Ahaz, the son of Jotham, ruled Judah for sixteen years. The bible tells us that he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. You could almost see the progressive downward spiral into sin, with one downfall led to another. He was a religious man, on top of performing the religious duties in the temple of Yahweh, he was seeking religious experience in different places. He turned to everything he could find within the land. The bible tells us the King Ahaz sacrificed and made offerings on the different high places and on the hills and under every green tree. He became so superstitious that he sacrificed his son as an offering unto the idols, which was a Canaanite practice and done in honour of the god Molech (2 King 23:10).

One should not be surprised that King Ahaz would seek the help of a gentile king for help instead of turning to Yahweh God when treats came knocking on the door. He had no relationship with the God of his fathers, and never seen God’s work in the king’s life. It was only natural for his to seek allegiance from more “powerful” man whom he thought can save him from his ordeal. Ahaz took all the silver and gold in the house of the Lord and offered it to his new lord, Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria. True enough, this king answered the prayers of his heart and saved Ahaz from his enemies.

When King Ahaz went to pay his tributes to Tiglath-pileser in Damascus, he was mesmerised by the city and the worship that Assyria put up. It was like an technopreneur who found a new technology for his next venture in a technology fair. It was like the character Charlie, in Charlie and the chocolate factory, who entered into the whimsical chocolate factory of Mr Wonka for the first time, they were ecstatic! He was so in awe of the god of Assyria that he replaced the altar of Yahweh with the new found Damascus god, patterning the altar in the exact details in Damascus. The king of Judah fell, and not soon after, the high priest of Judah fell as well. Uriah the priest did everything, from the replacement of the altar, to altering the furniture of used for cleansing, as King Ahaz commanded. You could almost see the progressive downward spiral into sin, with one downfall led to another.

Dear brothers and sisters, like King Ahaz, you probably hear the pastors constantly reminding you with religious rhetoric like, “Don’t compromise your daily devotions even in your busy days”, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing”, “Turn to the Lord in your days of trouble, seek Him in prayer”, “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding” You can see them as spiritual rhetoric, or you can see them as spiritual bedrock which anchors your relationship with God. When we are in the habit of not drawing close to God, or soaking ourselves in His presence or His Word, we as man has the natural tendency to sway away from Him. Progressively, and sometimes unknowingly, leading us to turn away from Him.

Will God draw us back to Him? Most certainly He can. But just like the Israelites who were in the wilderness because they disobeyed God, there was no need for them to wonder for forty years if they had trusted and obeyed God.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are very busy people and everyday it is a spiritual warfare to even devote our time to God. I urge us that even in our busiest days, keep closely with the Lord, trust Him and see Him at work in your challenges. Do what is right in the eyes of God and turn back to Him when we sin against Him. In this way, we can enjoy not a downward spiral of falling into sin, but an upward spiral of intimacy with our Lord and God.

Pray : Thank you God for it is by your grace that you have called us back into your presence today to spend time with you. Lord, would your Spirit prompts me to draw close to you daily and in the midst of this, would you help me to encounter your presence more each day. In Jesus name we pray, amen.