“Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship. So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, thus Urijah the priest made it, before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus….Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, ‘Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening meal offering and the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their meal offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.’ So Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded” (2 Kings 16:10-11, 15-16).
In this passage, King Ahaz becomes infatuated with a pagan altar in Damascus and commands the high priest in Jerusalem to replace the divinely given model with the latest fashion in altars. Without a word of protest or appeal to the Torah’s instructions, Urijah the high priest does exactly what he is commanded. And herein lies the subtle—and sometimes not so subtle—danger of remodeling our biblical faith because of legal pressure or out of a desire to go with the flow of political trends and social norms.
Like Urijah, we too live in a world that constantly pressures us to choose its own redefined morality and shifting moral boundaries over God’s commandments. And let us be clear: standing on the side of truth always comes at a cost. By choosing to follow God’s word, we will assuredly be demonized and ostracized by the great majority of those who are culturally and religiously acceptable in our postmodern society. May God give us the courage and resolve to sacrifice convenience for the sake of obedience.
“When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:27-29).
The post Obedience Over Approval first appeared on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.
The post Obedience Over Approval appeared first on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.