Ruins
(No. 2565)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 10, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 11, 1883.
"But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel." 2 Chronicles 28:23.
I HAVE a little to say about the condition of Judah under Ahaz before I
come to personal dealing with souls from this text. God had given to
His people a very simple mode of worship. He was the invisible and only
living God and they were to worship Him in spirit and in truth. There
was to be one altar and that was to be at Jerusalem. But all the rest
of the world was given up to idolatry and the Israelites were not a
very spiritual people, so, by-and-by, they wanted something to see,
some image, some symbol. When the 10 tribes broke off from Judah, they
set up images of a bull to represent the strength of Deity. Those who
kept to the worship of the invisible Jehovah without emblems, ridiculed
these symbols, and called the bulls, in contempt, calves. But the
calf-worship became very strong throughout Israel and there were many
in Judah who were attracted to it. It was the worship of God, but it
was the worship of God in a wrong way, for there was a very express
Commandment which forbade it–"You shall not make unto you any graven
image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you
shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord
your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Me."
There are still many who worship idols and images, but they say, "No,
we do not worship them; we worship God through them." Just so, but that
is as much forbidden in the Second Commandment as the worship of other
gods is forbidden in the First–they are both violations of the Divine
Law! When the people of Judah had gone so far as to worship God through
images, they went still farther and bowed down to Baal and Ashtaroth.
They even bowed down to the sun and even flies, for Baal-Zebub, the
"God of Flies," became one of their objects of adoration! Associated
with this idolatry was everything that was sinful. I do not dare tell
you what horrible and loathsome abominations were witnessed in
connection with the worship of these gods.
Do not, however, condemn those Jews and Israelites without remembering
another story. In this world, in later times, the Son of God set up a
pure and undefiled religion in which there was no similitude of God
whatever. But, after a while, they who professed to worship Christ felt
they needed to have a cross and crucifix, pictures and images. Of
course they did not worship the cross, or the crucifix, or the
pictures, or the images! No, but they professed to worship Christ by
the help of these things. That was the first violation of the
simplicity of worship and it was, in reality, departing from the living
God. In a very short time they took to the worship of saints–and from
that they went to the worship of cast clouts and rotten rags until some
of us have seen, with our own eyes, bones–supposed to be the bones of
saints– decayed teeth and all kinds of rubbish made the subjects of
worship when they have been exposed to the gaze of the deluded people!
Into such idolatry, by slow degrees, did those fall who professed to
call themselves Christians–and only three or four hundred years ago,
from one end of this island to the other, the land was full of "holy
crucifixes," images, relics and I know not what! The people were
utterly given up to idolatry and the Gospel of God was scarcely known!
Then rang out, clear and shrill, the voices of Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin
and the like and, after a while, men arose who said, "We will worship
none but God–and all these images we utterly abhor." There was, for
them, nothing but the prison, the stake and all manner of cruel
deaths–but they were steadfast even unto the end! You know how brave
Hugh
Latimer, as he began to burn at the stake in his old age, cheered up
his companion by saying, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play
the man! We shall, this day, light such a candle by God's Grace in
England as I trust shall never be put out." And so they did. There came
out to die for Christ, poor, humble, illiterate men and women–and some
of noble rank! And even bishops could sometimes take their share of the
persecution and die until, at last, men began to hate the idols by
reason of the cruelty which was used in keeping them up! Then came a
revolt against Romanism and all over England men smashed the "holy
water" basins, defaced the pictures, pulled down the images and treated
them with utter contempt! And England was freed from the idolatry under
which she had groaned so long. We thought she would always remain free,
but, alas, we only dreamed it. By-and-by there came men in the
Established Church who did not bid us worship saints, nor did they, at
first, go very far in idolatry, but they said that they must have
vestments, incense and I know not what. And now they have boldly set up
the crucifix–that calf of Baal, for it is nothing better–that image
which they adore and which we loathe because it has become the thin end
of the wedge–the first open return to idolatry!
Where is true Protestant feeling in England? It seems to me to be
almost extinct! All that many care for is an ornate service–something
beautiful for the eyes to rest upon, flowers more abundant than in a
conservatory, music sweet to the ear, the scent of incense and thus,
by-and-by–unless God prevents it–we shall get back to the old Roman
idolatry and that would be the ruin of this land as it has been the
ruin of every land where it has had the sway! Time was when God covered
England with His wing, when Spain's Armada was swept away by the
tempest, like chaff before the wind, and God was with our country and
gave her power and made her to be the empress of the seas. But if she
forsakes her God, she will fall from her heights! If this land becomes
full of images and idols again–and there are none found to protest
against it–the God that lifted us up will throw us down! He that has
used us for His Glory will reckon us to be unfit for His service and
cast us away with other nations that He has forsaken because of their
defilement through idolatry! I will not say more upon this matter, now,
but I will pray about it, and I ask every man who feels as I do to
continue to pray, lest it should be said of us, concerning these idols,
"They were the ruin of him, and of all Israel," for so it must be if we
forsake the living God and turn aside unto gods that are not gods!
Now I come to a more practical matter as far as each individual is
concerned and, first, I shall want you to notice the man ruining
himself. Secondly, the man in ruins. And, thirdly, other people ruined
with him.
I. First, look at THE MAN RUINING HIMSELF.
Sin will ruin any man. If it is not forsaken, it will eternally ruin
him. Ahaz is the type of those who ruin themselves. I daresay many will
at once exclaim, "This description does not belong to us!" Perhaps you
suppose it never could belong to you. Listen, I have seen those who
swore to live a holy life turn aside to the grossest immorality. Often
they have been men who thought they were past temptation and believed
it was utterly impossible that they should turn aside. Let us speak of
Ahaz and, as we do so, let each man take to heart anything that belongs
to himself–and that which does not belong to him, let him pray God to
bless to the one to whom it is suitable.
Here, then, was one who, as a king, began life by determining to be his
own master. He had been told to worship the invisible God with the
simple rites of the Law, but he resolved that he would worship what he
pleased, where he pleased and how he pleased. He was not to be dictated
to! He would select his own gods and worship as many as he pleased. So
he did, "but they were the ruin of him." A man may begin life with this
resolution–"I am not going to be bound by anybody. I shall do as I
like, I shall have my own way. I shall be independent, I am not going
to be obedient to God, nor to hearken to what His Book prescribes. I
shall have what indulgences I choose." If he does so, those indulgences
will be "the ruin of him." That character which has not for its
cornerstone, obedience to God, is a character that will tumble down in
ruins one day or another! O young man, begin life with this resolve, "I
will serve God. I will seek to know His mind and His will, and I will
say to all others, 'Whether it is right to obey God rather than man,
you judge.'"
This man, Ahaz, was also very high-handed in his sin. He even set up
rival altars in the Temple itself! Dreadful as it seems, yet he
imported an altar from Damascus and erected it in the place where had
stood the altar of God! He went beyond his predecessors in his
determination that idolatry should cover all the land–and he
persecuted and oppressed the faithful servants of Jehovah. A man may be
very high-handed against God and sneeringly ask, with Pharaoh, "Who is
the Lord, that I should obey His voice?" But if he does so, it will be
"the ruin of him." Pharaoh did not find the answer. He might continue
to provoke Jehovah, but, in the end, when God had killed the first-born
of Egypt, the chief of all her strength, he learned that it is perilous
for a man to be high-handed with God!
Further, Ahaz also lavished great treasure upon his sin. All the wealth
he had, he was willing to spend in order that he might have his own way
and worship his own gods. Yet, "they were the ruin of him." Perhaps he
was ruined all the faster for that very reason. When a man has plenty
of money and he lets it run away freely, simply that he may sin against
his God and indulge his evil passions, he may seem to flourish for a
while, but let no man envy him, for those passions will be "the ruin of
him." Though the land is full of silver and gold, though there is no
end of the horses and chariots, yet, as the Lord lives, if a man shall
use these in fighting against God, they will be "the ruin of him." That
is how it will end, sooner or later–and probably sooner!
Ahaz also defied the chastisement of God. The Lord punished him by
permitting his enemies to invade his country. His people were carried
away captive, yet he would not humble himself on account of that. The
more he was distressed, the more he sinned. "This is that king Ahaz,"
and we have seen men whom God has terribly smitten, but they have not
yielded to Him. They have even risen from a sick bed more wicked than
when they were stretched upon it–breaking their promises, casting
their vows to the wind and going back, "like the dog to his own vomit,
or the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." They have
said that they cared nothing for pain, sickness, illness–they would
not turn unto the Lord–and thus their sins were the ruin of them. The
blows of God came home to them, at last, and sin slew them, after all!
Yet further, Ahaz was exceedingly clever. He said, "I will make a
friend of Tilgath-Pilneser, the king of Assyria, and he will protect
me. I will put myself in vassalage under him and then the little kings
of Syria and Israel will be afraid to touch me, and I shall be left in
quiet." Ah, men are sometimes very clever in their sin. At least they
think they are! They will not yield to God. They will not become
Christians–they are not such fools! They are so sharp, they will do
well enough! They have a friend, somewhere. They have a card they have
not yet played and a scheme which, when it is revealed, will astonish
you! They will do well enough without God–let those who want Him pray
to Him. Yet their sins will be the ruin of them, for the clever men
shall be taken in their own craftiness and shall be destroyed by the
very instruments with which they sought to promote their
prosperity–even as this man was, for, when the king of Assyria came,
he plundered the palace of Ahaz and took away his wealth–and did not
help him in the least.
Ahaz was also a man of great taste. That was one reason why he was an
idolater–the worship of God, in a simple manner, did not please him,
or gratify his refined taste. He was a cultured and aesthetic
individual, so, when he went down to Damascus and saw an idolatrous
altar, he said, "That is my idea of an altar! I will have one like it."
So the pattern of it was sent off to Jerusalem and Uriah, the priest,
made himself very busy in carrying out the king's wishes so that, by
the time Ahaz came back, there was his new altar all ready. I can
imagine that he said, as he looked at it, "That is the style of altar
for me! I want none of your old-fashioned Davidic altars." Yet those
fine ideas of his were "the ruin of him." And I am afraid there are a
great many persons who will be ruined by their taste–by allowing it to
override conscience and suffering, themselves, to be guided by their
whims and fancies–and not by the teaching of the Word of God. To me
that seems beautiful which God ordains–and that is abominable which
God abhors! May it be so with each one of us, but if we allow our own
taste to lead us into sin, then we shall find that it will be the ruin
of us and of all who do like unto us.
This man–I have not yet completed my portrait of him–had some to back
him who ought to have opposed him. When his predecessor, Uzziah, went
into the Temple to offer incense, the priests withstood him and thrust
him out for he had no right there–and leprosy came upon his brow and
he hasted to go out. But when Ahaz wanted this new altar, Uriah the
priest was quite ready to adapt himself to his lord's ideas. He would,
of course, prefer the old-fashioned low church but, still, he was a
very broad-minded man and he was willing to have a high church altar
set up if his majesty wished it. And when his majesty said so and when
he came and offered sacrifices upon it, Uriah did not say a word
against it. How could he? It was a State church and, therefore, the
king did as he liked! That style of action is often seen in religious
and social life. A man does wrong and the Christian minister who ought
to speak plainly to him about it, does not dare to do so! Perhaps the
minister, who ought to be faithful for his Master's sake, thinks that,
for the sake of peace, he had better not interfere and so he does not.
Then the guilty man says, "It does not matter what I do, I have a
priest at the back of me, I shall be all right." Yet his sins are "the
ruin of him" for all that. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall
not be unpunished."
This man, Ahaz, had another thought within his mind, namely, that he
would imitate prosperous sinners. ' 'Look," he said, "at the king of
Syria. Look how he prospers! I will worship his gods and then I shall
prosper, too." "But they were the ruin of him." That is where the
emphasis of the text comes in. I have known a man say in deeds, if not
in words, "I know what I will do. I have no trust in God nor in His
Providence, but there is So-and-So who has a very clever way of making
money, I shall do as he does." Oh, the many who have found that this
mode of action has been the ruin of them– when they have broken loose
from the bonds of integrity and righteousness–and have begun to play
fast and loose with honesty and truth! Take heed, dear Friends, not to
imitate the prosperous sinner, for if you do, you may be sure that
following his plans will be the ruin of you! Envy not the man who gets
rich by that which is not straightforward, for he must come to an evil
end.
It was so with Ahaz, for he abandoned the worship of God altogether. He
broke up the holy vessels of God's House, put out all the lamps which
had burned perpetually and shut up the doors of the House of the Lord.
This is the case, nowadays, with men who say that they have done with
religion. Nobody in their house goes to a place of worship. They have
no Bibles to bother them, they care nothing about the Sabbath. As for
themselves, they never darken the doors of any House of Prayer–you
never see them there, any more, and they say, "We have got rid of this,
and of that, which used to be our custom." But such conduct is the ruin
of them! A man may harden himself until he becomes like the nether
millstone, his conscience may seem to be suffocated and the last spark
of goodness to be extinct within him–but he cannot, for all that,
evade the impending doom–for his sins will be "the ruin of him." It is
hard work to have to speak thus, but there are some who must have this
stern Truth of God spoken to them, lest they should die in their sins.
II. Secondly, and very briefly, I want you to look
AT THE MAN IN RUINS.
You say, perhaps, that you will never be in that state. You are not
converted, but you are honest, upright and truthful. Well, we shall
see, or, at all events, Godwill see! I have beheld a man in ruins who
once seemed a Christian. He came in and out among his brethren and they
esteemed him. But he was living secretly in a defiled life. He was
unchaste and that worm gnawed and gnawed, until, at last, his household
was forsaken, domestic comfort was gone–and at this moment I scarcely
know where he is. And no one wishes to know, for he has become so
abandoned and so foul that those who once knew him can only sigh as
they remember him.
I have known others of this sort. They were apparently doing well. They
were admirable and excellent. They were the delight of every company in
which they entered, but they took the intoxicating cup, a little, and
then a little more, and then secret drinking became visible by certain
tokens upon the face and, by-and-by, business was neglected, other
things were not attended to and now the man may be known by his very
clothing–if he is not in rags, he is near to it–his character is
gone, for he is a confirmed drunk. He must acknowledge it–he cannot
truthfully deny it. That is another kind of ruin. I have also seen a
young Christian man apparently begin to go into bad company and join
with those who were merry fellows. It is true they scoffed at religion
a little, but he winked at that, for he enjoyed their society. They
flattered him and now he has become just as bad as they are! Instead of
being shocked at infidel sentiments, he is the first to vent them–a
very ringleader in taking the chair of the scoffer–and sitting there a
ruined man!
I have seen men ruined as to their peace. They once seemed bright and
happy, but they are not so now–their laughter is but a mimic joy. They
have sinned, they have turned aside from God and their peace is marred.
In some, their character is ruined. Those who know them cannot trust
them, so their prospects are ruined. They went aside, little by little,
and, whereas we hoped they would have been useful and honorable men,
they are the very reverse–they are like drowning men–they are,
themselves, sinking–and they are pulling down others with them! Worst
of all, their soul is ruined and, unless infinite mercy shall prevent
it, they are ruined for eternity, ruined past all hope save that one
grand hope– the door of which stands open even to the dying
sinner–faith in Jesus Christ! But as yet they are ruined, utterly
ruined, though once they seemed to bid as fair for goodness as any man
in the world!
Whenever I see a ruin, I cannot help thinking of what it used to be.
Can you? Here once sat knights at their tables, while the minstrel
poured forth sweetest song. Now, all is a desolation! So, in that man
was once everything that was hopeful–you would have been glad to go to
the House of God in company with him. Look at him now–the victim of
every passion, a waif and stray upon the great ocean of vice!
When you look at a ruin, you cannot help thinking what it might yet be.
It was once a famous Church where the praises of God rang out both
morning and evening. It might be so, still, but the roof is gone, the
walls are tottering and the windows let in the cold blasts. So, I see a
man who once seemed to praise God, but he is a ruin. His sins have been
"the ruin of him." What do you often find in a ruin? Go there at night
and hear the owl hooting to his fellow. Go by day and see all manner of
loathsome creatures finding harbor there. So, go to the ruined man, the
man who once promised as well as any man among us, but who departed
from God and gave way to sin and, little by little, went further and
further from the paths of rightness. Think of him with sorrow. He has
lost his opportunity–think what he might have been. Ah, and think what
he is now through his sins. "They were the ruin of him."
If I had the time, I would like to indicate many things, perhaps to men
here, that will be the ruin of them. But if there is one here who has
begun to get away from God, who thinks that he can do without God, I
implore him to stop before he goes further, for sin will be "the ruin
of him!" There never was a man yet who made a good bargain with sin.
There is not one man, now in eternity, whose course in this life is
finished, who, when he takes his tablet to reckon up the result of a
sinful life, can say that he was the gainer by it. What if it made him
a king, if he waded through sin to a throne? What are his gains today?
What if he grew rich–where is his wealth now? That solemn question of
our Lord he can sorrowfully answer for himself–"What shall it profit a
man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Oh, that
God the blessed Spirit would send these warnings home to some who are
beginning to trifle with sin, lest it should be the ruin of them!
III. I have one more point to dwell upon. Not only was there a man in
ruins, but there were others that were ruined with him, for the text
says, "They were the ruin of him, and of all Israel."
Ahaz ruined all Israel as well as himself! This man did not perish
alone in his iniquity! My Friends, if you perish in your sin, you will
not perish alone. That is one of the most terrible things about evil.
If I have preached to you, during my ministry here, false doctrines and
that which is not God's Word, there are many here who must perish with
me. But then my lot would be more horrible than that of any one among
you if I have misled you and if I have not been faithful. It will be an
awful thing for a man who has occupied a pulpit and yet has not
preached the Gospel, to go before the bar of God and have to answer for
the souls committed to him! That ancient message still needs to be
heard–"If the watchman sees the sword come and blows not the trumpet,
and the people are not warned. If the sword comes and takes any person
from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I
require at the watchman's hand." This it is that makes our work so
weighty that our knees, sometimes, knock together when we are thinking
of going up to our pulpit again! It is no child's play, Sirs, if there
is to be a judgment and we are to answer for our faithfulness or
unfaithfulness! What must be our account if we are not true to God and
to man?
"Don't speak so sharply," says one. "You are very dogmatic, Sir," says
another. I know what is said, but what is that, compared with clearing
my conscience so that I may stand up in the light of the Last Great Day
an honest man? I have prayed many a time that I might be able, at the
end of my ministry, to say what George Fox, the Quaker, said when he
was dying, "I am clear, I am clear!" If we have been faithful in our
testimony. If we have said what we felt and have not hesitated to speak
out for fear of sinful men–and if we have never tried to put velvet on
our lips, that we might restrain the Spirit's course within us–to earn
the approval of some few persons of taste–it will be well with us in
the Great Day of Account!
"Well," says someone, "I am not a minister." No, perhaps you are not.
But are you a father? Suppose your boy perishes through your iniquity,
what will you say to that? One day I heard a man, who was given to
drink, say to his son, "Open your shoulders, boy, and take it in like a
man! I want you to drink like your father." Who but his father made
that boy a drunk? There was a father who dropped an oath. Do I mean
you, you ask? Yes, if you are here tonight. When your boy took to
cursing and swearing, you did not like it–but who taught him to swear?
Are there not many men who will be the ruin of their children's souls?
And are there not mothers, in a different rank of life, who train their
daughters for gaiety and frivolity, who will have to answer for the
ruin of their souls? Do you not think that there are people who would
like to be thought respectable, who are planning to bring up their
children to be victims to sin? They know they are not putting them
where they are likely to come under good influences, but where,
according to the order of nature, they will be led away from Christ and
from the service of God!
O Sirs, we all have vastly more influence than we reckon upon! The
working man in the shop thinks that he is the victim of his companions'
bad example, but, if he had more backbone, he might be the master and
leader of them! Now he follows suit and goes in the swim. But if he
were to be converted, how many he might influence for good! I thank God
that when men are really turned by His Grace, those who have been the
worst usually become the best! Did you not hear me speak, just now, of
grand old Hugh Latimer, who burned so bravely for the faith? Yet he
was, before his conversion, one of the most thoroughgoing Papists in
the world–and was so violent that he would have put to death every
heretic that he got hold of! But when the Grace of God arrested him, he
became just as earnest for the Gospel of Jesus Christ as he had been
earnest against it! If sin will be the ruin of men–and surely it
will–yet our Lord Jesus Christ knows how to take ruined sinners and
build them up to be temples for His indwelling! Christ will take the
very castaways of the devil and use them for Himself. He delights to
stoop over the dunghill and pick up a broken vessel that is thrown away
and make it into a vessel meet for the Master's use!
Do we not sometimes sing to His praise that He has taken us from the
dunghill and made us to sit amongst princes, even the princes of His
people? Turn unto God, then, you wanderers! Turn unto Christ! It may be
so with you! Look to the bleeding wounds of the great Redeemer! May His
Spirit help you to do so at this very hour and, looking, you shall
live! And then your sins shall not be the ruin of you, but the Repairer
of these ruins shall come to build you up into a temple for His praise!
The Lord bless these feeble words, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CHRONICLES28:1-5,16-27f ISAIAH 2:6-22.
2 Chronicles 28:1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. So that he died before he
reached the prime of life–he was cut off by God in the very midst of
his sin.
1. 2. But he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings ofIsrael.
They had set up the worship of God under emblems. There were the calves
of Bethel, the representation of strength–it was the worship of God by
imagery and Ahaz imitated it–and went even further in sin.
2. And made also molten images for Baalim. If we worship the true God
under some symbol, the next step is to worship a false god.
3. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and
burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen
whom the LORD had cast out before the children ofIsrael The worship of
Moloch was one of the most horrible that can be imagined. A bronze
image was made terribly hot and then children were thrust into its
burning arms to be consumed. And this king went to such a length that
he gave his own children to death in that cruel fashion in the place
commonly called by the Jews, Topheth, or the Place of Spitting, since
it was so loathsome to them to think of this false god.
4. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the
hills, and under every green tree. According to the command of God,
there was to be but one altar and that one was to be at Jerusalem. But
these people multiplied their altars–there could not be a high place
but they must have an idol shrine set up upon it.
5. Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king
of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of
them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered
into the hand of the king ofIsrael, who smote him with a great
slaughter He received blow upon blow–God would not let him rest in his
sin. Now turn to verse sixteen.
16. At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help
him. The king of Assyria was the greatest potentate in that region–all
the little kings were afraid of him and Ahaz, therefore, sent to him
for help when they were in trouble. Ahaz made no appeal to God for the
assistance he required–he turned to the arm of flesh.
17. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah and carried away
captives. The Edomites had been under subjection to Judah, but now that
God had left her, Judah could not hold her position.
18. The Philistines also. A people that one might have thought had
become extinct, so weak were they that we scarcely hear of them, yet,
"the Philistines also"–
18-20. Had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of
Judah, and had taken Beth-Shemesh, and Aja-lon, and Gederoth, and
Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof,
Gimzo, also, and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there. For the
LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king ofIsrael; for he made
Judah naked and transgressed sorely against the LORD. And
Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria came unto him and distressed him, but
strengthened him not How vain it is to seek relief apart from God!
21, 22. For Ahaz took away a portion out ofthe House ofthe LORD, and
out ofthe house ofthe king, and ofthe princes, and gave it unto the
king of Assyria: but he helped him not And in the time of his distress
did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. A
black mark is put against his name, to show how greatly guilty he was.
Those who rebel against Divine checks and will not be held in by the
Providence of God are to be written down in capital letters as great
sinners. They sin with emphasis who sin against the chastising rod!
23-25. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him:
and he said, Because the gods ofthe kings of Syria help them, therefore
will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin
of him, and of all Israel And Ahaz gathered together the vessels ofthe
House of God, and cut in pieces the vessels ofthe House of God, and
shut up the doors ofthe House ofthe LORD, and he made him altars in
every corner of Jerusalem. And in every single city of Judah he made
high places to burn incense unto other gods, andprovoked to anger the
LORD God of his fathers. He set up little shrines so that every
passerby might worship which idol he pleased–and each man might
present a little incense–thus the whole city was filled with idolatry.
26, 27. Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last,
behold, they are written in the book ofthe kings of Judah and Israel
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even
in Jerusalem; but they brought him not into the sepulchers ofthe kings
ofIsrael There was a holy and reverent feeling among the remnant of
God's people that a man who had lived as Ahaz had done should not lie
with the good kings of Israel.
27. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. Now turn to Isaiah, the
second chapter, and the sixth verse.
Isaiah 2:6. Therefore You have forsaken Your people, the house of
Jacob, because they are replenished from the east and are soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they are pleased with the children of
strangers. I t was God's command that they should keep themselves
separate and worship only Him, but, in the reign of this man Ahaz, they
began to practice all the foul arts of the nations round about them.
They had "soothsayers like the Philistines"–men who pretended to
divine future events from the flights of birds, or from the entrails of
victims–and a thousand other things. They went into witchcraft and the
unhallowed arts of the heathen.
7-9. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any
end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is
there any end of their chariots: their landalso is full ofidols; they
worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have
made: and the mean man bows down, and the great man humbles himself:
therefore forgive them not. The poor men worshipped these idols and the
rich did the same. All over the country the people were bowing before
some symbol or other instead of worshipping the unseen God in spirit
and in truth. Therefore the Prophet foretold that something terrible
would happen to them.
10-16. Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, for fear ofthe LORD,
and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be
humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD
alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day ofthe LORD of Hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that
is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of
Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hiils that are lifted
up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all
the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. These people
were wealthy through the natural riches of their land and through
commerce with other nations. They were skilled in the arts, according
to the fashion of the times, but now God declares that because they
were proud, all their treasures would be destroyed and the things
wherein they boasted should be taken away from them.
17, 18. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the
haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be
exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. They set
them up at every street corner, they even put them before the House of
God, itself. On every green hill and in every grove, they worshipped
with filthy rites that can scarcely be thought of without a blush! But
God declared that He would sweep them all away and so He did when He
visited the land in His fierce anger.
19-22. And they shall go into the holes ofthe rocks, and into the caves
ofthe earth, for fear ofthe LORD, and for the glory of His majesty,
when He arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall
cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each
one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into
the clefts ofthe rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear
of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake
terribly the earth. Cease you from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils: for of what account is he? Can you imagine Isaiah delivering
this stern, but noble message–gorgeous in language, poetic and sublime
to the very last degree? What courage it must have taken for him to
stand forth and deliver this before an idolatrous king and a people who
went greedily after him! Verily, the Lord has raised up His faithful
servants in all times, and He gives them the courage of lions and
voices that are very terrible! Yet the hearts of men are seldom moved.
"Cease you," says Isaiah, "cease you from man"–from the king of
Assyria–from all powers in which you trust! "Cease you from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils: for of what account is he?"