Ahaz, Remembered as an Evil King

Today's passage tells the story of Ahaz, who left God, relied on idols and worldly power, and is recorded as an evil king. He practiced the worship of Molech, sacrificing his children in pursuit of his own prosperity, and in a crisis he asked Assyria for help instead of seeking God. Even though he had already been promised God's protection through the prophet, he avoided crying out to God on the excuse that he would not test God, and bowed to worldly power.

The sermon points out that Ahaz's actions looked like devotion on the outside but in reality came from thoroughgoing self-centeredness and self-love. By instinct, people easily fall into the logic of giving up what is most precious in order to protect themselves, but God asks of us a love that denies self and entrusts itself wholly to him. Ahaz's refusal to ask for a sign was not humility but a disobedience that did not trust God, and it is no different from the attitude of believers today who avoid prayer or do not want to know God's will.

Worldly power is only temporary, and when God's people stand firm, no oppression lasts forever. The sermon asks by what name believers want to be called before God. What are we holding on to, so that we can stand as the people God wants, wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil?