One month ago in the One Year Chronological Bible we read about the day King Solomon dedicated the new temple in Jerusalem. We have covered two hundred years of history since then. King Solomon’s great kingdom divided and now the ten northern tribes have come to the brink of disaster. It’s amazing how quickly things can change.

God fought for Israel’s soul all of those years. Prophet after prophet called them to return to God but most of them ignored the message. They preferred to rely on false gods to guide and defend them as darkness closed in.

However, there was always a remnant that remained faithful to God and he was going to use them to rebuild his people. Isaiah’s first prophecy described it this way:

“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” Isaiah 6:11-13

King Jotham

King Jotham followed his father Uzziah to the throne of Judah and he was a good king who worshiped God and respected the temple. He was a builder. He repaired the upper gate of the temple and rebuilt broken down parts of Jerusalem’s wall. He also built towns, forts and defense towers throughout Judah.

Jotham went to war with Ammon and won. The Ammonites were forced to pay tributes to Judah that made it wealthy. This king prospered because God was pleased with him.

“Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God.” 2 Chronicles 15:6

Micah the Prophet

Micah was sent to preach in Judah during Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah’s reigns. His messages were for Judah, but they also concerned Israel. God was coming to judge the whole earth.

“Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.” Micah 1:3

Prophets of doom have had a bad rap for years. We mostly see them in cartoons where they stand with long hair and a beard, silently holding a sign that says, “The end is near.” We like to make fun of prophets – until their prophecies come true.

And one of the reasons we read the Old Testament prophets is to learn whether they were accurate. Did what they prophesied come to pass? If so, they were real prophets from God and their message was true.

If the messages of the prophets were true, do those messages apply to us today? Are we, in any way, like ancient Judah and Israel? We need to look at the sins of Israel and Judah to find out.

The Sins of Israel and Judah

Amos repeatedly condemned Israel for injustice and their treatment of the poor, and he preached against hypocrisy in worship. Micah indicted Judah and Israel for idolatry and detestable religious practices.

“All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.” Micah 1:7

The worship of God at his temple began with confession of sin and atonement. From there it went on to heights of glorious praise, and concluded with feasting and joy.

Idol worship began with embracing sin and ended with the degradation of everyone involved. People became like the thing they worshiped.

King Ahaz

King Jotham reigned for sixteen years and was succeeded by his son Ahaz. While Jotham had done a good job of repairing the temple, fortifying Judah, and acquiring a steady income from Ammon, he didn’t tear down all of the high places where the Judeans secretly worshiped idols. His son Ahaz came to the throne already an idol worshiper.

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord his God had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.” 2 Kings 16:2-4

This was unprecedented idolatry in Judah and God immediately opposed it. He let King Pekah in Israel and King Rezin in Aram form an alliance and attack Judah. As they marched through the land, King Ahaz sent treasure to the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser and asked him for help. Tiglath-Pileser complied by attacking Damascus while Rezin was occupied in Judah. Tiglath-Pileser made out like a bandit: He got paid handsomely by Ahaz and also got the plunder and captives from Damascus.

Meanwhile, Pekah and Rezin decimated Ahaz’s army, pillaged Judah’s towns and took two hundred thousand Judean women and children as captives back to Israel. It was an utter defeat for King Ahaz.

Reversal

When Pekah and his forces returned to Israel with the spoils of war they were met by Oded the Prophet.

“He said to them, ‘Because the Lord the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven. And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? Now, listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.’” 2 Chronicles 28:9-11

The leaders of Ephraim listened to Oded, went to the king and army and told them to return their prisoners.

“You must not bring those prisoners here,’ they said, ‘or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.” 2 Chronicles 28:13

So the soldiers gave up their plunder and prisoners in front of the officials who had confronted them. Then they arranged to deliver the people back to Judah at a meeting in Jericho.

Isaiah’s Message for Ahaz

When Ahaz was threatened by the alliance of Pekah and Rezin, God sent Isaiah to try and draw him back to the Lord. Ahaz was shaken by the great force that was coming toward him, and God wanted him to know it was not too late to ask him for help. In God’s eyes Pekah and Rezin were nothing but smoldering stubs of firewood. He could easily stop them. in fact, within sixty-five years Ephraim (King Pekah’s tribe) would be “too shattered to be a people.” Isaiah 7:8

God told Ahaz, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Isaiah 7:9

Then God invited Ahaz to ask for a sign from him, anything at all, and God would do it for him to prove that he was there for Ahaz. But Ahaz made the biggest mistake of his life. He said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Isaiah 7:12

Ahaz refused God.

Mysterious Messiah

So God gave Isaiah a different prophecy. He stopped speaking to Ahaz and spoke instead to the house of David. God had made a promise to David that there would always be a man from his descendants on the throne of Judah. But Ahaz was not worthy of this honor, so God looked past Ahaz to the One who was worthy. The Lord gave Isaiah a prophecy about the Messiah.

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

No one knew who this “Immanuel” was. His coming was hundreds of years in the future, but when he came he would fulfill every prophecy ever made about the Messiah. For now, he was just a puzzling bit of prophecy dropped into the middle of Judah’s troubled times.

God Whistles for the Flies

God tried to convince Ahaz that he could deliver him from Pekah and Rezin, but Ahaz rejected him. Now God told Ahaz what it was going to be like without his help.

God had Israel and Judah’s enemies lined up and ready to go. All he had to do was whistle and like flies and bees they would come out of rocks, ravines, thorn bushes and water holes. Assyrians were going to conquer and humiliate Israel. They would be everywhere — so much so that people would be afraid to go into the fields to care for their crops and animals.

When God’s people turned away from him, all that was left was enemies and mayhem. If only they had listened to the prophets while they could.