2 Kings 16:10-20: a reflection

10King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a drawing of the altar and plans to build it. 11Urijah the priest built an altar. According to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Urijah the priest made it for the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. 12When the king had come from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king came near to the altar, and offered on it. 13He burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the LORD’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar. 15King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.” 16Urijah the priest did so, according to all that King Ahaz commanded. 17King Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, and removed the basin from off them, and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stone. 18He removed the covered way for the Sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s outer entrance to the LORD’s house, because of the king of Assyria. 19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

When King Ahaz visits the king of Assyria in Damascus and sees a pagan altar there, he is so taken with it that he sends its pattern home and has a copy built, then displaces the LORD's bronze altar to make room for it. He remodels the worship of God after a foreign pattern, adapting the temple and its worship to please the king of Assyria whose favor he sought. Ahaz did not keep the worship God had given; he reshaped it after the fashion of the world, conforming it to a pagan model to accommodate the worldly power he wanted to please. The faith was remolded to fit the fashion, the worship of God adapted to the pattern of the world.

Notice what Ahaz did: he remolded the worship of God to fit a worldly pattern and please a worldly power. He was impressed by the pagan altar of Assyria, and rather than keeping the worship God had ordained, he copied the foreign model, displacing the LORD's altar for it, adapting the temple to the fashion of the world. His faith was reshaped to conform to what he had seen abroad, to accommodate the king whose favor he courted. He did not conform the world to God's pattern, but God's worship to the world's; the fashion of the nations, not God's word, set the shape of his faith. To remold the faith to fit the world was to abandon what God had given.

That is worth taking to heart, for we too can be tempted to remold our faith to fit worldly patterns and please the world. We can be impressed by the fashions and patterns of the world, and tempted to reshape our faith to conform to them, to adapt what God has given to fit the world's model, to please the powers and fashions we court, as Ahaz copied the pagan altar. But to remold the faith to fit the world is to abandon what God has given. Do not remold your faith to fit worldly patterns or please the world, adapting what God has given to the world's fashion; keep the faith as God has given it. Keep the faith as God has given it rather than remolding it to fit worldly patterns and please the world, as Ahaz copied a pagan altar and displaced the LORD's; for to reshape our faith after the fashion of the world is to abandon what God ordained, and we are to let God's word, not the world's patterns, set the shape of our faith.

Lord, when King Ahaz visits the king of Assyria in Damascus and sees a pagan altar there, he is so taken with it that he sends its pattern home and has a copy built, then displaces the LORD's bronze altar to make room for it. He remolds the worship of you after a foreign pattern, adapting the temple to please the king of Assyria whose favor he sought. Ahaz did not keep the worship you had given; he reshaped it after the fashion of the world, conforming it to a pagan model. Show me what Ahaz did: he remolded the worship of you to fit a worldly pattern and please a worldly power. He was impressed by the pagan altar of Assyria, and rather than keeping the worship you had ordained, he copied the foreign model, displacing your altar for it. His faith was reshaped to conform to what he had seen abroad. He did not conform the world to your pattern, but your worship to the world's; the fashion of the nations, not your word, set the shape of his faith. Take that to my heart, for I too can be tempted to remold my faith to fit worldly patterns and please the world. I can be impressed by the fashions and patterns of the world, and tempted to reshape my faith to conform to them, to adapt what you have given to fit the world's model, as Ahaz copied the pagan altar. But to remold the faith to fit the world is to abandon what you have given. Keep me from remolding my faith to fit worldly patterns or please the world; help me keep the faith as you have given it, Lord, letting your word, not the world's patterns, set its shape, as Ahaz should not have copied the pagan altar and displaced yours.