Faith's Checkbook
He Remembers No More
"For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34).
When we know the LORD, we receive the forgiveness of sins. We know Him as the God of grace, passing by our transgressions. What a joyful discovery is this!
But how divinely is this promise worded: the LORD promises no more to remember our sins! Can God forget? He says He will, and He means what He says. He will regard us as though we had never sinned. The great atonement so effectually removed all sin that it is to the mind of God no more in existence. The believer is now in Christ Jesus, as accepted as Adam in his innocence; yea, more so, for he wears a divine righteousness, and that of Adam was but human.
The great LORD will not remember our sins so as to punish them, or so as to love us one atom the less because of them. As a debt when paid ceases to be a debt, even so doth the LORD make a complete obliteration of the iniquity of His people.
When we are mourning over our transgressions and shortcomings, and this is our duty as long as we live, let us at the same time rejoice that they will never be mentioned against us. This makes us hate sin. God's free pardon makes us anxious never again to grieve Him by disobedience.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Morning
Morning ...
Psalm 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.
Did earth or heaven ever behold a sadder spectacle of woe! In soul and body, our Lord felt Himself to be weak as water poured upon the ground. The placing of the cross in its socket had shaken Him with great violence, had strained all the ligaments, pained every nerve, and more or less dislocated all His bones. Burdened with His own weight, the august sufferer felt the strain increasing every moment of those six long hours. His sense of faintness and general weakness were overpowering; while to His own consciousness He became nothing but a mass of misery and swooning sickness. When Daniel saw the great vision, he thus describes his sensations, "There remained no strength in me, for my vigour was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength:" how much more faint must have been our greater Prophet when He saw the dread vision of the wrath of God, and felt it in His own soul! To us, sensations such as our Lord endured would have been insupportable, and kind unconsciousness would have come to our rescue; but in His case, He was wounded, and felt the sword; He drained the cup and tasted everydrop.
"O King of Grief! (a title strange, yet true
To Thee of all kings only due)
O King of Wounds! how shall I grieve for Thee,
Who in all grief preventest me!"
As we kneel before our now ascended Saviour's throne, let us remember well the way by which He prepared it as a throne of grace for us; let us in spirit drink of His cup, that we may be strengthened for our hour of heaviness whenever it may come. In His natural body every member suffered, and so must it be in the spiritual; but as out of all His griefs and woes His body came forth uninjured to glory and power, even so shall His mystical body come through the furnace with not so much as the smell of fire upon it.
Psalm 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.
Did earth or heaven ever behold a sadder spectacle of woe! In soul and body, our Lord felt Himself to be weak as water poured upon the ground. The placing of the cross in its socket had shaken Him with great violence, had strained all the ligaments, pained every nerve, and more or less dislocated all His bones. Burdened with His own weight, the august sufferer felt the strain increasing every moment of those six long hours. His sense of faintness and general weakness were overpowering; while to His own consciousness He became nothing but a mass of misery and swooning sickness. When Daniel saw the great vision, he thus describes his sensations, "There remained no strength in me, for my vigour was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength:" how much more faint must have been our greater Prophet when He saw the dread vision of the wrath of God, and felt it in His own soul! To us, sensations such as our Lord endured would have been insupportable, and kind unconsciousness would have come to our rescue; but in His case, He was wounded, and felt the sword; He drained the cup and tasted everydrop.
"O King of Grief! (a title strange, yet true
To Thee of all kings only due)
O King of Wounds! how shall I grieve for Thee,
Who in all grief preventest me!"
As we kneel before our now ascended Saviour's throne, let us remember well the way by which He prepared it as a throne of grace for us; let us in spirit drink of His cup, that we may be strengthened for our hour of heaviness whenever it may come. In His natural body every member suffered, and so must it be in the spiritual; but as out of all His griefs and woes His body came forth uninjured to glory and power, even so shall His mystical body come through the furnace with not so much as the smell of fire upon it.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What would Jesus do ? part 2
What Would Jesus Do: Discerning Which Biblical Laws Matter, and Which Don't...Continued from page 1
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).”
When dealing with gray areas, here is the very, very simple solution. In everything you do, ask yourself, “Is my decision in keeping with the greatest commandment? If I do this, am I able to love God with all my heart, or does it compromise or diminish my relationship with Him in any way?” And secondly, “Am I upholding my love for others?”
Love God. When well-meaning people give you advice, weigh it against this principle. “Is this thing other people want me to do (such as my church or Christian friends) overkill or irrelevant to my love relationship with God?” Or on the flip side, “Is this person influencing me away from my pure devotion to God or encouraging me to compromise my obedience?”
Consider abusive or addicted spouses. They can actually prevent you from following this command. Your mental and emotional state can become so preoccupied with surviving your home life that you’re not honoring or growing in Christ. As soon another person is allowed to dominate our focus and devotion, even with negative energy, that person has become an idol or spiritual adultery.
Love People. Will this decision hurt anyone? Will it pull them down in their faith or will it draw them to God? This can be tricky when holding it up to closely related addicts or abusers, because on the surface you might feel (and they might tell you) that if you set a boundary with them, you’re going to shatter their faith. Or you might feel if you enforce a consequence, they’ll feel unloved and won’t want to change. Often times, the truth is the opposite. By staying, you are making it easy for them to remain unchanged. Their lives are in a comfortable pattern, their addictions and behaviors have no consequences, and you’re sending the message that the world revolves around them. Why would they need God when you are fixing all their problems? So actually, maybe your choices have not truly loved that person the way they need to be loved.
Having said that, each situation is unique and should be handled accordingly. One person living with an addict may be thriving and still able to grow in their love relationship with God while another may be so mistreated, controlled, and beaten down; they can only think “survival.”
Motives. When you’ve held your decisions up to the two criteria, and you’re still not sure, a great gauge is to question your motives. For instance, say you want to get a tattoo, but you just can’t decide if it’s okay with God. The next question to ask then is, “Why do I want this tattoo?” Is it to draw attention to yourself? Is it to fit in with a certain youth ministry God has given you? No one but you can answer these kinds of questions, because only you truly know what is in your heart.
And now, as you begin to embrace the “law of love” and ditch the “love of law,” you’ll always carry around a simple standard to help you discern and understand just what Jesus would do in your situation.
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).”
When dealing with gray areas, here is the very, very simple solution. In everything you do, ask yourself, “Is my decision in keeping with the greatest commandment? If I do this, am I able to love God with all my heart, or does it compromise or diminish my relationship with Him in any way?” And secondly, “Am I upholding my love for others?”
Love God. When well-meaning people give you advice, weigh it against this principle. “Is this thing other people want me to do (such as my church or Christian friends) overkill or irrelevant to my love relationship with God?” Or on the flip side, “Is this person influencing me away from my pure devotion to God or encouraging me to compromise my obedience?”
Consider abusive or addicted spouses. They can actually prevent you from following this command. Your mental and emotional state can become so preoccupied with surviving your home life that you’re not honoring or growing in Christ. As soon another person is allowed to dominate our focus and devotion, even with negative energy, that person has become an idol or spiritual adultery.
Love People. Will this decision hurt anyone? Will it pull them down in their faith or will it draw them to God? This can be tricky when holding it up to closely related addicts or abusers, because on the surface you might feel (and they might tell you) that if you set a boundary with them, you’re going to shatter their faith. Or you might feel if you enforce a consequence, they’ll feel unloved and won’t want to change. Often times, the truth is the opposite. By staying, you are making it easy for them to remain unchanged. Their lives are in a comfortable pattern, their addictions and behaviors have no consequences, and you’re sending the message that the world revolves around them. Why would they need God when you are fixing all their problems? So actually, maybe your choices have not truly loved that person the way they need to be loved.
Having said that, each situation is unique and should be handled accordingly. One person living with an addict may be thriving and still able to grow in their love relationship with God while another may be so mistreated, controlled, and beaten down; they can only think “survival.”
Motives. When you’ve held your decisions up to the two criteria, and you’re still not sure, a great gauge is to question your motives. For instance, say you want to get a tattoo, but you just can’t decide if it’s okay with God. The next question to ask then is, “Why do I want this tattoo?” Is it to draw attention to yourself? Is it to fit in with a certain youth ministry God has given you? No one but you can answer these kinds of questions, because only you truly know what is in your heart.
And now, as you begin to embrace the “law of love” and ditch the “love of law,” you’ll always carry around a simple standard to help you discern and understand just what Jesus would do in your situation.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
What would Jesus do ?
What Would Jesus Do: Discerning Which Biblical Laws Matter, and Which Don't
Do you ever wonder how to figure out what God wants you to do in those gray areas of life? Recently while reading through one of my favorite fast moving books of the Bible, namely Leviticus, I thought how confusing the Bible can be. I mean, what am I supposed to think when “don’t clip your sideburns too short” is right next to “don’t practice fortune-telling” (chapter 19)? Or what about “don’t get tattoos” right next to “don’t turn your daughter into a prostitute”?
See what I mean? Confusing. How can I know which rules and principles God wants me to live by, and which ones to throw out? And then there are the gray areas… all those situations in life that just don’t fall under any category exactly because of the unique circumstances. What do we do with those? For instance:
Living with an abusive spouse. Jesus only said that if an unbelieving spouse agrees to stay married, then stay with them (1 Corinthians 7:13), but that doesn’t cover abuse. Some people say that 1 Peter commends suffering for the sake of Christ and they consider being abused at home part of that suffering. Where is the glory for God in that kind of suffering as women are stripped of identity and purpose, and their children live with lifetime physical and emotional scars? Did God mean that we should willingly suffer persecution in our own households?
What about the mandates for husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and for wives to submit to their husbands out of reverence for Christ? Are abusers somehow exempt? Can one side get off the hook and treat their spouse abusively while the other gives up everything?sometimes even their lives?to appease them?
Living with an addicted spouse. The rules are different in this kind of home. Many prominent “help” books advise the typically mistreated spouse to follow certain principles: love your mate unconditionally and selflessly in order to win them over, don’t pressure or nag them to change but focus on changing yourself, don’t place any expectations on them, give them space and they’ll come back to you. Well, that might work for your average love-grown-cold spouse, but when dealing with a substance abuser, none of those work. You can drive yourself crazy trying to apply all the methods, read all the books, and go through all the counseling, but in the end, everything you try has the same result: Nothing.
Should you stay in that kind of a household, accepting the addiction and all the behaviors that go along with it such as lying, overspending, abuse, sexual misconduct, neglect, blatant disrespect, and even sometimes financial ruin while watching your whole family become sick at at heart?
Lifestyle Choices. Tattoos, body piercing, social drinking, music and movie choices?all are areas that we try to make an unified determination of God’s will in the matter, never coming to an agreement and often times enforcing legalism. So how does one figure out for sure which ones to keep and which ones to chuck?
Do you ever wonder how to figure out what God wants you to do in those gray areas of life? Recently while reading through one of my favorite fast moving books of the Bible, namely Leviticus, I thought how confusing the Bible can be. I mean, what am I supposed to think when “don’t clip your sideburns too short” is right next to “don’t practice fortune-telling” (chapter 19)? Or what about “don’t get tattoos” right next to “don’t turn your daughter into a prostitute”?
See what I mean? Confusing. How can I know which rules and principles God wants me to live by, and which ones to throw out? And then there are the gray areas… all those situations in life that just don’t fall under any category exactly because of the unique circumstances. What do we do with those? For instance:
Living with an abusive spouse. Jesus only said that if an unbelieving spouse agrees to stay married, then stay with them (1 Corinthians 7:13), but that doesn’t cover abuse. Some people say that 1 Peter commends suffering for the sake of Christ and they consider being abused at home part of that suffering. Where is the glory for God in that kind of suffering as women are stripped of identity and purpose, and their children live with lifetime physical and emotional scars? Did God mean that we should willingly suffer persecution in our own households?
What about the mandates for husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and for wives to submit to their husbands out of reverence for Christ? Are abusers somehow exempt? Can one side get off the hook and treat their spouse abusively while the other gives up everything?sometimes even their lives?to appease them?
Living with an addicted spouse. The rules are different in this kind of home. Many prominent “help” books advise the typically mistreated spouse to follow certain principles: love your mate unconditionally and selflessly in order to win them over, don’t pressure or nag them to change but focus on changing yourself, don’t place any expectations on them, give them space and they’ll come back to you. Well, that might work for your average love-grown-cold spouse, but when dealing with a substance abuser, none of those work. You can drive yourself crazy trying to apply all the methods, read all the books, and go through all the counseling, but in the end, everything you try has the same result: Nothing.
Should you stay in that kind of a household, accepting the addiction and all the behaviors that go along with it such as lying, overspending, abuse, sexual misconduct, neglect, blatant disrespect, and even sometimes financial ruin while watching your whole family become sick at at heart?
Lifestyle Choices. Tattoos, body piercing, social drinking, music and movie choices?all are areas that we try to make an unified determination of God’s will in the matter, never coming to an agreement and often times enforcing legalism. So how does one figure out for sure which ones to keep and which ones to chuck?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Awesone Privilege of Prayer
The Awesome Privilege of Prayer - 1 John 5:11-15
Something amazing happens when we reach out to our Father through prayer. We enter into God’s presence and can access His power on behalf of a lost, hurting world.
Jesus Christ made it possible for us to have communion with the Father. All of us inherited a sin nature through the first man, Adam. We’ve been separated since birth from holy God. Our sin nature placed us under a death sentence with no appeal. To give us access to Himself, God sacrificed His Son Jesus. God counted His death as payment for our sins.
When we make a commitment to Christ by receiving Him as our personal Savior, our sins are no longer counted against us. In God’s “accounting books,” our transgressions have been transferred to the Lord. His righteousness is credited to us. John chapter 14:13 says with our sins forgiven, we have a new position in Christ. We are free to approach God with the confidence that He will hear and answer our prayers.
The One who listens to our prayers also has the power to answer them. His authority is unlimited. Job chapter 42:2 confirms no individual or government is mightier. No one can stop His plans. Through Jesus’ life, we see God’s absolute power over nature, disease, and man’s plans. After the Savior’s death, God used His divine power to resurrect Jesus and bring Him to heaven. This same power is available to us when we pray.
Prayer is a key spiritual discipline in the Christian life and an awesome privilege. It opens the door for us to approach God and involve Him in our lives.
Something amazing happens when we reach out to our Father through prayer. We enter into God’s presence and can access His power on behalf of a lost, hurting world.
Jesus Christ made it possible for us to have communion with the Father. All of us inherited a sin nature through the first man, Adam. We’ve been separated since birth from holy God. Our sin nature placed us under a death sentence with no appeal. To give us access to Himself, God sacrificed His Son Jesus. God counted His death as payment for our sins.
When we make a commitment to Christ by receiving Him as our personal Savior, our sins are no longer counted against us. In God’s “accounting books,” our transgressions have been transferred to the Lord. His righteousness is credited to us. John chapter 14:13 says with our sins forgiven, we have a new position in Christ. We are free to approach God with the confidence that He will hear and answer our prayers.
The One who listens to our prayers also has the power to answer them. His authority is unlimited. Job chapter 42:2 confirms no individual or government is mightier. No one can stop His plans. Through Jesus’ life, we see God’s absolute power over nature, disease, and man’s plans. After the Savior’s death, God used His divine power to resurrect Jesus and bring Him to heaven. This same power is available to us when we pray.
Prayer is a key spiritual discipline in the Christian life and an awesome privilege. It opens the door for us to approach God and involve Him in our lives.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Preacher's Influence:
The Preacher?s Influence: The Pastoral Theological Implications of the Jeremiah Wright Story
Perhaps there is someone who wonders in today’s world, “Can a minister really have any possible influence on the world around us?”
If Karl Barth was right when he talked about having the Bible in one hand and The New York Times in the other, then we might have something to learn today.
The video clips from various sermons by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright are all over the news. In case you have been on the moon or on a self-induced news-free vacation, then you know there is a problem. The United Church of Christ pastor has said things and taught things, that are, in a word, controversial. And that is putting it mildly!
I have my own thoughts about what he has said, but in my prayers for our students I am more concerned about the fact that everyone is worried that what he said, over the years, could influence a possible future president of the United States. This is worth thinking about as a Pastor .
The answer to the question posed, “Can a minister really have any possible influence on the world around us?” is being given a resounding answer by the media, politicians, and according to some pollsters, the general public. The answer is “yes.” If one is married by a minister, sits under his preaching for some period of time, has children who've been baptized by that man, uses words uttered in his pastor’s sermon in his book title The Audacity of Hope, then, according to the common received wisdom, that pastor has greatly influenced one’s life.
I want to turn from the alleged negative impact of Jeremiah Wright’s ministry and influence on Barack Obama and turn to your ministry and your people. God has drawn you to Himself, hidden you in the hollow of His hand, prepared you under the tutelage of other pastor-scholars in that place we call the seminary (literally a “seed bed” for preachers) in order to cause you to shape the lives of others not with your words but with His Word.
There is a priestly aspect of your ministry, where you stand, as it were, with your back to the Lord and your face to the people with His Word, and then turn with your back to the people, and plead through our only Mediator Jesus Christ for the needs of the people. As pastor your words and your life make a difference in the lives of others.
It is for this reason that St. Paul charged Pastor Timothy: "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).
Your life, your teaching, and your steadfastness in the gospel will save yourself, and influence, shape, and form the lives of those who hear you. It will, in fact, save them. What an awesome responsibility. What a powerful position. What a humbling thought. What a remarkable truth.
Thus, I would close my thoughts with Paul’s charge from 2 Timothy: "Follow the pattern of the sound words you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you" (2 Timothy 1:13-14).
It is not my job to tell you whether or not Jeremiah Wright did these things in his ministry. It is my job to charge you to remember Paul’s words, and to remember that whether you preach to 12 or 1,200, whether you are a solo pastor in Iowa or an U.S. Army chaplain in Iraq, you are a person of remarkable influence in the lives of others.
Perhaps there is someone who wonders in today’s world, “Can a minister really have any possible influence on the world around us?”
If Karl Barth was right when he talked about having the Bible in one hand and The New York Times in the other, then we might have something to learn today.
The video clips from various sermons by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright are all over the news. In case you have been on the moon or on a self-induced news-free vacation, then you know there is a problem. The United Church of Christ pastor has said things and taught things, that are, in a word, controversial. And that is putting it mildly!
I have my own thoughts about what he has said, but in my prayers for our students I am more concerned about the fact that everyone is worried that what he said, over the years, could influence a possible future president of the United States. This is worth thinking about as a Pastor .
The answer to the question posed, “Can a minister really have any possible influence on the world around us?” is being given a resounding answer by the media, politicians, and according to some pollsters, the general public. The answer is “yes.” If one is married by a minister, sits under his preaching for some period of time, has children who've been baptized by that man, uses words uttered in his pastor’s sermon in his book title The Audacity of Hope, then, according to the common received wisdom, that pastor has greatly influenced one’s life.
I want to turn from the alleged negative impact of Jeremiah Wright’s ministry and influence on Barack Obama and turn to your ministry and your people. God has drawn you to Himself, hidden you in the hollow of His hand, prepared you under the tutelage of other pastor-scholars in that place we call the seminary (literally a “seed bed” for preachers) in order to cause you to shape the lives of others not with your words but with His Word.
There is a priestly aspect of your ministry, where you stand, as it were, with your back to the Lord and your face to the people with His Word, and then turn with your back to the people, and plead through our only Mediator Jesus Christ for the needs of the people. As pastor your words and your life make a difference in the lives of others.
It is for this reason that St. Paul charged Pastor Timothy: "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).
Your life, your teaching, and your steadfastness in the gospel will save yourself, and influence, shape, and form the lives of those who hear you. It will, in fact, save them. What an awesome responsibility. What a powerful position. What a humbling thought. What a remarkable truth.
Thus, I would close my thoughts with Paul’s charge from 2 Timothy: "Follow the pattern of the sound words you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you" (2 Timothy 1:13-14).
It is not my job to tell you whether or not Jeremiah Wright did these things in his ministry. It is my job to charge you to remember Paul’s words, and to remember that whether you preach to 12 or 1,200, whether you are a solo pastor in Iowa or an U.S. Army chaplain in Iraq, you are a person of remarkable influence in the lives of others.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Trusting an Unchanging God
Trusting an Unchanging God - Part 1
For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. -Romans 1:17
God never changes. That's as comforting as it is sobering.
When we read 2 Chronicles 28, we discover the tragic life of one of Judah's kings, King Ahaz. Ahaz should have known God doesn't change. God proved it to two significant people in his life-his father and grandfather. Read 2 Chronicles, chapter 26. Ahaz ruled jointly with his father Jotham for a while. And earlier, Jotham ruled jointly for a while during the time of his father, Uzziah. So the lives of son, father, and grandfather were connected close enough for there to be a remarkable influence.
According to 26:5, Uzziah continued to "seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him." Ahaz had opportunity to learn this precept. He should have recalled that God prospered Grandpa because Grandpa sought Him.
A generation later according to 2 Chronicles 27:5, Ahaz's father Jotham fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed. In verse 6 we see that Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways according to God's ways. This was Ahaz's second opportunity to learn about God's immutable character.
With these repeated blessings on his father's and grandfather's obedience, you'd think Ahaz would walk obediently before God himself. But he didn't.
Ahaz learned about God's unchanging attitude toward sin the hard way, just like his grandfather. Although Uzziah started out well, once he became strong, he too forgot that God does not change. In his pride, Uzziah thought he could offer incense in the holy place. Uzziah forgot the day Nadad and Abihu were killed by God for offering strange incense to the Lord. What made Uzziah think a holy God would not judge him for going where only a Levite could go?
Uzziah forgot God doesn't change. That prideful lapse of memory brought leprosy from God. (2 Chronicles 26:18, 19). He died in this condition, unable to return to the palace for the rest of his life. Ahaz also had this example to remind him that God does not change! If God judged Uzziah who started out great but ended presumptuously in sin, shouldn't Ahaz have known he couldn't get away with it? Shouldn't he have believed it?
Before the two armies invaded, God gave Ahaz a fresh opportunity to repent and renew his faith. We learn this from the prophet Isaiah, so let's review through his eyes. In Isaiah 7:1, we read: "Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it."
Rezin decided to attack the holy city, the city of Mount Zion, where God had put His name and temple. But as hard as his armies fought, they couldn't take it. When the report reached Ahaz that the Arameans were camping just to the north, his heart and the hearts of his people shook like trees under a strong wind.
For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. -Romans 1:17
God never changes. That's as comforting as it is sobering.
When we read 2 Chronicles 28, we discover the tragic life of one of Judah's kings, King Ahaz. Ahaz should have known God doesn't change. God proved it to two significant people in his life-his father and grandfather. Read 2 Chronicles, chapter 26. Ahaz ruled jointly with his father Jotham for a while. And earlier, Jotham ruled jointly for a while during the time of his father, Uzziah. So the lives of son, father, and grandfather were connected close enough for there to be a remarkable influence.
According to 26:5, Uzziah continued to "seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him." Ahaz had opportunity to learn this precept. He should have recalled that God prospered Grandpa because Grandpa sought Him.
A generation later according to 2 Chronicles 27:5, Ahaz's father Jotham fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed. In verse 6 we see that Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways according to God's ways. This was Ahaz's second opportunity to learn about God's immutable character.
With these repeated blessings on his father's and grandfather's obedience, you'd think Ahaz would walk obediently before God himself. But he didn't.
Ahaz learned about God's unchanging attitude toward sin the hard way, just like his grandfather. Although Uzziah started out well, once he became strong, he too forgot that God does not change. In his pride, Uzziah thought he could offer incense in the holy place. Uzziah forgot the day Nadad and Abihu were killed by God for offering strange incense to the Lord. What made Uzziah think a holy God would not judge him for going where only a Levite could go?
Uzziah forgot God doesn't change. That prideful lapse of memory brought leprosy from God. (2 Chronicles 26:18, 19). He died in this condition, unable to return to the palace for the rest of his life. Ahaz also had this example to remind him that God does not change! If God judged Uzziah who started out great but ended presumptuously in sin, shouldn't Ahaz have known he couldn't get away with it? Shouldn't he have believed it?
Before the two armies invaded, God gave Ahaz a fresh opportunity to repent and renew his faith. We learn this from the prophet Isaiah, so let's review through his eyes. In Isaiah 7:1, we read: "Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it."
Rezin decided to attack the holy city, the city of Mount Zion, where God had put His name and temple. But as hard as his armies fought, they couldn't take it. When the report reached Ahaz that the Arameans were camping just to the north, his heart and the hearts of his people shook like trees under a strong wind.
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