Twenty years old was Ahaz
when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did
not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his
father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his
son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations,
whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel. And
he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under
every green tree. 2 Kings 16:2-4
When
was the first time you drove a car? What about the first time you jumped off a
diving board or gave a speech? After that first time, it certainly became
easier. What about the first lie you told? Did it become easier? King Ahaz of
Judah was evil and far from the example of David. Ahaz was the first to offer child
sacrifices to the false god Molech. This unfortunately was not a one-and-done
situation. This practice continued as Ezekiel and Jeremiah address this great
evil in their prophetic books.
The question we ask ourselves
is how does one get to this point? I think we can all look at the recent
history of the United States and ask the same thing: how did we get to this
point? How did we get to the point where abortion is described as a fundamental
right or as healthcare? How did we get to a point where the family structure
has been tossed, disassembled, and remade into whatever image you wish it to
be? How did we get to the point where some Christians believe the church of
Christ is just another of many churches in a spectrum of people acceptable to
God?
I will tell you how.
Christians failed to act. The elders of congregations in many locations are
unqualified or have disqualified themselves because of their inability to
rightly divide the Word of Truth. Other congregations lack patterned leadership
because too many men are AWOL from their obligations in the Lord’s body. Some
have permanently disqualified themselves from service because of their
inability to follow the Word of God in areas of their lives.
We, like Judah and Israel,
find ourselves continually a few heartbeats away from a leadership problem. We
need to develop our young men from the time they are boys to fear the Lord and
keep His commandments (cf. Eccl.12:13). We need to encourage them to study the
Word. We need to model love for our wives so that our boys know how to love
their wives like Christ loved the church and our daughters to see the example
of a godly wife (cf. Eph. 5:22-26). Do not raise an Ahaz and expect a
Christian. Model the love of Christ and encourage our children.
Grace and Peace,
R. D. Beavers
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