# Right Logic, Wrong Theology. (2 Chronicles 28: 1-27)

An episode of [The Bible Journey Daily Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1570210433), 22 Sep 2026, 38 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1728449/episodes/19778030-right-logic-wrong-theology-2-chronicles-28-1-27.mp3

Send us Fan Mail To continue receiving this podcast, please subscribe to: https://thebiblejourneydailypodcast.buzzsprout.com This Podcast is part of season 23 of a project to complete an in-depth study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Episode Notes: Today’s episode begins with a question many of us have wrestled with: How can someone hold a wrong theological position, and yet make it sound logical? Have you ever spoken with someone from a cult, or a group with deeply flawed doctrine, and found yourself thinking: "What they’re saying sounds logical… but I know it’s wrong.” So how can right logic support wrong theology? The answer is simple: Logic built on a false foundation will always lead to a false conclusion. And in the Old Testament, we find a king who made that tragic mistake. Here is a man whose thinking was logical, but whose theology was catastrophically wrong…His name is Ahaz…. Save the World Podcast In-depth lectures and interviews on issues affecting the continued survival of human... Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Support the show This podcast is entirely the work of Jeremy R. McCandless... Follow and support me as an independent podcast creator on Patreon. Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at: Jeremy McCandless | Substack Check out my other Podcasts. My History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com The L.I.F.E. Podcast: Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment. https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891 The Classic Literature Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906 To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit: Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

## Chapters

- 11:58 \[Ad\] Save the World Podcast
- 12:45 (Cont.) Right Logic, Wrong Theology. (2 Chronicles 28: 1-27)

## Transcript

[0:16] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast.
[0:20] SPEAKER_00: Welcome friends.
[0:21] SPEAKER_00: It's wonderful to be back with you again as we continue our steady walk through the Book of Two Chronicles, a book that today exposes the spiritual logic that lies behind the rise and indeed the fall of God's people.
[0:36] SPEAKER_00: Today's episode begins with a question many of us may have wrestled with.
[0:41] SPEAKER_00: Have you ever met someone who holds a wrong theological position and yet is able to make it sound entirely logical?
[0:49] SPEAKER_00: Have you ever perhaps spoken to someone from a cult or a group who have deeply flawed doctrine but found yourself thinking, well what they say on one level seems logical, but I still know it's wrong.
[1:01] SPEAKER_00: I think the most obvious one is the belief that many hold about the fact that membership of a church or baptism is the thing that is required for salvation.
[1:11] SPEAKER_00: Now that I believe is a wrong theological position and the Bible is clear on that.
[1:16] SPEAKER_00: But if you actually engage with those and listen to those who teach it, they can appear to build what seems to be a logical case.
[1:24] SPEAKER_00: Often they'll start with Acts chapter 2, 38, and they'll string together verses and present an argument that does indeed and can sometimes sound coherent.
[1:33] SPEAKER_00: So how is it possible to have the right logic around something but have it used to support a wrong idea?
[1:41] SPEAKER_00: Well, the answer is actually fairly straightforward.
[1:44] SPEAKER_00: Logic built on a false foundation will always lead to a false conclusion.
[1:50] SPEAKER_00: And in the Old Testament we have a king who makes that tragic mistake.
[1:54] SPEAKER_00: Here is a man whose thinking on one level was logical, but whose spirituality and his theology was catastrophically wrong, and his name is Ahas.
[2:05] SPEAKER_00: And we're going to meet him in today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast.
[2:42] SPEAKER_00: A man who's recorded in limited details in 1 Chronicles, but whose spiritual collapse is developed in great detail here.
[2:51] SPEAKER_00: One commentary I read notes that the hardness of heart Ahaz exemplified became one of the reasons for Israel's eventual exile.
[3:00] SPEAKER_00: Now at this moment in Judah's history, the nation desperately needed a faithful son of David.
[3:05] SPEAKER_00: They needed a king who would listen well to the prophets around him, who would obey the word and would lead people back to God.
[3:11] SPEAKER_00: And Isaiah tells us that such a king was promised and sorely needed.
[3:16] SPEAKER_00: But in the meantime, well, we've got Ahaz.
[3:19] SPEAKER_00: Now this chapter will unfold for us in four clear movements.
[3:24] SPEAKER_00: Firstly, his defection, how he abandoned the Lord, then his defeat, which is really how God disciplines him, then the appeal he makes where he turns for help, and his decision, the tragic choice he finally makes.
[3:38] SPEAKER_00: So let's begin with verse one and cover the whole chapter today and look together at the life of Ahaz, a king whose logic makes sense, but whose theology will lead him and the nation into darkness.
[3:52] SPEAKER_00: And verse 1 introduces to us this tragic figure at the center of this chapter.
[3:57] SPEAKER_00: It says, Ahaz was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done.
[4:08] SPEAKER_00: So Ahaz remembers ruling in the southern kingdom, Judah, but he is said to be the most wicked king Judah had ever known.
[4:17] SPEAKER_00: His reign is going to be a study in spiritual collapse.
[4:21] SPEAKER_00: He was a man whose logic made sense to him, but whose theology was catastrophically wrong.
[4:28] SPEAKER_00: Verse 2 then explains the direction of his life.
[4:32] SPEAKER_00: He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made cast images for the Baals.
[4:38] SPEAKER_00: So instead of following David, the model king, Ahaz followed the wicked kings of the northern kingdom.
[4:44] SPEAKER_00: And he embraced their idolatry, and he adopted their practice, and he followed their theology, and that is what plunged Judah into darkness.
[4:52] SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 sadly takes us even deeper into that perspective.
[4:57] SPEAKER_00: He burned incense in the valley of Benhinom and sacrificed his children in the fire, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
[5:09] SPEAKER_00: Now this verse is absolutely critical for our understanding of the Old Testament.
[5:14] SPEAKER_00: Ahaz burned incense and offered his own children as sacrifices to the fire in the valley of Hinmon.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: That's just south of Jerusalem.
[5:24] SPEAKER_00: The valley was a center of a horrific pagan ritual associated with the Ammonite god Molech.
[5:31] SPEAKER_00: The law of Moses condemned this practice vehemently.
[5:34] SPEAKER_00: It was recognized as the most detestable form of idolatry that existed at that time.
[5:40] SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm going to unpack this a little more, but just a bit of a trigger warning here.
[5:46] SPEAKER_00: What I'm going to talk about will be particularly upsetting.
[5:50] SPEAKER_00: So, if you have younger children who listen to this podcast, I recommend you move it forward five or six minutes.
[5:56] SPEAKER_00: But I don't do this slightly.
[5:58] SPEAKER_00: I feel I need to do this because the main attack that I hear made against what the Bible teaches, the descriptions of violence that the nation of Israel used against idolatrous nations in the lands that they faced, lived in, or conquered.
[6:16] SPEAKER_00: Many people struggle to reconcile it.
[6:18] SPEAKER_00: But understanding the nature of the pagan rituals around those people in those lands that Israel were contesting with gives you an insight into what is really going on here and at what point God laid down a lion in a line in the sand that once crossed needed to be dealt with and destroyed completely.
[6:41] SPEAKER_00: Which is why I feel I need to give you this extra information.
[6:45] SPEAKER_00: Now the worship of Molech was one, well, the most abhorrent religious practice in the ancient Near East in that time, and scripture repeatedly condemns it.
[6:56] SPEAKER_00: It names it as an abomination, and both, here's the important point, and both archaeology and classical ritual confirm that it existed and confirmed its brutality independently of what the Bible says.
[7:10] SPEAKER_00: The Old Testament, of course, itself frequently describes Molech worship as involving child sacrifice by far.
[7:17] SPEAKER_00: We've just heard it now.
[7:19] SPEAKER_00: But Leviticus 18 made it clear that God's position was that that was forbidden.
[7:24] SPEAKER_00: That was a red line.
[7:26] SPEAKER_00: No one must ever sacrifice their children.
[7:29] SPEAKER_00: Certainly should not give your children to be sacrificed to another idol, a god called Molech.
[7:36] SPEAKER_00: Leviticus 20 actually says, anyone who sacrifices a child to Molech must be put to death.
[7:42] SPEAKER_00: God Himself will set his face against them.
[7:45] SPEAKER_00: And in 2 Kings 23, verse 10, Josiah destroys the site where the children, as it was described, were being passed through the fire and offered to Molech.
[7:55] SPEAKER_00: And in the prophet Jeremiah's book, chapter 32, verse 35, it says Judah built high places in order to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, a practice that Jeremiah says God calls detestable.
[8:10] SPEAKER_00: Now, this worship, the centre of it, took place primarily in and around this valley of Hinnom, also which has the name Gehenna.
[8:19] SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that's familiar to you.
[8:20] SPEAKER_00: It was south of Jerusalem, and it later became a symbol, a name, a way of recognizing and describing hell because of its association with this type of activity and indeed with the burning fires there in judgment.
[8:35] SPEAKER_00: So what the ritual actually involved, now it's not just me saying this, the most authoritative Bible encyclopedias and commentaries agree that Moloch worship did factually actually involve burning children alive.
[8:50] SPEAKER_00: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states the cult of Molach involved sacrificing children by throwing them into a raging fire.
[9:00] SPEAKER_00: The Bible Gateway, my main source online, their encyclopedia, explains that the principal sacrifices to Molach were human victims, namely children who were cast alive into the red-heart arms of his statue.
[9:13] SPEAKER_00: Now the idol's form is also found and described for us in many classical descriptions.
[9:18] SPEAKER_00: Both Carthaginian and Phoenician have parallel passages, and they describe Moloch's statue as a hollow bronze statue, often with the head of a bull, and outstretched arms heated to red hot, and children were placed in those arms, and then they were rolled from that into the furnace below.
[9:37] SPEAKER_00: That imagery is preserved and seen in many Greco-Roman sources, including the Phoenician and writings of the Punic prophets, which provide overwhelming evidence of those exact practices in that cultural sphere.
[9:51] SPEAKER_00: The Carthaginian excavations, where a Harvard archaeologist named Lawrence Steiger uncovered over 20,000, 20,000 urns containing cremated infant bones and charred remains mixed with animal bones, substitutionary sacrificed, and inscribed that these are stelii, as they were called, dedicated to Molech.
[10:16] SPEAKER_00: Other Phoenician sites are filled with what are called trophs, in other words, remains kept as trophies with identical features, and they've been found all over the place, even as far west as Sardinia, as Sardinia and Sicily, and even Tunisia, which of course at that time was Carthage.
[10:39] SPEAKER_00: All these sources confirm that child sacrifice by fire was a widespread practice, and it was this culture that influenced the tribes of Amon and those in Canaan.
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: There's also evidence in Judah via excavations in the Valley of Hinom itself, burnt layers, cult vessels, and cremation deposits of infants dating back, it's estimated from the 7th century BC.
[11:05] SPEAKER_00: So this had been going on for hundreds of years before Israel and Judah even occupied the land.
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: But there's also classical history testimony.
[11:15] SPEAKER_00: Greek or Roman historians independently confirmed that they heard or saw child burning rituals among the Phoenician peoples, the cultural relatives of Ammon.
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: A guy called Diodorus Sicilius wrote that the Carthaginians burnt children to Kronos during any time there was any form of crisis.
[11:36] SPEAKER_00: And a statement saying infants were rolled into the Farry pit was cited by Pophy in the 3rd century BC.
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: Drums, in fact, were developed as an instrument to be beaten to drown out the cry of the infants and indeed the parents themselves.
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: Philio of Biblis records that in the first century AD.
[12:39] SPEAKER_00: These accounts they provide backup and they match the biblical description of Molech worship described here in our Old Testament.
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: So why Molech worship, why was it so horrific?
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: Well, I suppose it's obvious, but we still need to define it.
[12:56] SPEAKER_00: First of all, A, it violated this principle of the sanctity of life.
[13:00] SPEAKER_00: Child sacrifice is the ultimate rejection of God's image existing in humanity.
[13:05] SPEAKER_00: B, it reversed the meaning of sacrifice.
[13:08] SPEAKER_00: Instead of God giving his son for humanity, as described for us in passages in the Bible, like Romans 8 32, Moloch instead demanded human son sacrifice to a false god.
[13:22] SPEAKER_00: And thirdly, it represented total covenant rebellion.
[13:27] SPEAKER_00: The prophets saw and taught that Moloch worship represented the final stage of Israel's apostasy, the point at which the judgment becomes inevitable because of their rejection of the covenant that God had made with them.
[13:44] SPEAKER_00: So across all these categories, biblical, archaeological, and classical writings, the evidence all converges and it meets the scripture and says that child sacrifice by fire existed and it was completely, repeatedly condemned by God.
[14:02] SPEAKER_00: And there's no serious debate about this across any of the academic disciplines.
[14:09] SPEAKER_00: Molech worship was one of the most horrific practices recorded, not just in the ancient world, but in the entire history of religious practices.
[14:19] SPEAKER_00: And historically and spiritually and theologically, it did and has always represented the point where God says enough is enough.
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: Israel had flirted with idolatry for generations, but when they embraced child sacrifice, judgment became inevitable.
[14:39] SPEAKER_00: This was the was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back spiritually and theologically speaking.
[14:46] SPEAKER_00: Ahaz revived that as a ritual, one that had not been practiced since the days of Solomon, since around the time shortly around and after Solomon, and it says he encouraged all this and all forms of idolatry throughout Judah.
[15:03] SPEAKER_00: So these opening verses reveal his defection.
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: He rejected David's example.
[15:08] SPEAKER_00: He followed the wicked kings of the north, he embraced their idolatry and practiced child sacrifice, and that is what Judah led into, a state which is described as an abomination.
[15:21] SPEAKER_00: This is the spiritual foundation of the chapter and explains everything that follows, and it also explains almost every situation where we see God or God's people wiping out a people in the land.
[15:35] SPEAKER_00: And that's what's going on here, and that's what God is going to deal with, but this time initially on a personal level.
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: You see, because of Ahaz's idolatry, God here delivers him into the hands of what we would today call the Syrians.
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: They defeated him and they carried away, as it's described, a great multitude of captives and brought them to Damascus.
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: And then the northern kingdom attacked.
[16:10] SPEAKER_00: Verse 5 continues.
[16:12] SPEAKER_00: He was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him.
[16:17] SPEAKER_00: And then it goes on to explain the scale of the disaster.
[16:21] SPEAKER_00: Pikah killed 120,000 soldiers in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: So 120,000, people who are described as brave men, all killed in a single day.
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: This is staggering.
[16:38] SPEAKER_00: This is one of the greatest military losses that we see recorded in the entire Bible.
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: And the writer is clear here, it happened because Judah had forsaken the Lord and embraced these practices.
[16:49] SPEAKER_00: And then verse 8 adds another layer to it.
[16:52] SPEAKER_00: The Israelites carried away 200,000 women's sons and daughters, and they took much plunder and brought it to Samaria.
[17:00] SPEAKER_00: So 200,000 are captured, women, children, daughters, taken from Judah by the northern kingdom of Israel, and their intention was to enslave effectively their own brothers and sisters, which was also something strictly forbidden in Mosaic law.
[17:19] SPEAKER_00: Now Ahaz was not totally overwhelmed and overcome.
[17:23] SPEAKER_00: The accounts of these same events in 2 Kings 16 make that clear.
[17:27] SPEAKER_00: But he was, and the whole state of Judah was in a position of extreme jeopardy.
[17:34] SPEAKER_00: His idolatry had brought upon him and the nation this disaster.
[17:39] SPEAKER_00: But then a prophet intervenes, because in verse 9 we get introduced to a rather surprising figure.
[17:45] SPEAKER_00: It says a prophet of the Lord arose and his name was Oded.
[17:50] SPEAKER_00: Now this previously unknown prophet arises and confronts the northern kingdom as they're returning to Samaria with their captives, and he says to them, Because the Lord was angry with Judah, he delivered them into your hands, but you have slaughtered them in a range, in a rage, and that reaches up to heaven.
[18:07] SPEAKER_00: So in a sense Israel had been God's instrument of judgment, but their cruelty had gone way beyond what God had intended of them.
[18:16] SPEAKER_00: It then says, And now you plan to make the people of Judah and Jerusalem your slave, but aren't you also guilty before the Lord your God now?
[18:25] SPEAKER_00: In other words, you were used to judge Judah, but now you by your actions are guilty too.
[18:31] SPEAKER_00: Now listen to me, the Prophet says in verse eleven, send back your phys your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord's fierce anger now rests on you.
[18:41] SPEAKER_00: So the Prophet warns them, and he warns them in the strongest possible returns.
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: Return the people you've captured, captured and enslaved, he said.
[18:49] SPEAKER_00: Release your brethren, and stop your cruelty, because God's anger is burning upon against you now.
[18:56] SPEAKER_00: Now the word face that is describing God's anger here comes from the Hebrew root word that means hate.
[19:03] SPEAKER_00: So this is a burning intensity of divine wrath being explained here.
[19:08] SPEAKER_00: Israel has gone way too far, and God has sent a prophet to stop them in their tracks.
[19:14] SPEAKER_00: But verse twelve shows us Israel's response.
[19:18] SPEAKER_00: Some of the heads of Ephraim, Azariah, Berechiah, Jehezekah, and Amasah stood up against those returning from war.
[19:27] SPEAKER_00: So the leaders, some of them anyway, confront the soldiers who are bringing the captives from Judah back to Samaria, and they say, You shall not bring the captives here, for we have already offended the Lord, and you intend to add to our sins and guilt, for our guilt is great, and there's a fierce wrath against Israel.
[19:45] SPEAKER_00: In other words, look, guys, we're already under God's judgment.
[19:49] SPEAKER_00: We've sinned enough.
[19:50] SPEAKER_00: If we now enslave our brothers and sisters from Judah, we'll only increase our guilt before the Lord, and God's fierce anger is already burning against us.
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: So it appears the prophet's rebuke in verses nine to eleven has struck home.
[20:04] SPEAKER_00: These leaders, some of them anyway, listened and they understood, and then they responded.
[20:10] SPEAKER_00: The narrative continues.
[20:17] SPEAKER_00: Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt?
[20:20] SPEAKER_00: For our guilt is already great, and his fierced anger rests on Israel.
[20:24] SPEAKER_00: So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly.
[20:31] SPEAKER_00: So the armed men left the captives and the plunder with the leaders of the assembly.
[20:37] SPEAKER_00: The prophet's message had worked.
[20:39] SPEAKER_00: The leaders of the northern kingdom have stopped their own soldiers in their tracks, and then becomes one of the few beautiful scenes in this passage in verse 15.
[20:49] SPEAKER_00: It says, The men designated by name took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked.
[20:56] SPEAKER_00: They gave them sandals, provided food and drink, and anointed them, and they carried all the feeble on donkeys, and they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of Palms, and they returned to Samaria.
[21:09] SPEAKER_00: So this is astonishing, really.
[21:11] SPEAKER_00: It's a turnaround.
[21:12] SPEAKER_00: The northern kingdom Israel, who had just slaughtered a hundred and twenty thousand of the men of Judah, and who had taken these two hundred thousand women and children captive, who intended, let's be clear, to enslave them, now instead clothes them, feeds them, anoints them, and places the ill and the infirm on donkeys, and then personally escorts them back to Jericho so they can be reunited with their families.
[21:37] SPEAKER_00: So here we see some mercy in the middle of all this judgment.
[21:41] SPEAKER_00: There is compassion in the conflict, and there is obedience in the middle of what up to this point has been out and out rebellion.
[21:49] SPEAKER_00: Rebellion.
[21:50] SPEAKER_00: And it all happened because just one prophet, a guy named Oded, spoke the word of the Lord.
[21:56] SPEAKER_00: Now, some scholars have suggested that this scene may have been a background source for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan that we see in Luke 10.
[22:05] SPEAKER_00: And the parallels are indeed striking.
[22:08] SPEAKER_00: Compassion is offered, clothing the needy, providing food and care, placing the weak on animals, restoring people to safety.
[22:16] SPEAKER_00: Now, whether Jesus has this story in mind or not is a discussion, but we have to agree that the resemblance between these two stories at a level is undeniable, and that the lesson behind it is powerful in both accounts.
[22:32] SPEAKER_00: So, in this chapter, so far we've seen Ahaz's defection, he abandoned the Lord, Ahaz's defeat.
[22:39] SPEAKER_00: God disciplines him through Syria and then Israel, the northern tribes in the northern kingdom, and then Israel's mercy.
[22:47] SPEAKER_00: Their minds change by this prophet, and they return the captives, and they indeed care for them on that journey back.
[22:53] SPEAKER_00: But now the chapter moves to the third section, and Ahaz decides to turn and try and get some help for the situation he's found himself in.
[23:02] SPEAKER_00: Verse 16 says, At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.
[23:08] SPEAKER_00: Now this is a tragic turn of events.
[23:11] SPEAKER_00: Instead of turning to the Lord, instead of responding to God's discipline, instead of listening to Isaiah's and others' warnings, in fact the warning is recorded in Isaiah chapter 7, by the way, Ahaz turns to Assyria with the neighboring pagan superpower.
[23:28] SPEAKER_00: He rejects God's help and he seeks help from God's enemies instead.
[23:33] SPEAKER_00: He ignores even the kindness shown by Israel in the north and instead pursues an alliance with a nation known for their cruelty.
[23:41] SPEAKER_00: Why?
[23:42] SPEAKER_00: Well because the pressure was mounting on him, and Edomites were attacking from the east.
[23:47] SPEAKER_00: Philistines were invading from the west, and other enemies were pressing in from the south.
[23:52] SPEAKER_00: Syria was threatened from all sides, and Ahaz felt surrounded, and he felt desperate and vulnerable.
[23:59] SPEAKER_00: But instead of turning to God, or maybe trying to speak to the northern tribe of Israel, he instead turns to Assyria.
[24:07] SPEAKER_00: And verse 16 explains the consequences of that situation that continued to arise.
[24:14] SPEAKER_00: It says, The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captive.
[24:18] SPEAKER_00: And then verse 18 adds, the Philistines raided the towns in the foothills and the Negev of Judah.
[24:25] SPEAKER_00: So why is all this happening?
[24:27] SPEAKER_00: Well, the chronicler then tells us very straightforwardly and plainly, because the Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.
[24:41] SPEAKER_00: So it's Ahaz's idolatry in the detestable way described that is the thing that brings national humiliation.
[24:50] SPEAKER_00: It was his unfaithfulness that brought the nation to a point of spiritual weakness and his personal rebellion that is the thing and his flirting with the sacrificial practices of Molech that brought national collapse.
[25:08] SPEAKER_00: And Ahaz, at this point of desperation, turns to Assyria.
[25:13] SPEAKER_00: Verse 20 tells us Tiglath Pilser, king of Assyria, came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help.
[25:20] SPEAKER_00: That's not a surprise, is it?
[25:21] SPEAKER_00: So Ahaz's planned backfires.
[25:24] SPEAKER_00: Now he has taken treasures from the temple and the royal palaces, as well as resources from the leaders of Judah, and he gives them to this king of Assyria.
[25:33] SPEAKER_00: But what happens?
[25:34] SPEAKER_00: Assyria doesn't help him.
[25:36] SPEAKER_00: One commentator writes he hired the Assyrians with gold from the temple and the king's house.
[25:42] SPEAKER_00: But Assyria deceives him.
[25:44] SPEAKER_00: Now Assyria does indeed attack Syria, but not to help Ahaz, but to expand their own empire.
[25:50] SPEAKER_00: The Assyrians demand heavy tribute, meaning Assyria is now draining Judah's wealth.
[25:56] SPEAKER_00: And Ahaz, while in Damascus, becomes enamoured with the gods of Syria now, the very gods of the nation that had defeated him.
[26:05] SPEAKER_00: And his alliance with Assyria is going to be the thing that proves costly.
[26:09] SPEAKER_00: And his willingness to subjugate himself now to the Syrian idols is that which will prove fatal.
[26:17] SPEAKER_00: Ahaz is establishing idolatry so deeply in Judah that even his godly son Hezekiah could not fully root it out afterwards.
[26:26] SPEAKER_00: And when Ahaz died, he's not even buried in the tombs of the king, the kings, which is a final sign of his disgrace.
[26:34] SPEAKER_00: And verse 22 tells us in the time of his dread distress, King Isaac became even more unfaithful to the Lord.
[26:41] SPEAKER_00: So at the great turning point that came before him when he reached rock bottom, instead of repenting and humbling himself, instead of seeking God, Ahaz just becomes more unfaithful.
[26:53] SPEAKER_00: And it goes on to tell us he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him.
[26:59] SPEAKER_00: For he thought, since the gods of King of the Kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them now so that they might help me.
[27:07] SPEAKER_00: But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.
[27:11] SPEAKER_00: That's verse 23.
[27:12] SPEAKER_00: This is the tragic logic of a heart that has lost its way to God.
[27:18] SPEAKER_00: He said himself, their gods help them, maybe their gods will help me.
[27:22] SPEAKER_00: I will sacrifice to the gods of the nation that defeated me.
[27:27] SPEAKER_00: So, in one sense, that might be appear logical, but of course it's wrong.
[27:34] SPEAKER_00: It's coherent in an earthly way, but it's deadly in a spiritual and theological way for Judah.
[27:42] SPEAKER_00: It is rational in one level, but spiritually it's insane.
[27:47] SPEAKER_00: Ah's logic made sense to him, but it was built on a false foundation.
[27:52] SPEAKER_00: And logic built on false foundations will always lead to false conclusions and false decisions being made.
[27:59] SPEAKER_00: And Ahaz decision here ruined him, and indeed it ruined Judah.
[28:04] SPEAKER_00: In the time of distress, instead of turning to the Lord, Ahaz doubles down on his rebellion, and he becomes increasingly unfaithful by now also sacrificing to the gods of Damascus.
[28:16] SPEAKER_00: And his reasoning is straightforward, simple, and defined by him saying, Because the gods of the king of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them as well, and hope they'll help me.
[28:28] SPEAKER_00: It sounds logical at one level, but it is of course spiritually disastrous.
[28:32] SPEAKER_00: And you want to know how that got worked out for him?
[28:35] SPEAKER_00: Verse 25 shows us and also shows us how far he goes.
[28:39] SPEAKER_00: It says he gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them into pieces.
[28:44] SPEAKER_00: He shut the doors of the Lord's temple and set up altars on every street corner in Jerusalem and in every town of Judah.
[28:51] SPEAKER_00: He built high places to burn sacrifices to the other gods, and aroused the anger of the Lord the God of his fathers.
[28:58] SPEAKER_00: So he's really no go there's no bounds here, is there?
[29:01] SPEAKER_00: He plunders the temple itself, breaks up the sacred articles, shuts the doors on the temples, builds multiple pagan altars in Jerusalem, and spreads idolatry throughout the entire land.
[29:13] SPEAKER_00: He's fully abandoned the Lord now, and he's robbed the temple of its resources and shut it down and replaced true worship at the temple with now a network of pagan shrines all over the land.
[29:26] SPEAKER_00: And this really provokes the anger of the Lord to the highest degree.
[29:31] SPEAKER_00: His logic now has become deeply confused.
[29:34] SPEAKER_00: He's almost fully, it seemed, adopted the gods of Syria while speaking political help from Assyria, two different nations who themselves are at war with each other.
[29:45] SPEAKER_00: And his promise was Syria defeated me, therefore their gods must be powerful.
[29:50] SPEAKER_00: And his logic was, his premise was, Syria defeated me, therefore their gods must be powerful, more powerful than my god, so if I worship their gods now, they'll help me.
[29:59] SPEAKER_00: But he ignored the obvious.
[30:01] SPEAKER_00: Assyria later conquered Syria, and if Syrian gods were truly powerful, why did they not protect their own people?
[30:08] SPEAKER_00: So his logic was not even actually logical.
[30:12] SPEAKER_00: It was consistent, but it was built and established on a false premise.
[30:18] SPEAKER_00: And verse 26 reminds us the other events of Ahaz's reign from beginning to end are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
[30:27] SPEAKER_00: Now the chronicler is selective in his account of events here.
[30:31] SPEAKER_00: He's choosing the events that make the spiritual point he wants to make.
[30:35] SPEAKER_00: And he concludes by saying, Ahaz rested with his fathers, just meaning he had died, and he was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tomb of the kings of Israel, and Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
[30:48] SPEAKER_00: So it's factual information here.
[30:50] SPEAKER_00: But even in his death, Ahaz's burial is marked by as an example of disgrace.
[30:57] SPEAKER_00: He's buried in Jerusalem, but not even in the royal tombs.
[31:00] SPEAKER_00: So his summary is simple.
[31:02] SPEAKER_00: Ahaz was defeated because of his idolatry, and his unfaithfulness increased because he believed in pagan gods, and God gave his enemies a victory because of that, and his logic, his twisted logic, learned led him to a wrong theology because it started with a wrong premise.
[31:24] SPEAKER_00: And that is the heart of what this chapter is trying to tell us.
[31:27] SPEAKER_00: It actually warns that you can be perfectly logical on one level and still be completely wrong if you begin with a false foundation.
[31:37] SPEAKER_00: Ahaz assumes that the gods of Syria gave them their victory, but in reality it was the Lord God Himself who gave Syria victory as a judgment on Ahaz's idolatry.
[31:49] SPEAKER_00: Once the premise is wrong, the logic, no matter how neatly it ties together, will always lead to a wrong conclusion.
[31:57] SPEAKER_00: And that's why this passage is so important.
[32:00] SPEAKER_00: You can listen to people who believe all sorts of things, who belong to cults even, and think what they say sounds logical.
[32:09] SPEAKER_00: But the premise has to be is what is their starting point?
[32:12] SPEAKER_00: What premise are they starting from?
[32:15] SPEAKER_00: Take that teaching I mentioned at the start of being baptized to be saved.
[32:19] SPEAKER_00: As I said, they'll often begin with that New Testament phrase, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.
[32:26] SPEAKER_00: And they assume the word for means in order to get forgiveness.
[32:32] SPEAKER_00: But it can of course also mean get baptized because you have forgiveness.
[32:39] SPEAKER_00: Now you can go to the shop and buy bread and milk, and you can head off and go there in order to get it.
[32:46] SPEAKER_00: But if you get sent to jail to murder, you don't get sent to jail in order to murder, you get sent to jail because you have committed murder.
[32:55] SPEAKER_00: So in Acts 2, in this phrase here, the question is, does for the remission of sins mean in order to get forgiveness, or because you have received forgiveness?
[33:06] SPEAKER_00: Well, it is the second, and how we do we know?
[33:08] SPEAKER_00: Well, listen to Peter himself later in Acts.
[33:11] SPEAKER_00: He says in chapter 10, verse 43, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
[33:19] SPEAKER_00: So forgiveness comes by faith, not the act of baptism.
[33:24] SPEAKER_00: So Acts 28 must mean repent and be baptized because your sins have been forgiven.
[33:30] SPEAKER_00: Baptism is because of salvation, not in order to gain or obtain salvation.
[33:36] SPEAKER_00: And anyone who teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation teaches it because they're starting with the wrong premise.
[33:43] SPEAKER_00: The logic may sound tidy, but the foundation upon which it's established is flawed.
[33:49] SPEAKER_00: So here's the lesson here, friends.
[33:52] SPEAKER_00: Make sure your premises in life about what you believe are biblical and then be logical about them.
[33:59] SPEAKER_00: If the starting point is wrong, then the conclusion you will reach will be wrong, no matter how clever the reasoning or thinking behind it.
[34:08] SPEAKER_00: And this chapter, Anna Heise's tragic illustration and end, is a really helpful and insightful illustration of that truth.
[34:18] SPEAKER_00: And I hope you found it helpful today! Now we've watched this guy Ahaz literally think himself into spiritual ruin.
[34:58] SPEAKER_00: He's used logic built on false premises, which has ended up in him plundering the temple, shutting the doors on it, and spreading idolatry throughout all of Judah.
[35:08] SPEAKER_00: And to him it all seemed logical.
[35:11] SPEAKER_00: But the story will not end with Ahaz, because his son Hezekiah will step onto the stage in tomorrow's chapter, 2 Chronicles chapter 9.
[35:20] SPEAKER_00: And he well he does the very opposite of his father.
[35:24] SPEAKER_00: Where Ahaz closed the temple, Hezekiah opens it again.
[35:27] SPEAKER_00: Where Ahaz turned to idol, Hezekiah turns to the Lord, and where Ahaz followed his own logic, Hezekiah models his responses based on the word of Lord in the words of his response.
[35:42] SPEAKER_00: Now in tomorrow's chapter I've titled the title How to Know the Correct Response.
[35:47] SPEAKER_00: And that's very important because we're going to look at how Hezekiah responds to a nation that is effectively in spiritual ruin and how his actions can give us a pattern for responding rightly to things in life where things have gone on for us.
[36:01] SPEAKER_00: Even how to respond when our hearts just feel cold or when our lives need some sort of spiritual or emotional repair.
[36:09] SPEAKER_00: So I'd love you to come back again and join with me as we move from wrong logic, built on false premises, to right logic and the response of being a true way to appreciate and indeed reflect that appreciation and true worship of God.
[36:25] SPEAKER_00: And until then, my prayer is that the Lord will continue to guard your mind and anchor everything you believe in His Word and teach you to think clearly from biblical premises so that your logic leads you closer to Him and not further away from Him.
[36:42] SPEAKER_00: And finally, I just want to say a heartfelt thank you for everyone of you who listen to this podcast wherever you listen to it.
[36:51] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing it.
[36:52] SPEAKER_00: I really couldn't do it without the motivation of God.
[36:55] SPEAKER_00: There are so many of you, so many of you around the world in over 200 countries who listen and appreciate what I'm doing here.
[37:03] SPEAKER_00: And a particular thank you to those who support this ministry through Patreon.
[37:07] SPEAKER_00: It is your generosity and your prayers and your encouragement, but truly, without that and your help in all those ways, I couldn't do it without you.
[37:19] SPEAKER_00: Practically, I would not be able to devote the time needed to study and prepare and write and record these episodes across this and my other podcasts.
[37:27] SPEAKER_00: So understand that you are the reason that this teaching reaches all those listeners around the world, in all those countries around the world, and to you I am deeply grateful and indeed give my thanks and prayer for you all in your own situations because of that.
[37:45] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me today.
[37:47] SPEAKER_00: Bye bye for Natalie.

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