He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 2 Kings 16:14 NKJV
In the story of 2 Kings 16 we learn that King Ahaz is made King over Judah. Ahaz did wicked things before the Lord and did not follow in David’s footsteps. King Ahaz brought back the worship of Baal and even practiced child sacrifices. When King Ahaz saw one of the idols that the King of Assyria had he wanted to set up an altar just like it. So King Ahaz instructed the Priest to set up this new alter in the temple. King Ahaz had requested that the Bronze alter, which was before the Lord and sacrifices were made on it, be moved from its place at the front of the temple. King Ahaz did not want to get rid of the altar because he still wanted to inquire of the Lord when needed. He moved it to the north side of his new alter and made all the sacrifices on the new alter and displaced the altar before the Lord.
It is shocking what King Ahaz did. We know that God was angered by King Ahaz’s action and know this is a blatant form of idolatry. However, upon closer inspection of the story we have done the same thing.
King Ahaz was no longer interested in worshiping God alone. He still wanted God’s guidance but no longer wanted to worship God. He put another altar in place of God’s altar. It is the same in the church. We are not satisfied in just worshipping God; there are other things that are taking God’s place in our hearts.
Our body is the temple for God. God should be the center of our heart. Is He the center of your heart? Are there other things that have taken God’s place in your heart? Is God an afterthought only to be approached when we want guidance? Our actions speak to the thing or person that is center of our heart. Whatever we give our time, our money and talent to is what we worship. In this case you may not have stopped worshipping God altogether, but you have displaced Him in your heart.
Jesus told us that the Father is looking for true worshippers. God wants us to worship Him for who He is. God is not our servant. We are to serve Him. He does not answer our commands, we answer to His. He is the Creator and we are the created. Jesus told us to seek the Kingdom first and everything else would be added.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any idols in your heart that have displaced God. Confess your sins and repent. If we serve God first, God will answer all our other prayers and help us in everything.
Reflections 