“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)
As I was looking at the passage of Scripture for today’s study, the thought kept coming to my mind, “Where do I turn when I need help?” Before we begin this morning, I want you to ask yourself that same question: Where do you turn in times of trouble, questioning, exhaustion, confusion, or stress?
Hosea 5:13 says something that I find extremely interesting:
“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.”
So what exactly is Hosea talking about? You see, the Israelites at this time were searching everywhere for help and deliverance….everywhere that is, besides the Lord. Even their leader, King Ahaz, was turning to other nations in times of distress rather than the one true God. The problem: only God can truly save!
Read the passages below, and think about the questions that follow:
“Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction.” (2 Kings 16:10)
“King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: ‘On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.'” (2 Kings 16:15)
“[Ahaz] offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, ‘Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.'” (2 Chronicles 28:23)
- Where did King Ahaz go, and what did he see?
- What were the King’s orders for the new altar?
- What would now be done with the “old” bronze altar?
- According to 2 Chronicles, why did he do this?
That’s a lot of information about altars and sacrificing, but stick with me for a second. If you remember from Exodus, God instructed Moses to build the bronze altar as part of the Tabernacle, God’s original dwelling place among the Israelites. He gave specific instructions for its building that, as we see in the book of Hebrews, represented something Heavenly and Holy. Later on, God instructed Solomon to build the temple, which was modeled after the same design. Do you see the trend? God instructed. These were not merely man-made buildings and structures; they were Holy places, with symbolic articles representing a very REAL God.
Knowing all of that, fast forward to the time of Hosea. Not only did King Ahaz remove silver and gold from the temple to give to the Assyrian king, but he actually built a new altar for sacrifice and used the original bronze one as a way to “seek guidance” from the Lord. When the Scripture says he offered up offerings on the new one, this is a way of showing that he actually dedicated his new man-made altar to the Lord. Think about that. He tried to do Holy things following worldly ways. Have you ever done that? Have you ever attempted to dedicate to the Lord something that clearly was of your own design? I know I have; it’s easy to get into the habit of telling God what we will do for Him, rather than being obedient to what He’s actually calling us to do.
My foes are many, they rise against meBut I will hold my groundI will not fear the war, I will not fear the stormMy help is on the way, my help is on the wayOh, my God, He will not delayMy refuge and strength alwaysI will not fear, His promise is trueMy God will come through always…always