“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.”
How different would the life of Ahaz had been- had he said these words to the LORD, had he cried to the LORD, had he submitted to the LORD. If we read in vs.5 of this chapter, we see that “they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.” Why could they not overcome Ahaz? Well, I would think that it’s a picture of grace. Despite all that Ahaz had done, the LORD was gracious and merciful towards him. But Ahaz failed to see this.
He saw the danger but not the true deliverer, He saw the might of the enemy but not the Almighty, He submitted to man rather than God. BUT we must always remember what the Psalmist says- “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”(Psalm 118:8)
Next we also see Ahaz calling himself the Assyrian king’s servant and son and as we read on we discover how he revered and resembled him. As a servant he lived to please the Assyrian king all the days of his life, he revered the king in paying him tributes and we see till the end he lived to please the Assyrian king more than God, (vs.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 house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.” BUT let us again remember what the Psalmist said and may we also be able to say so- “O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.”(Pslam 116:16)
Next, as a son he resembled the king of Assyria, he imitated him. We read in (vs.10) “And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath- Pileser 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.” BUT today we are God’s children, we have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry- Abba, Father (Romans 8:15) So let us resemble Him.
So let’s live for Him and not compromise on the truths that have been revealed to us and- “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”(Matthew 5:16)
I would like to add one more thing here- as I was reading through a commentary on this chapter I came across something that really struck me, It said- “The name Ahaz is a contraction for Jehoahaz. It is by the latter name that the king is known on Assyrian inscriptions. The prefix “Jeho” stands for Jehovah, and doubtless the Holy Spirit omitted it purposely because Ahaz was an apostate.”
Ahaz was definitely not a believer but how sad would it be if we as believers don’t have a good testimony before the world. So, my exhortation would be that may we not compromise on the Word of God, yes we are indeed imperfect and waiting for the day when we will be with the Lord and be like Him, but even during our life here on earth may we strive to be more like Christ.
Remember, it pleases our Father when we revere Him, when we Resemble Him 🙂