And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria; and he saw the altar that was at Damascus, and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the form of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all its workmanship.
Ahaz had asked Assyria, not the Lord, to rescue him from his enemies. Now the rescued king travels north to meet his rescuer, and what he brings home is not a treaty but the design of a foreign altar.
The trip to Damascus grew out of an earlier choice. Two kings, Pekah and Rezin, stood against Ahaz. He turned to a foreign army rather than to the Lord, and for a while it looked like a success.
Ahaz chose to trust the king of Assyria against Pekah and Rezin rather than to trust the Lord and obey Him. This explains his answer to Isaiah. … The first result of this trust in Assyria seemed to work out well for Judah. Tiglath-pileser captured Damascus, carried away its people, and put Rezin to death.
The king is not abandoning religion. He is upgrading it — swapping what God gave for what pleased him more, and finding a priest happy to help.
Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, likely to congratulate him for his victory. But while there Ahaz saw a Syrian altar that he evidently liked better than the altar of the Lord. He therefore sent the pattern of the altar to Urijah the priest at Jerusalem, instructing him to build one like it for the worship of Judah. Ahaz was therefore a religious man, but choosing wicked religion above the true worship of the Lord. Christendom has been guilty of the same evil in imitating the false worship of unbelievers.
The true altar was not a matter of taste. Its pattern came from God, given to Moses. Sending a rival pattern from Damascus was not decoration but replacement, and the same choice is still open today.
Moses is reminded again that the pattern shown to him on the mountain must be his guide. The wisdom of God alone could devise the altar which was to embody so many blessed truths. A king Ahaz, taken with the beauty of the Syrian altar, may reject the altar of God; but it was the ruin of him and of all Israel. So now men may refuse the preaching of the cross of Christ. By their own reckoning they find in it either a stumbling block or foolishness. So they choose an altar for their worship that suits their own tastes, one that will not offend the prejudices of the natural man. But, as with Ahaz, it can only end in their everlasting ruin. God alone can set the way and the manner of approach to Himself.
Uriah — Urijah in older translations — could have refused. Judah's priests had a record of standing up to a king who overstepped.
When Uzziah interfered with the order of the house of God, the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Urijah the priest built it for him. He supported the king in his turning away from God.
He did everything the king ordered. That obedience had a direction to it.
He reversed the rule the apostles lived by: "We must obey God rather than men." He thought otherwise. His eye was on the honour that comes from man; theirs was on the honour that comes from God.
Ahaz used the new altar freely. One offering is missing from the list.
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering except the one he needed most for himself — the sin offering. The plain bronze altar stood before the house of the Lord. It seems to have offended his taste for beauty. So it was moved to a less noticeable place, on the north side of his own foreign substitute.
One writer asks whether the same swap happens today.
Do we not find something similar in today's religions? Men who claim to be Christians think they can come to God by an altar other than the altar of expiation — an altar they do not believe in. Like Rezin's altar, theirs is much broader and far better looking than God's. The old religious narrowness has given way to broader views, they say. It is no longer the blood of the cross that justifies and redeems the sinner. … The new altar has no point of contact with the old.
- Cause. Ahaz trusted Assyria instead of the Lord. At first the deal seemed to pay off. The Damascus altar is what that trust brought home.
- Copy. He saw an altar he liked better than God's and sent its design to Jerusalem — religion kept, worship swapped.
- Pattern. God's wisdom alone designed His altar. Only God can set the way to Himself. An altar picked to suit our taste ends in ruin.
- Compliance. Priests had resisted a king before. Urijah did not. His eye was on honour from men, not from God.
- Cost. Ahaz brought every offering except the sin offering he needed most. He pushed the true altar aside. Any religion that keeps the forms but drops the blood of the cross does the same.
And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus; thus Urijah the priest made [it], against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus and sent its design home ahead of himself. The verse's hard question is not about Ahaz but about Urijah: why did the priest responsible for God's altar build a rival one on the king's orders?
The speed matters. Urijah did not stall or object. He finished the work in time for the king's return. One writer asks the question directly.
Ahaz therefore sent the pattern of the altar to Urijah the priest at Jerusalem, telling him to build one like it for the worship of Judah. So Ahaz was a religious man, but he chose wicked religion above the true worship of the Lord. The Christian world has been guilty of the same evil, copying the false worship of unbelievers. But why did Urijah not have the spiritual strength to resist this evil of the king? Instead of resisting, he agreed with this false worship completely, and had built the altar by the time Ahaz returned.
Resistance was possible. Priests had refused another king before.
When Uzziah interfered with the order of God's house, the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Urijah the priest built it for him, and backed the king in his turning away from God.
It would be easy to read this as a matter of style — a new design, the same God. The record says otherwise.
Having seen Rezin's idolatrous altar, he sends its pattern to Jerusalem and has it set up in the court of the temple. He finds a high priest to carry out this act of sacrilege. 2 Chronicles 28:22 tells us that Ahaz sacrificed to the gods of Damascus. To burn a sacrifice on any altar other than the bronze altar was to sacrifice to false gods.
Ahaz did not just supply a design. He gave orders about the offerings, and Urijah took them. One writer sets that choice beside the apostles', who chose the other way.
In his pride he told the high priest what to offer on his altar, and how, and when. And Urijah, the unworthy successor of Jehoiada and Zechariah, obeyed him to the letter like a slave. "Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded." He turned the apostles' rule upside down, that we "must obey God rather than men." He thought differently. His eye was on the honour that comes from man; theirs was on the honour that comes from God.
An altar is a small thing beside a whole temple system. But this one change did not stay small.
When Ahaz set up a new altar in the Temple, copied from the pattern of the idol-altar, he opened the door wide to unlawful worship in the Temple of God. He found a willing helper in Urijah (whose name means "the LORD is light"), who ran the worship just as King Ahaz commanded. And greater dishonour to God's house followed. He even shut up the doors of the house of the Lord (2 Chron. 28:24), which probably meant that the services in the Holy Place stopped completely.
Urijah traded God's altar for a better-looking one. That trade cost more than a design.
A king like Ahaz, captivated by the beauty of the Syrian altar, may reject the altar of God. But it was the ruin of him and of all Israel. In the same way men today may refuse the preaching of the cross of Christ. To their thinking it is either a stumbling block or foolishness. So they choose an altar for their worship that suits their own taste, one that will not offend the prejudices of the natural man. But, as with Ahaz, it can only end in their everlasting ruin. God alone can prescribe the fitting way and method of access to Himself.
- Pattern sent. Ahaz liked a foreign altar better than God's and sent home its design. The trouble began with a preference, not an argument.
- Priest yields. Urijah could have refused, as priests had refused a king before. Instead the altar stood ready before Ahaz came home.
- Master swapped. He did all the king commanded. He reversed the rule that we must obey God rather than men, with his eye on human honour.
- Worship redefined. A sacrifice on any altar but God's own was a sacrifice to the gods of Damascus, whatever name the worshipper spoke over it.
- Door opened. One new altar led to worse, until Ahaz shut the temple doors. God alone can set the way of approach to Himself.
And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached to the altar, and offered upon it.
Ahaz comes home from meeting the king of Assyria and goes straight up to a new altar copied from a foreign design. It looks like worship, but who chose that altar, and what became of the one God had commanded?
The altar did not come from God's instructions. It came from a royal visit abroad.
Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser, likely to congratulate him for his victory. But while there Ahaz saw a Syrian altar that he evidently liked better than the altar of the Lord. So he sent the pattern of the altar to Urijah the priest in Jerusalem, and told him to build one like it for the worship of Judah. Ahaz was a religious man. But he chose wicked religion above the true worship of the Lord.
The altar was ready and waiting because a priest had built it. Judah had seen priests resist a king who meddled with the house of God.
When Uzziah interfered with the order of the house of God, the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Urijah the priest built it for him. He supported the king in his turning away from God.
Even Urijah's own name spoke against what he did.
King Ahaz finds in Urijah the high priest a willing tool for his idolatrous plans. Untrue to his name, which means "light of the Lord," he obeys his king's orders without question instead of rebuking him for his shameful act. Probably because he bowed so low, his name is left out of the list of priests in 1 Chronicles 6:4-15.
Some older translations end the verse with "and offered upon it." The altar he used, not the ritual, decided what that offering really was.
Having seen Rezin's idolatrous altar, he sends its pattern to Jerusalem. He has it set up in the court of the temple. He finds a high priest to carry out this act of sacrilege. 2 Chronicles 28:22 tells us that Ahaz sacrificed to the gods of Damascus. Burning a sacrifice on any altar other than the bronze altar was sacrificing to false gods.
What he offered on this altar matters. So does what he left out.
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering. He leaves out the one he needed most for himself — the sin offering. The plain bronze altar, "which was before the house of the Lord," seems to have offended his taste for beauty. So he pushed it aside to the north side of his own foreign copy. He had the arrogance to command the high priest what to offer on his altar, and how, and when. And Urijah, the unworthy successor of better priests, obeyed to the letter. He reversed the apostles' rule, that we ought to obey God rather than men.
Every step Ahaz took toward his new altar was a step away from the one God had placed in front of the temple. Its position there carried meaning.
Not only did Ahaz introduce an idolatrous altar into the temple worship, but he displaced the copper altar that was in front of the temple. He put it on the north side of his new altar. The Lord had placed the copper altar in front of the temple because it speaks of the only way of approach to God. That way is Christ, the One whose sacrifice is indispensable. But how many today are like Ahaz, pushing Christ out of the way and despising the value of His perfect sacrifice.
The same swap did not stop with Ahaz. One writer sees it in religion today.
Do we not find something similar in today's religions? Men who profess to be Christians think they can approach God by another altar than the altar of expiation, which they do not believe in. Like Rezin's altar, theirs is much broader, and looks much more beautiful than God's. The old-fashioned religious narrowness has given place to broader views, they say. It is no longer the blood of the cross that justifies and redeems the sinner. They have another Christ than that One. Their Christ renewed humanity's ties with God by His life, and His cross is nothing more than the crowning act of a life of devotion.
- Seen — Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus that pleased him more than the Lord's, and sent home the pattern of it.
- Built — faithful priests had once resisted a king. Urijah obeyed Ahaz instead of God, and built the altar for him.
- Approached — going up to that altar was not a new style of true worship. Offering anywhere but the bronze altar meant sacrificing to the gods of Damascus.
- Displaced — the bronze altar stood in front of the temple to picture the one way to God: Christ and His sacrifice. Ahaz shoved it aside.
- Repeated — people still make the same swap. A broader, prettier altar replaces the blood of the cross, and leaves them with another Christ.
And he burned his burnt-offering and his oblation, and poured out his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offering upon the altar.
Ahaz returns from Damascus and walks up to a new altar. He had ordered it built from a foreign pattern. Now he offers Israel's sacrifices on it. The forms are all correct. The altar is not. Can worship be right when its altar is wrong?
Ahaz did not design this altar. He saw it abroad on a visit to the king of Assyria, and had it copied at home.
Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser, likely to congratulate him for his victory. But while there Ahaz saw a Syrian altar that he evidently liked better than the altar of the Lord. So he sent the pattern of the altar to Urijah the priest in Jerusalem. He told him to build one like it for the worship of Judah. Ahaz was a religious man, then, but he chose wicked religion over the true worship of the Lord.
The list of what Ahaz offered is long. One item is missing.
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering except the one he needed most for himself — the sin-offering. The plain bronze altar stood in front of the house of the Lord. Its looks seem to have offended his taste for beauty. So it lost its place, pushed aside to the north side of his own foreign substitute.
Much of the ritual was correct. But an offering's worth depends on the altar it is laid on.
Ahaz ignored the altar of God. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings on the altar he liked, and sprinkled the blood on it as well. We are not told whether the priest acted for him in this or not. Ahaz could boast that he had some details right, while he was rebellious against God at the root. The Lord Jesus spoke of the scribes and Pharisees. They taught that a promise sworn by the altar counts for nothing, but a promise sworn by the gift on the altar must be kept. The Lord called these teachers blind fools, and asked which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy? The gift speaks of Christ's sacrifice, but the altar pictures Christ Himself, the basis of the value of the sacrifice. So the altar of Ahaz means that he brought in a false Christ.
The altar copied one belonging to Rezin, the king of Damascus. Ahaz would have said he was worshipping the God of Judah. Chronicles names who really received these sacrifices.
Having seen Rezin's idolatrous altar, he sends its pattern to Jerusalem and has it erected in the court of the temple. He finds a high priest to carry out this act of sacrilege. 2 Chronicles 28:22 tells us that Ahaz sacrificed to the gods of Damascus. To burn a sacrifice on any altar other than the bronze altar was to sacrifice to false gods.
Judah's priests had stood up to a king before. This time the priest did not.
When Uzziah interfered with the order of the house of God, the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Urijah the priest built it for him. He backed the king in his turning away from God.
Ahaz's altar won him over by its size and its looks. One writer sees the same pull at work today.
Do we not find something similar in today's religions? Men who claim to be Christians think they can approach God by another altar than the altar of expiation, which they do not believe in. Like Rezin's altar, theirs is much broader and looks far more beautiful than God's. The old-fashioned religious narrowness has given way to broader views, they say. It is no longer the blood of the cross that justifies and redeems the sinner. They have another Christ than that One.
- Pattern. The trouble started with a preference. Ahaz liked a foreign altar better than God's, so he had it copied for Judah's worship.
- Priest. A weak priest built what a wicked king ordered. Earlier priests had resisted a king who meddled with God's house. Urijah helped his king instead.
- Offerings. Ahaz presented every kind of offering except the sin-offering — the one he needed most.
- Altar. The altar gives the gift its value. So a substitute altar means a substitute Christ: form kept, foundation lost.
- Verdict. To sacrifice on any altar but God's was to sacrifice to the gods of Damascus. Men make the same trade whenever a broader, prettier religion replaces the blood of the cross.
And the brazen altar which was before Jehovah, he brought forward from the forefront of the house, from between [his] altar and the house of Jehovah, and put it by the side of [his] altar on the north.
Ahaz came home from Damascus with a design in his head, and he rearranged the court of God's house to fit it. He did not smash God's altar; he moved it aside to make room for one he liked better.
The bronze altar's position was not decoration. Writers point out that it stood at the front because of what it stood for:
Ahaz did not only bring an idolatrous altar into the temple worship. He also displaced the copper altar that stood in front of the temple, and put it on the north side of his new altar (v.14). The Lord had the copper altar placed in front of the temple because it speaks of the only way of approach to God. That way is Christ, the One whose sacrifice is indispensable. But how many today are like Ahaz, pushing Christ out of the way and despising the value of His perfect sacrifice.
Ahaz renounced nothing out loud. He kept the old altar, but not at the centre. And what he offered on the new one left out the offering he needed most:
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering except the one he needed most for himself — the sin offering. The plain bronze altar, the one standing in front of the house of the LORD, seems to have offended his eye for beauty. So he pushed it off to a place of relative obscurity, on the north side of his own foreign substitute.
Its look and its size are what made the Damascus copy win. One writer sees people today approaching God by a different altar too:
Like Rezin's altar, theirs is much broader and looks far more beautiful than God's. The old-fashioned religious narrowness has given way to broader views, they say. It is no longer the blood of the cross that justifies and redeems the sinner. They have another Christ, a Christ who by His life renewed humanity's ties with God. His cross is nothing more than the crowning act of a life of devotion. The new altar has no point of contact with the old. Its shape and its beauty make it far more desirable to the world than the bronze altar. So the bronze altar loses its place and is set aside (v. 14). It is no longer the indispensable way of approach when a person comes before God in His sanctuary. In short, there is a new way of approach; a new religion is set up, and the first is pushed into a corner.
The change needed a priest to carry it out, and Ahaz had one. Commentators contrast him with the priests who once stood up to King Uzziah:
When Uzziah interfered with the order of the house of God, the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Urijah the priest built it for him, and supported the king in his apostasy.
Ahaz chose an altar by taste. One writer turns that choice into a warning for anyone today:
A king like Ahaz, captivated by the beauty of the Syrian altar, may reject the altar of God (2 Kings 16). But it was the ruin of him and of all Israel (2 Chr. 28:23). So now people may refuse the preaching of the cross of Christ. As they see it, they find in it either a stumbling block or foolishness. So they choose an altar for their worship that suits their own taste and will not offend the natural man. But, as with Ahaz, it can only end in their everlasting ruin. God alone can prescribe the fitting way and method of access to Himself.
The altar was the first change, not the last. By the end of the chapter Ahaz had also altered the king's entrance to the house — again with one audience in mind:
Finally, Ahaz changes the entrance to the house of the LORD (v. 18), which no one but the king was allowed to use. He does it "because of the king of Assyria." He gives up his own privileges as head of the people of God. He also gives up the "covered way of the sabbath," the privilege of the people themselves. He does all this to avoid offending the world he is serving… The very foundations of Israel's religion, by which the people were set apart for God, have disappeared.
- Place. God put the bronze altar in front of the house because it stood for the one way of approach to Him.
- Preference. Ahaz never argued against that altar. He just liked the Damascus one better, and taste decided.
- Push. He did not destroy the old altar. He moved it to the side — still in view, out of the centre.
- Permission. A priest built the substitute to order. So the king's taste became the nation's worship.
- Price. Once the altar moved, everything else moved too. In the end the foundations that set the people apart for God were gone.
And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening oblation, and the king's burnt-offering, and his oblation, and the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their oblation, and their drink-offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offerings, and all the blood of the sacrifices; and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire [by].
Ahaz has copied a foreign altar, and here he orders it into the centre of Israel's worship. He moves every daily sacrifice onto it. God's own altar keeps only a strange new job, and the priest obeys without a word.
The command comes from the throne, not from God. One writer weighs the tone of the order, the priest who carried it out, and the one offering left off the list:
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering except the one he needed most for himself — the sin offering... With great arrogance he told the high priest what to offer on his altar, and how, and when. And this unworthy successor of Jehoiada and Zechariah obeyed to the letter, like a slave. "Urijah the priest did everything King Ahaz commanded." He turned the apostles' rule upside down, that we "must obey God rather than men." His mind was set elsewhere. His eye was on the honour that comes from man; theirs was on the honour that comes from God.
Other bad reigns are remembered for priests who stood firm. This one is not:
Under other wicked kings, the record still honours faithful priests. One mark of the wicked reign of Ahaz is that here the priest is almost as wicked as the king. Urijah let himself become the ready tool of his king, who treated holy things with contempt, and helped him build an idolatrous altar.
The list of offerings leaves nothing out. Ahaz keeps every form of worship. One commentator shows why the altar, not the gift on it, decides everything:
Ahaz could boast of having some details correct, while he was rebellious against God at heart. The Lord Jesus spoke of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They taught, "Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath" (Matt. 23:18). But the Lord called these teachers, "You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?" (v. 19). The gift speaks of Christ's sacrifice, but the altar pictures Christ Himself, the basis of the value of the sacrifice. So the altar of Ahaz stands for the false Christ he was bringing in. How dreadful is such an evil as this!
The bronze altar stood in front of the temple, and its place there had a meaning:
The Lord had the copper altar placed in front of the temple for a reason. It speaks of the only way to come to God, and that way is Christ, the One whose sacrifice cannot be done without. But how many today are like Ahaz, pushing Christ out of the way and despising the value of His perfect sacrifice.
Ahaz does not destroy God's altar. He keeps it for his own private use, as something to consult. One writer denies that Ahaz was simply weighing up what to do with the old altar, and calls the swap a change of religion:
In short, there is a new way of approach. A new religion is set up, and the first is pushed into a corner. At most the bronze altar may serve to "inquire by" (v. 15) — not, as some have said, so that one might think over what to do with it, but to use it for superstitious practices.
God's altar becomes something Ahaz calls on only when he needs it:
If hard problems or danger came, he could use the copper altar. Men today treat Christ the same way — Someone to consult when they are in trouble. But this only amounts to superstition, with no faith at all in Christ Himself. They want Christ only as their servant, not as their Lord.
Ahaz chose the altar that looked better to him. The same instinct is still at work:
A king Ahaz, charmed by the beauty of the Syrian altar, may reject the altar of God; but it was the ruin of him and of all Israel. So now men may refuse the preaching of the cross of Christ. As they see it, the cross is either a stumbling block or foolishness. They choose instead an altar for their worship that suits their own taste, and that will not offend the prejudices of the natural man. But, as in the case of Ahaz, it can only end in their everlasting ruin. God only can prescribe the suited way and method of access to Himself.
- Altar. The altar pictures Christ Himself, who gives the sacrifice its value. Swap the altar and you swap Christ, however correct the ritual on it.
- Approach. God's altar stood in front of the temple as the only way in. Ahaz pushed it aside. Only God can set the way to Himself.
- Appetite. Ahaz chose the new altar because it pleased his eye. Men still refuse the cross and pick an altar that will not offend their taste.
- Accomplice. Urijah obeyed the king to the letter. He turned the rule upside down: we must obey God rather than men. His eye was on the honour that comes from man.
- Amulet. Cut down to something "to inquire by," God's altar became mere superstition. So men consult Christ in trouble, wanting a servant and not a Lord.
And Urijah the priest did according to all that king Ahaz had commanded.
Ahaz had rebuilt the worship of Jerusalem around a new altar, copied from a pattern he sent from Damascus. This verse asks why the priest who guarded God's altar built it without a word of protest.
Uriah's orders came from the king, not from God. One writer notes what the new altar left out. He weighs the priest's obedience against the rule the apostles lived by.
On this altar of new design Ahaz offers every kind of offering except the one he needed most for himself — the sin-offering. He arrogantly commanded the high priest what to offer on his altar, and how, and when. And the unworthy successor of Jehoiada and Zechariah obeyed slavishly, down to the letter. "Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded." He reversed the apostles' rule, that "we must obey God rather than men." He was of another mind: his eye was on the honour that comes from man; theirs was on the honour that comes from God.
Uriah had another option. Judah had already seen priests refuse King Uzziah.
When Uzziah interfered with the order of the house of God the faithful priests resisted him. But when Ahaz sent the pattern of the idolatrous altar from Damascus, Uriah the priest built it for him, and supported the king in his apostasy.
Ahaz stayed religious while turning from the true worship of the Lord. One commentator stops to ask what the priest lacked.
Ahaz was therefore a religious man, but he chose wicked religion above the true worship of the Lord. Christendom has been guilty of the same evil in imitating the false worship of unbelievers. But why did Uriah not have the spiritual strength to resist this evil of the king? Instead of resisting, he fully agreed with this false worship and had the altar built by the time Ahaz returned.
The old bronze altar was not destroyed. It was only pushed aside. One writer reads that swap of altars as a picture of religion today.
Do we not find something similar in today's religions? Men who profess to be Christians think they can approach God by an altar other than the altar of expiation, and they do not believe in that altar. Like Rezin's altar, theirs is much broader and far better looking than God's. The old-fashioned religious narrowness has given way to broader views, they say. It is no longer the blood of the cross that justifies and redeems the sinner... Its form and its beauty make it infinitely more desirable to the world than the bronze altar. So the bronze altar is taken from its place and set aside (v. 14). It is no longer the one necessary way of approach when a person comes before God in His sanctuary.
Uriah's help did not stop at one altar. What it let in ran far past a change of furniture.
The building of a new altar in the Temple by Ahaz, following the pattern of the idol-altar, opened the door wide for unlawful worship in the house of God. He found a willing helper in Uriah (the LORD is light), who conducted the worship "as King Ahaz commanded." And greater profanation followed. He even shut up the doors of the house of the Lord (2 Chron. 28:24), which probably meant a complete stop to the services in the Holy Place. He worshipped the gods of Damascus in connection with this altar (2 Chron. 28:23).
The failure was the high priest's own, yet God did not scrap the priesthood He had set up. One writer draws a conclusion from that about where Christ is Priest.
God has provided a priesthood for earth in the family and line of Aaron. Despite that family's failure in the past, He has never set that priesthood aside. Eli's sons were wicked. Uriah went along with Ahaz's proposal (2 Kings 16). Neither of these moved God to transfer the priesthood to another tribe... God, we repeat it, never sets aside a priesthood that He has established. So the Lord Jesus could not possibly have been a Priest on earth.
- Command. Ahaz told the priest what to offer, how, and when. Uriah obeyed to the letter, with his eye on honour from man.
- Consent. Earlier priests resisted a king who meddled with the house of God. Uriah backed his king instead.
- Cost. The altar of expiation was not smashed, only shifted aside. It was no longer the one necessary way of approach to God.
- Contagion. One willing helper opened the door wide. Idol worship came in, and Ahaz shut the doors of the Lord's house.
- Constancy. A failing priest never unseats God's arrangement. He kept the priesthood in Aaron's line, so Christ was never a Priest on earth.