless you accept God’s free gift of salvation in Christ you are judged and condemned as a sinner.

2Kings, chapter 16, comments

 

2Kings 16:1 ¶  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. 3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. 4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

 

Ahaz did not do right and even practiced the abomination of sacrificing his son to a pagan god in the superheated arms of the statue of Baal which I have described previously.

 

Carthage, Rome’s mortal enemy until destroyed, saw 300 babies sacrificed to Baal’s superheated arms in one day to try to placate the Devil and end a Roman siege while musicians blared drums and horns to drown out the screams of the agony of the infants. Carthage was a colony of Phoenicia.

 

Leviticus 18:21  And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

 

Unlike previous kings who simply allowed the people to sacrifice to pagan gods Ahaz did the worship himself. Pagan worshippers used to leave their offerings for the gods under trees.

 

We’ll discuss God’s interaction with King Ahaz in Isaiah, chapter 7.

 

2Kings 16:5 ¶  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. 7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 8  And Ahaz 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 it for a present to the king of Assyria. 9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

 

King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel intended to overthrow Ahaz and install a puppet king as we learn in Isaiah. Ahaz appealed for help to the King of Assyria, a superpower of that time, for help against them and spent much of the treasure of the king’s palace to do so. Damascus, Syria fell to him and in typical Assyrian fashion he carried them away and killed King Rezin.

 

2Kings 16:10 ¶  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. 13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. 14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of

the altar. 15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by. 16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

 

Ahaz went to show his fealty to the King of Assyria and saw a heathen altar that caught his eye. So, he had Urijah the priest construct one like it. Ahaz would use this altar to satisfy his lust for idolatry.

 

The altar was clearly not built according to specifications in Exodus but was of a heathen configurement and yet Ahaz wanted to offer sacrifices on it. Chronicles will give us more detail but I’ll wait until I get to those histories and combine cross-references from Kings and Isaiah to give a complete picture.

 

Ahaz “remodeling” of the altar and implements of worship continued.

 

1Kings 16:17 ¶  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. 18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria. 19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

 

To please the King of Assyria and to honor the gods of Damascus and Syria, Ahaz did this great evil of idolatry, explained here. Some of Ahaz’s projects are lost to us but we get the gist of this ungrateful, rebellious, and idolatrous king’s wickedness.