DAILYWORD APRIL 28 and King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the Priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. And Urijah the Priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the Priest made it against King Ahaz came from Damascus (II Ki. 16:10–11). The correct name of King Ahaz, King of Judah, was “Jehoahaz,” which means “the possession of Jehovah.” The man was so ungodly that the Spirit of God strikes the Jehovah-syllable out of his name, invariably calling him “Ahaz,” which simply means “possession.” Such was his life. He was led, influenced, and possessed by anyone or anything except God. His history illustrates how disastrous it is for the spiritual profit of a man when his own plans succeed. God, through Isaiah, earnestly counseled him not to invite the King of Assyria to help him against the confederate kings of Israel and Damascus. He, however, followed his own counsel, and with success; but the ultimate result was ruin. Not only did he worship the golden calf of the kings of Israel, but he introduced the horrible religion of Moloch, the god of fire, the red-hot iron arms of whose image received and burned alive helpless little children, possibly even hundreds. He completed his apostasy by displacing the great Brazen Altar of God’s appointment, which sat in front of the Temple, setting up in its stead an altar inspired of Damascus. So determined was Ahaz in his opposition to the Bible, that not only did he send to Urijah the High Priest a sketch of the idolatrous altar that he saw at Damascus, but he also sent with it a model; for that is the import of the words, “the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it” (16:10). Urijah the High Priest was just as guilty as Ahaz the king. I’m afraid the modern Church is basically doing the same thing as Ahaz of old, replacing the Cross with a cross of their own design. What do we mean by that? Unless the Cross of Christ is totally the Object of our Faith, this means that we are also building another altar in conjunction with the Cross, whether we realize it or not. In fact, this is one of the most devious and crowning sins of the Evil One. He would like for Believers, so-called, to rid themselves of the Cross altogether, which most have done; however, barring that, i.e., if they want to cling to some semblance of the Cross, he will subtly suggest the substitution of another type of cross. Such is the Purpose Driven Life doctrine, or the Government of Twelve, or the Word of Faith, etc. All false doctrine starts, in some way, with a wrong interpretation of the Cross, or else denies the Cross altogether.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:03:22 +0000
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