The Altar of Damascus

2 Kings 16:11 - And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus...

Following the death of King Jotham of Judah his son Ahaz succeeded to the throne. Jotham had been a good king, the son of a good king; the previous chapter tells us as much in 2 Kings 15:34 for he followed in the steps of his father Uzziah. Though essentially a good king he did not follow in the footsteps of David, for he permitted the people to continue in their evil ways; ways which they had copied from the nations around them, and which where the reason that Yahweh had evicted the original inhabitants from the land of Canaan for their wickedness - "Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee" (Deuteronomy 9:4).

Although Isaiah, Hosea and Micah all remonstrated against Ahaz that he should not seek assistance from Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria he refused to have confidence in the God of his fathers, and because of his disbelief he was "not established" (Isaiah 7:9) and after his death "they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel" because of his wickedness (2 Chronicles 28:27).

The particular point that we wish to extract from the life of Ahaz and his wickedness is something that is common to the world today. Ahaz saw a magnificent altar in Damascus when he went to visit Tiglathpileser; an altar built by the Syrians and used in the worship of their idols. Ahaz caused this altar to be replicated in the temple in Jerusalem, using it to offer the continual burnt offerings of the daily sacrifices instead of the "brazen altar" that had been built by Solomon and which was of similar, though not identical, construction as that made by Moses for the tabernacle. That used in the tabernacle was shittim wood overlaid with brass, whereas Solomon's was either stone or earth overlaid with brass. Both have spiritual lessons for the discerning believer, and both point forward to the anti-typical altar, Yahshua Anointed, that was to be the means of man's redemption - though this redemption was, and still is, selective and not by right or automatic in anyway.

The substitution of this altar for one of man's design is typical of the carnal mind. Ahaz's reasoning was to replace the altar of Yahweh with the Syrian altar to be used to worship the gods of the Syrians, since they had succeeded in destroying the fenced cities of Judah. Ahaz's reasoning was that the Syrians gods were stronger than the gods he worshipped, but the Syrians had the accendency over him as a punishment because he worshipped gods other than Yahweh. The important point is that he removed the altar of Yahweh that pointed forward to the Messiah that was promised. Ahaz sealed his own fate when he rejected the altar of Deity for a man-made substitution. This is exactly what those individuals do that change the nature of the Son of God into an unscriptural alternative that removes the nature of flesh that Christ bore and institutes for it a falsely divine nature. In general, Christendom, led by the Mother of Harlots, thus makes Christ part of the Godhead as one person of a triune god. There are even brethren of the Central Fellowship who deny that Yahshua Anointed was cleansed of his flesh of sin by his own blood, and preach "another gospel". In so doing Christ is no longer a true representative of us (since he must therefore have a different nature) and their false doctrine would render ineffectual his sacrificial work of redemption.

Because of his wilful disobedience to the commandments of Yahweh Ahaz and Judah suffered at the hands of the king of Assyria as prophesied in Isaiah 8:7-8. Yet all was not lost for Yahweh promised that a saviour of the nation would be born. The promise begins in Isaiah chapter 7 and continues through to chapter 9. Though Ahaz again refused Yahweh's offer, this time the request of a sign that the deliverance that Yahweh promised would come to pass, the sign was given nonetheless but was one of Yahweh's choosing: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings" (Isaiah 7:14-16). This prophecy of Immanuel was partially applicable to the immediate future being fulfilled initially in Hezekiah, but its fullest import was in relation to the birth of the Messiah many years later. This prophecy must have had a more immediate fulfilment since verse sixteen states that before the child new to refuse the evil and choose the good both the kings that Ahaz feared (i.e. of Israel and Syria) would be removed.

The saving of Judah out of the hand of the king of Assyria in Hezekiah's reign was not for the sake of Ahaz but "Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake" (2Kings 19:32-34). Though the city was ultimately saved in the time of Hezekiah his father Ahaz and the rest of Judah were punished for instituting the commandments of men instead of the laws of Yahweh. They replaced the ‘altar’ that was provided for the correct worship of Yahweh with one of man's design, thus nullifying their worship and making it unacceptable.

Let us therefore ensure that we do not corrupt the commandments of Yahweh with the ideas of men, for if we do it will ultimately lead to our downfall and the loss of our hope of life eternal in Yahweh's kingdom, when His son returns to judge the saints. If we reject Yahweh's Altar we also reject the sacrifices that are made holy by the altar and both the altar and the sacrifices under the Law of Moses all point forward to the Messiah as the Apostle explains in Hebrews chapters 8 and 10. Rejection of the altar by implication includes rejection of the sacrifices, thus we would reject the redeeming sacrifice of Christ and our sins would not be atoned under these circumstances, "our faith would be vain" and we would be "yet in our sins".