The curse of appeasement

2 Kings 16:10-18 NIV

Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. [11] So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. [12] When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. [13] He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. [14] As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple---from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord---and put it on the north side of the new altar. [15] King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” [16] And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered. [17] King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. [18] He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.

Here we read of the desecration Ahaz brought into the Lord's place by mixing the practices of foreign gods in order to mimmic the king of Damascus. He was enamoured with the altar he saw in that place and planned to integrate it into the Lord's worship.

The king thought other religious practices were, in modern parlance, "cool" and accordingly brought it into the house of the Lord.

Uriah, the priest, didn't protest, but went along with all that Ahaz proposed, although he must have known it was wrong.

He feared government rather than the living God.

Don't we see the same thing happening in our own country today?

Our monarch pronounces and protects the merits of multi-faiths, in effect cowtowing to foreign gods and in so doing spits in the face of the Lord Jesus.

The monarch and the bishops have brought other faiths into our places of worship and mixed the true and living Lord with false gods.

Here what God thinks about it:

Psalm 81:8-9 NIV

Hear Me, my people, and I will warn you---if you would only listen to Me, Israel! [9] You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me.

Plainly the Lord will not tolerate multi-faiths!

So we find ourselves in an era of judgement as God lifts His hand of protection from those who appease and mix in other faiths.

Psalm 81:11-12 NIV

“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. [12] So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

Fellow believers we must not bow down to the spirit of the age.

We must proudly stand before the Cross of Christ and proclaim Him King of kings and Lord of lords.

The king, the government and the state church may compromise, but stand firm in the faith of Christ:

Ephesians 4:4-6 NIV

There is one Body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one Hope when you were called ; [5] one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Let this be our proclamation:

Romans 1:16 NLT

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Jesus the Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes - the Jew first and also the Gentile.