Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction.
2 Kings 16:10 (NIV)

I had coffee with a dear friend yesterday morning. Together, we reflected on the waypoint of life’s road we each find ourselves in this current season. A fog hovers over our respective journeys at the moment. Unlike seasons of life in which the way is clear and the task is to faithfully hold course, the fog of the unknown leaves us uncertain what lies beyond the next step. Together, we recounted God’s faithfulness in the past. We encouraged one another that we can trust God’s faithfulness in the fog.

As Rabbit once said in Winnie-the-Pooh, “The best conversations are those that leave both people feeling lighter.”

Our conversation came to mind this morning as I reflected on today’s chapter. It’s the story of Ahaz, King of Judah. The Assyrian Empire is growing and taking over huge chunks of nearby territory. There’s already been animosity between Israel and Assyria, so the combined Kingdoms of Israel and Aram attack Judah in an attempt to force Ahaz to join their Anti-Assyria alliance. Instead, Ahaz gathers all the gold from the temple treasury and bends the knee to the Assyrian Emperor.

Once again, there is a cross-reference between today’s chapter and a chapter in Isaiah. In Isaiah 7, God tells Isaiah to go to Ahaz and encourage the king that Israel and Aram’s attack will not succeed. God encourages Ahaz to trust Him. He then tells Ahaz that He will give the king a sign – either in the heights or the depths. “Which one do you want?” God asks through Isaiah. Ahaz flatly refused to make a choice. His answer sounds pious, but the rest of today’s chapter reveals that Ahaz has made a different choice.

He trusts the might and splendor of the Assyrian Empire.

What is fascinating is that in this moment, God, through Isaiah, utters, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

God wants humans to trust Him and seek His Kingdom. They keep refusing to do so. We choose, instead, to trust human empire and the kingdoms of this world and the things of this world. God is going to send His Son to show us His ways, and to make a way we cannot make for ourselves.

Assyria saves Ahaz and Judah. Ahaz then visits the Assyrian Emperor and is enamored with him. In a sign of surrender and submission, Ahaz adopts the Assyrians’ religion. He has an Assyrian altar made. He moves God’s bronze altar out of the way and places the Assyrian altar there. Ahaz doesn’t get rid of God’s altar. He makes sweeping alterations to Solomon’s Temple to adopt Assyrian religious practices into Judah’s worship system.

Picture it.

Solomon’s temple, built as the spiritual heart of the nation. Generations of worship. A bronze altar associated with the nation’s sacred history. Then Ahaz visits the Assyrian Emperor in all his worldly glory. He sees something impressive. Something associated with the power and success of the empire that just saved his kingdom.

He wants one.

And suddenly, the old altar gets moved to the side. No dramatic announcement that Israel’s God is dead. No official decree abandoning the covenant. Just a little rearranging.

I can imagine a modern parallel in which a person has spent decades professing faith, attending church, studying Scripture, and sincerely believing in God. Yet somewhere along the way, other concerns have gradually assumed the place of ultimate authority. The faith hasn’t disappeared, but its place in the person’s life has changed. And perhaps the most sobering possibility is that the person barely notices.

I have observed along my journey that people don’t always lose faith by walking away from God. Sometimes they move God a little farther from the center of their lives, one seemingly reasonable decision at a time.

Which brings me back to Isaiah. Amidst the fog of fear and uncertainty, Ahaz goes looking for a powerful empire to save him. Meanwhile, through Isaiah, God promises Immanuel. “God with us.” Ahaz believes his salvation lies in the distant halls of Assyrian power, while the prophet insists that the answer is found in the presence of God. Ahaz doesn’t outright reject God, but he shoves God aside in order to entrust himself to what he sees: human power and worldly splendor.

And as I stand in the fog of uncertainty and unknown on life’s road, that speaks directly to my heart in the quiet this morning. I can push God from the center of my life in order to grasp for certainty in all sorts of other ways. Or, I can recount the many ways God has proven faithful in leading me to this waypoint in life, and choose to trust Him with the road ahead.

Fortunately, I have a wife and dear friends to accompany me and encourage me in that trust.

Will be out the rest of this week! Returning on Monday!

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