Today we are reading 2 Kings 16. In this chapter we read about King Ahaz who reigned in Judah (the Southern Kingdom). “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. 2 Kings 16:1-4 ESV What would you give up your son or daughter for? King Ahaz “burned his son as an offering.” Why? We can only speculate. Most likely, he believed that by murdering his son in this cruel and horrific way he would gain the favor and blessing of a god. Our society has for decades murdered our children in a barbaric way to seek the favor of a false god called happiness. Is it really a person’s choice to murder? No. We are to defend the weak and protect the vulnerable. We are to sacrifice ourselves for the good of our children and spouse and not the other way around. Jesus laid down His life for us and so we must lay down our lives because this is right in the eyes of the Lord. Pastor Tim
