The Berean Pursuit
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.
Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus.
Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the governor of the palace, and Elkanah the second to the king. Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen-women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.
But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. "Look," he said to them, "because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty before the LORD your God? Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives you took from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the LORD is upon you."
Then some of the leaders of the Ephraimites-Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai-stood in opposition to those arriving from the war. "You must not bring the captives here," they said, "for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the LORD and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel."
So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly. Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria. The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages. For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.
Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him. Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.
In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. Since Damascus had defeated him, he sacrificed to their gods and said, "Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.
Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers.
As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. They served idols, although the LORD had told them, "You shall not do this thing."
Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, "Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets."
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them. Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.
Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.
Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off."
Then the king of Assyria commanded: "Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land."
Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.
Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places. They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.
To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, "Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them. Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him. And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies."
But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
For the choirmaster. A song. A Psalm.
Make a joyful noise to God,
all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name;
make His praise glorious.
Say to God, "How awesome are Your deeds!
So great is Your power
that Your enemies cower before You.
All the earth bows down to You;
they sing praise to You;
they sing praise to Your name."
Selah
Come and see the works of God;
how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the waters on foot;
there we rejoiced in Him.
He rules forever by His power;
His eyes watch the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
Selah
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of His praise be heard.
He preserves our lives
and keeps our feet from slipping.
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us like silver.
You led us into the net;
You laid burdens on our backs.
You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but You brought us into abundance.
I will enter Your house with burnt offerings;
I will fulfill my vows to You-
the vows that my lips promised
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
I will offer You fatlings as burnt offerings,
with the fragrant smoke of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.
Selah
Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will declare what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth
and praised Him with my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But God has surely heard;
He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld from me His loving devotion!
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commandments is what counts.
Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you-but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.
Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.
I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married. But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.
So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.