Introduction: War as Advancement of Politics and Religion

Weaver introduces the topic by citing historical examples of leaders lying to advance political agendas through war, then asserts that war is also the advancement of religion, as one's theology determines politics.

2 Chronicles 28, beginning there with verse 1:

"Wherefore, the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was delivered also into the hand of the king of Syria, who smote him with a great slaughter."

Now look at verse 6: "For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men," note this, "because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers." Now skip down to verse 16 if you would. "At that time did King Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho, with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, and Gimzo also with the villages thereof, and they dwelt there. For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. And Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, but he helped him not."

"And at the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord, that is, that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord." "And he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. Now the rest of his acts and all of his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel." The message today is entitled, "The Reason for Wars." The reason for wars. It was Prussian officer Karl von Clausewitz who made the statement years ago that war is simply the advancement of politics by other means.

Now there are a number of illustrations that illustrate that point very well. For instance, some of you will remember from your history lessons, of course, that President McKinley told the American people that the USS Maine had been sunk in the harbor of Havana by a mine. And thus he then encouraged the Americans to enter in what was known as the Spanish-American War. Later on, not only was the captain at that time saying that a mine did not sink his ship, but a boiler had exploded, and after the Americans had entered the war, it was proven that the USS Maine was sunk not by a mine, but by an explosion of the boiler. But nevertheless, the war had already taken place, and we were involved in it. Hitler used the same principle of lying to his own people to initiate an invasion. He told the people of Germany that Poland had attacked first, and they believed him, and thus they followed him to war against Poland, which initiated, of course, World War II. Some of you will remember that Franklin Delano Roosevelt claimed that Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack. And, of course, he wanted to get in war with Germany, and he saw war with Japan as a means of that. And, of course, it had to appear that Japan struck first. But Roosevelt certainly lied to the American people.

He was following an eight-step plan that had been devised by the Office of Naval Intelligence. And contrary to propaganda, there were messages sent out by radio, even from the Japanese; those messages were recorded, they were decoded, and we knew well in advance that the Japanese were on their way to attack Pearl Harbor. So the attack was basically a lie in the sense that it was called a surprise attack, when in reality it was not, and of course America marched off to war again. For some of you will remember that President Johnson lied about torpedoes being in the Gulf of Tonkin, which then put more and more troops into the Vietnam War. And of course, what LBJ had done, he had taken advantage of an inexperienced sonar man and that man's report when he knew full well that there were no torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin. Well, I don't have to remind you that President Bush lied about Afghanistan and Iraq. There were no nuclear weapons there, there were no biological weapons there, and of course there was no connection with Al Qaeda.

Now the truth is President Bush lied, just like McKinley lied, just like Hitler lied, just like FDR lied, just like Johnson lied. So we've got to ask this question: why did they lie? And the answer is for the advancement of their political agenda, for the advancement of their political objectives. Do you realize the New World Order today has an objective? That objective is perpetual commerce through perpetual war. We first destroy and then we rebuild. And the reason for that is it keeps paper money in circulation and it allows the elite then to steal from those countries real money, silver, gold, diamonds, whatever, and real property while defrauding the people of those countries.

Now, I want to point out something. I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but I'm going to show it to you from the Bible this morning. War is not simply the advancement of politics by other means. It is also the advancement of religion by other means as well. You see, one's religion, his theological stance, determines his politics. So while you're advancing your politics, you're also advancing your religion. And this is going to become exceedingly clear in 2 Chronicles chapter 28.

Now, if you and I were to try to sit down and try to analyze the multitudinous reasons for war, we could certainly be here a long time. There are a number of things that we could suggest. We could suggest greed, covetousness, theft, hatred, ill will, control, pagan dominion, desire for empire, and a multitude of other reasons why people go to war. But I want to just kind of reduce it down today to what I will call an irreducible minimum.

The Irreducible Minimum: Rebellion Toward God and His Law

The basic reason for wars is rebellion against God. If everyone acted biblically, there would be no war; defensive wars would eradicate aggressors. War exists because man rejects God's reign.

Here is the basic reason why there are wars, and it is this: it is rebellion toward God and toward His law. You're going to see that from this passage as well. Have you ever stopped to think, if everyone acted biblically, there would be no war? And if only a few acted unbiblically, then most of our wars would just simply be defensive wars, because we would be fighting those who were acting unbiblically. And if we were biblical in a defensive war, we would eradicate and destroy those who began the war, and thus that would end wars as well. You remember when the children of Israel marched in the land, what were their marching orders from God? Kill them all. Destroy them all.

In other words, if they're not going to submit, if they're not going to bow to me, they will be destroyed. So war basically exists because of man's rebellion to God. Man does not want the one true and living God to reign over him. He is not interested in God's kingdom. He is interested in his kingdom. Do you remember the philosophy that is put forth in Genesis 11, verse 4? Turn back there right quickly. Hold 2 Chronicles 28. But here is the philosophy of fallen man. It was true back in Genesis 11. It is true today. In Genesis 11, verse 4, after God had commanded the people to be scattered abroad, what did they say? In verse 4,

Now, God told them to be scattered abroad.

Biblical Principle: God Raises Adversaries When Ways Displease Him

Proverbs 16:7 teaches that when a man's ways please the Lord, even his enemies are at peace; conversely, when ways displease God, He raises up adversaries, as seen with Solomon and in Isaiah 9.

Now, there's a verse in Scripture which all of us should really memorize. It's Proverbs 16 and verse 7. Let me just quote it for you, because it's very applicable to what I'm going to share with you. In Proverbs 16 and verse 7, the scripture says,

Now, think about that. When a man's ways please the Lord, what does God do? God makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

But now the opposite is also true. When man's ways displease the Lord, God raises up enemies against him. Now, let me give you two illustrations. If you would turn in your Bibles, first of all, to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. And notice, if you would please, what the Scripture says, especially in reference to King Solomon.

Now, most of you know that Solomon would be basically what you and I would call a good and a godly man. He certainly had a lot of wisdom. That is certainly true. But unhappily, he forsook that wisdom in 1 Kings 11. And notice, if you would, what happens. 1 Kings 11, he has sinned against God. He's married all these strange women. He's built altars for them, he's built idols for them, and the Bible says in 1 Kings 11 and verse 9,

Now look,

"Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to the son of David for my servant's sake, for Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen." Are you looking? "...stirred him up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom." Note the Bible says the Lord stirred him up an adversary. Skip down to verse 23. We're still talking about Solomon. "And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliada, who fled from his lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah." "And they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did, and he abhorred or hated Israel and reigned over Syria."

Now, the Bible is telling us that God is raising up these adversaries. Why? Because Solomon's ways displeased the Lord. Now, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah chapter 9. Let me show you another illustration of this. Isaiah chapter 9, and let's begin reading there with verse 8. Isaiah 9, and verse 8. Isaiah chapter 9, and look if you would please, beginning there with verse 8. The Bible says, "The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel." So God sent the word, now it just kind of fell over all Israel. Verse 9, "And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones."

"The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." In other words, a little setback doesn't bother us. If the bricks fall down, we'll have hewn stones, that's better. If the sycamores are cut down, that's fine. We'll put cedars in it. We'll do better. Ah, look at verse 11. "Therefore, the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth."

"For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Isn't that amazing? God is raising up all of these adversaries. All you have to do is just read the book of Judges. What happened when Israel sinned? God delivered them over into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of their adversaries.

Now I want you to go back to 2 Chronicles 28, because we're talking about King Ahaz. And I wanted to tell you that King Ahaz, in one sense of the word, is an enigma. He is indeed a puzzle. It's hard to figure out, in one sense of the word, how he turned out to be so wicked and so vile. I can assure you that all men by nature are sinners, and all men by nature are rebellious.

The Wickedness of King Ahaz as a Case Study

Ahaz, despite a godly father and grandfather, was wicked. His charges: walking in the ways of Israel's kings (apostasy), making molten images for Baalim (Baal worship), sacrificing children to Molech, and promoting general idolatry.

But when you consider Ahaz's parentage and his education, you have to scratch your head and say, how did he turn out like this? Do you realize that Ahaz's grandfather was King Uzziah? King Uzziah was basically a godly man. He reigned for 52 years and he did that which was good in the sight of the Lord. Ahaz's father was Jotham. Look in 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 2. Let me show you what is said about Jotham and about Uzziah. 2 Chronicles 27 verse 2, "And he, that is Jotham, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah did." So Jotham and Uzziah did that which is right. Now skip down to verse 6 if you would. Here's what the Bible says about Jotham. "So Jotham became mighty, why? Because he prepared his way before the Lord his God." So Jotham is given to us in this example. Jotham became mighty, why? Because he prepared his way before the Lord his God. So Ahaz had a godly father and a godly grandfather.

Now, let me just make this exceedingly clear, listen carefully. We may give our children good examples. And we may give them a good education. And we may give them a good inheritance. But we cannot give them grace. Only God can give them grace. And if he does not save them, they will never be saved. We have to besiege him for his mercy and grace for our children.

Are you listening to me? There is absolutely nothing we can do to make God save our children. Now, I'm not through with this. I want you to think with me. Here is the real kicker.

Now listen to me, as godly as Jotham was, his son Ahaz was wicked, ungodly, and idolatrous. As wicked as Ahaz was, such a reprobate, so ungodly, his son Hezekiah turned out to be one of the godliest kings that ever lived. Now listen, just like we can't make God save our children, we can't stop God from saving our children either. Truly, as Jonah said in Jonah 2 and verse 9, salvation is of the Lord. So he was godly Uzziah and godly Jotham and wicked Ahaz. And then there was godly Hezekiah.

Now, let's look at this passage because let's find out the basic reason for wars. Here's the first one. I only have two today. I want you to see this, that God plunged the nation into war, first of all, because of the wickedness of the civil rulers. God plunged the nation into war because of the wickedness of the civil rulers. Look in verse 1, "And Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem." "But he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father." Here's the first charge that God delineates against him. By the way, let me just tell you that Ahaz was so wicked that he turned to all of those idolatries for which God had driven the previous inhabitants out of the land. Now God is going to list some charges against Ahaz, and the first charge is found in verse 2.

"For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." Hmm. "For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." Do you realize the kings of Israel were notorious for their apostasy? There was not one good king in the northern kingdom. There was not one godly king in the northern kingdom. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the very first king, who broke away under Rehoboam the son of Solomon. If you would read in 1 Kings chapter 12, he is the one who set up his own state religion, which he began out of his own heart, and he fashioned it like unto the true worship of God, but he made it where he had absolute total control over that religion. Later on down the line, when Amos was preaching against Jeroboam II, I want to show you what happened. Look in your Bibles to Amos 7 and verse 13. Watch this very carefully. Amos 7, verse 13. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Notice if you would, Amos chapter 7 and verse 13. Now God has sent Amos to prophesy against Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom, and against Jeroboam II.

And when you get to verse 12 you have Amaziah, who is the state preacher. He's the court preacher, so to speak. And Amos chapter 7 verse 12,

Can you read between the lines? What did he tell him? If you don't go back home instead of our business, we're going to kill you. That's basically what he said. If you want to eat bread, you go back home. You get out of here. Don't mess with us. And look in verse 13, what Amaziah the state preacher said,

What does that tell you? That religion and government had become one. The king was in control, not only of the government, but of religion.

Now, all of which, by the way, is contrary to the Bible. If you were to read Amos, you would find that there was indeed a king's chapel, a king's court, king's priests, king's preachers, king's feasts, the king's religion. And whenever God wanted to cast reproach upon a king of Judah in the southern kingdom, he would always say this, "and he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel as did the house of Ahab." So the very first charge God gives against Ahaz is he's walking and acting just like a king of Israel. Now I want you to note secondly what God charges him with. He said in verse 2, "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made also molten images for Baalim." Now he charges him with worshipping Baal. Now let me tell you, Baal, the very word Baal, means Lord. Baal was the supreme male deity of the Canaanites. Every time you find Baalism, you will also find Molech worship. In fact, that is going to be recorded in the very next verse because Molech worship was and is an aspect of Baal worship. Listen very carefully to me because this I don't think it'll be difficult, but I want you to understand this point. Whenever you hear about Baal worship or Molech worship, both of these involve the concept of divine kingship. That means the king as God, and God as the king, and the king is the divine link between heaven and earth.

Now, I don't have a chalkboard behind me, so just watch this, okay? Whenever the ancients wanted to depict man ascending up into Godhood, they would always make a pyramid. When they wanted to picture the gods descending to men, it would be an inverted pyramid. And so when the inverted pyramid came down and touched the one going up, at the point in between those two little sharp points would sit the king, the god man. He was the representative between heaven and earth. And so, therefore, he classified himself as God.

Now, I don't care if you talk about Egyptian religion or the Assyrian religion or the Babylonian religion. It was all one and the same. Now, let me just go ahead and explain this to you. I might preach on this a little bit later. It's very interesting. What I'm telling you is this. This shows the continuity between heaven and earth. It is philosophically known as monism, M-O-N-I-S-M. Monism means one and only one. Monism teaches that everybody and everything is made of one stuff, whatever we're made of. The difference is some have more stuff than others. And I'm not talking about goods.

For instance, here's our pyramid again, okay? Let's put little layers in it. On the bottom layer, dirt, then plants, and then trees, and then servants, and then women, and then men, and then spirit beings, and right at the top is King. Now, what's the difference, they say, between a plant, an animal, and us? Well, we just have more stuff than they do. And so, the concept is, the higher up you are on the pyramid, the more stuff you've got. Are you listening? What is that teaching? The divine right of kings. In other words, the kings have a right to rule because they are made of more stuff than the rest of us.

Now let me make the application. Listen carefully. Baalism or Baal worship is nothing more than humanism. It is a political religion and it involves man or men or a group of men or an elite who are on a higher scale than the rest of us and thus they have the right to rule over us according to their thinking because they have more stuff. They're gods. You remember Plato in his Republic taught that we should be ruled over by a group of philosopher kings, who were fuller of wisdom than the average man. Well, politically speaking, we call this humanism, Baalism, Illuminism, Bilderbergerism, CFRism, Trilateral Commissionism, or New World Orderism.

It's all one and the same. Religiously speaking, we call it Romanism. That's why the Pope is up there. He's got more stuff than the rest of them. Economically speaking, we call it the Federal Reserve. Religiously speaking, I could say biblically speaking, it's just plain old idolatry the way you cut it. But it is Baalism.

Now, let me tell you what has happened. Think this through with me. It does not matter whether you consider Baalism or Molech worship politically, religiously, economically, or biblically. All of it is a violation of the sixth commandment. The sixth commandment is thou shalt not kill. When one destroys the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, when one destroys the distinction between the one true and the living God and false gods, it is to murder society. Society in America has been murdered and it has taken place under the Baalism of American culture. What happened to our money? What happened to our silver and gold? It's been murdered. What happened to our Constitution? It's been murdered. What has happened to freedom of religion? It's been murdered. All under Baalism, you are going to see that when Ahaz served Baal, he not only destroyed himself, but his kingdom, his nation, and his people.

Now, look back in 2 Chronicles 28 and verse 3. Because God not only charged him with acting like the king of Israel, he not only charged him with worshipping Baal, look in verse 3, he also charged him with sacrificing his children to Molech. He says, "Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom and burned his children in the fire after the abomination of the heathen whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel." Ahaz was so concerned with himself, he was willing to sacrifice his children to a false God. I want to show you what God did, you come out righteous judgment. Ahaz. Of course, would save one child, one male child, because he wanted a successor. Look in verse 7. "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king." Ah, since Ahaz wanted to sacrifice his children to a false god, God in his righteous judgment during the war took the son from Ahaz that he had spared. Also, he took his governor. And he took his best friend as well. You know something? The Bible says that he sacrificed his children to Molech.

Do you realize the average Christian is doing exactly the same thing and America does this every day, the people in America? What do you think abortion is? It's sacrificing our children. What do you think basically public education is? It's sacrificing them to the false god of humanism and basically teaching our children to be good little statists. And the average graduate today, I know there are exceptions, but the average graduate knows nothing of the Bible, knows nothing of Christ, knows nothing of morals, knows nothing of ethics, knows nothing of principles, or right and wrong. They're just simply good little statists. And that's exactly what Ahaz was doing. He was giving his children up to a false god.

I want you to notice fourthly, verse 4 says, "He sacrificed also and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree." He's charged with promoting idolatry in general. Let me give you a motto of Ahaz: anything but truth. That was his motto, anything but truth. He would worship any and all false gods, but would never bow to the one true and the living God.

First Reason for War: Wickedness of Civil Rulers

God plunged the nation into war because of Ahaz's wickedness. His idolatry and rebellion led to God delivering him into the hands of Syria and Israel, resulting in massive slaughter.

"But he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father." Here's the first charge that God delineates against him. By the way, let me just tell you that Ahaz was so wicked that he turned to all of those idolatries for which God had driven the previous inhabitants out of the land. Now God is going to list some charges against Ahaz, and the first charge is found in verse 2. "For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." Hmm. "For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." Do you realize the kings of Israel were notorious for their apostasy? There was not one good king in the northern kingdom. There was not one godly king in the northern kingdom. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the very first king, who broke away under Rehoboam the son of Solomon. If you would read in 1 Kings chapter 12, he is the one who set up his own state religion, which he began out of his own heart, and he fashioned it like unto the true worship of God, but he made it where he had absolute total control over that religion. Later on down the line, when Amos was preaching against Jeroboam II, I want to show you what happened. Look in your Bibles to Amos 7 and verse 13. Watch this very carefully. Amos 7, verse 13. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Notice if you would, Amos chapter 7 and verse 13. Now God has sent Amos to prophesy against Samaria, which was the capital of the northern kingdom, and against Jeroboam II.

And when you get to verse 12 you have Amaziah, who is the state preacher. He's the court preacher, so to speak. And Amos chapter 7 verse 12,

Can you read between the lines? What did he tell him? If you don't go back home instead of our business, we're going to kill you. That's basically what he said. If you want to eat bread, you go back home. You get out of here. Don't mess with us. And look in verse 13, what Amaziah the state preacher said,

What does that tell you? That religion and government had become one. The king was in control, not only of the government, but of religion.

Now, all of which, by the way, is contrary to the Bible. If you were to read Amos, you would find that there was indeed a king's chapel, a king's court, king's priests, king's preachers, king's feasts, the king's religion. And whenever God wanted to cast reproach upon a king of Judah in the southern kingdom, he would always say this, "and he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel as did the house of Ahab." So the very first charge God gives against Ahaz is he's walking and acting just like a king of Israel. Now I want you to note secondly what God charges him with. He said in verse 2, "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made also molten images for Baalim." Now he charges him with worshipping Baal. Now let me tell you, Baal, the very word Baal, means Lord. Baal was the supreme male deity of the Canaanites. Every time you find Baalism, you will also find Molech worship. In fact, that is going to be recorded in the very next verse because Molech worship was and is an aspect of Baal worship. Listen very carefully to me because this I don't think it'll be difficult, but I want you to understand this point. Whenever you hear about Baal worship or Molech worship, both of these involve the concept of divine kingship. That means the king as God, and God as the king, and the king is the divine link between heaven and earth.

Now, I don't have a chalkboard behind me, so just watch this, okay? Whenever the ancients wanted to depict man ascending up into Godhood, they would always make a pyramid. When they wanted to picture the gods descending to men, it would be an inverted pyramid. And so when the inverted pyramid came down and touched the one going up, at the point in between those two little sharp points would sit the king, the god man. He was the representative between heaven and earth. And so, therefore, he classified himself as God.

Now, I don't care if you talk about Egyptian religion or the Assyrian religion or the Babylonian religion. It was all one and the same. Now, let me just go ahead and explain this to you. I might preach on this a little bit later. It's very interesting. What I'm telling you is this. This shows the continuity between heaven and earth. It is philosophically known as monism, M-O-N-I-S-M. Monism means one and only one. Monism teaches that everybody and everything is made of one stuff, whatever we're made of. The difference is some have more stuff than others. And I'm not talking about goods.

For instance, here's our pyramid again, okay? Let's put little layers in it. On the bottom layer, dirt, then plants, and then trees, and then servants, and then women, and then men, and then spirit beings, and right at the top is King. Now, what's the difference, they say, between a plant, an animal, and us? Well, we just have more stuff than they do. And so, the concept is, the higher up you are on the pyramid, the more stuff you've got. Are you listening? What is that teaching? The divine right of kings. In other words, the kings have a right to rule because they are made of more stuff than the rest of us.

Now let me make the application. Listen carefully. Baalism or Baal worship is nothing more than humanism. It is a political religion and it involves man or men or a group of men or an elite who are on a higher scale than the rest of us and thus they have the right to rule over us according to their thinking because they have more stuff. They're gods. You remember Plato in his Republic taught that we should be ruled over by a group of philosopher kings, who were fuller of wisdom than the average man. Well, politically speaking, we call this humanism, Baalism, Illuminism, Bilderbergerism, CFRism, Trilateral Commissionism, or New World Orderism.

It's all one and the same. Religiously speaking, we call it Romanism. That's why the Pope is up there. He's got more stuff than the rest of them. Economically speaking, we call it the Federal Reserve. Religiously speaking, I could say biblically speaking, it's just plain old idolatry the way you cut it. But it is Baalism.

Now, let me tell you what has happened. Think this through with me. It does not matter whether you consider Baalism or Molech worship politically, religiously, economically, or biblically. All of it is a violation of the sixth commandment. The sixth commandment is thou shalt not kill. When one destroys the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, when one destroys the distinction between the one true and the living God and false gods, it is to murder society. Society in America has been murdered and it has taken place under the Baalism of American culture. What happened to our money? What happened to our silver and gold? It's been murdered. What happened to our Constitution? It's been murdered. What has happened to freedom of religion? It's been murdered. All under Baalism, you are going to see that when Ahaz served Baal, he not only destroyed himself, but his kingdom, his nation, and his people.

Now, look back in 2 Chronicles 28 and verse 3. Because God not only charged him with acting like the king of Israel, he not only charged him with worshipping Baal, look in verse 3, he also charged him with sacrificing his children to Molech. He says, "Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom and burned his children in the fire after the abomination of the heathen whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel." Ahaz was so concerned with himself, he was willing to sacrifice his children to a false God. I want to show you what God did, you come out righteous judgment. Ahaz. Of course, would save one child, one male child, because he wanted a successor. Look in verse 7. "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king." Ah, since Ahaz wanted to sacrifice his children to a false god, God in his righteous judgment during the war took the son from Ahaz that he had spared. Also, he took his governor. And he took his best friend as well. You know something? The Bible says that he sacrificed his children to Molech.

Do you realize the average Christian is doing exactly the same thing and America does this every day, the people in America? What do you think abortion is? It's sacrificing our children. What do you think basically public education is? It's sacrificing them to the false god of humanism and basically teaching our children to be good little statists. And the average graduate today, I know there are exceptions, but the average graduate knows nothing of the Bible, knows nothing of Christ, knows nothing of morals, knows nothing of ethics, knows nothing of principles, or right and wrong. They're just simply good little statists. And that's exactly what Ahaz was doing. He was giving his children up to a false god.

I want you to notice fourthly, verse 4 says, "He sacrificed also and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree." He's charged with promoting idolatry in general. Let me give you a motto of Ahaz: anything but truth. That was his motto, anything but truth. He would worship any and all false gods, but would never bow to the one true and the living God. You know, someone has to be blind today not to see the exact same thing happening in America. Do you realize that our government today will sponsor and support any cult, any group, any idolatry, but it will never support biblical Christianity. All you've got to do is look at some of these great religious convocations when a disaster or some type of epic event comes forth. What do you have?

You have a conglomeration of Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist and Jews and far out left liberal professing Christians. You never find a biblical Christian there. Come to think of it, I don't know any biblical Christian who'd want to associate with a group like that anyhow. But you see the point I'm making. I mean, when's the last time they said, well, what we really need now since this great catastrophe has taken place is someone to tell us why it happened and why the hand of God is against us. Let's have the Bible. Has anybody ever asked for that? Oh, no. Well, why would we not do that? Well, preacher, you've got to understand, you might offend someone. Oh. Telling the truth is offensive. Well, let me ask you, is telling a lie offensive to God? Why is it we're more concerned about offending some people and we're not concerned about offending God? Let me tell you, to the politician's way of thinking, God doesn't vote, so God doesn't count. I don't care about God. I don't care about the Bible.

You know what the outcome of Ahaz's philosophy was? War. It was the result of his idolatry, his perversions, his rebellion, and his disobedience. And I'm going to tell you something else. As you read through this chapter, you'll find out that God not only had a vote, He had more than a vote. He had total control. And if you look in verse 5, "Wherefore," here's the conclusion of it, "Wherefore, the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus, and he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter." Oh, God did have a vote, didn't he? God did have a say-so. God did deliver him over.

Now, a question ought to arise in your mind. If you read verse 5, verse 5 says, "Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria." How can God be called the Lord his God when he worshipped every false god in the world and never worshipped the one true living God? Here's how the Lord God could be called his God. First of all, you could say it like this. He was indeed the Lord God of Ahaz by right, only because he is the sovereign, omnipotent God of heaven and earth, and God had dominion over Ahaz, and Ahaz should have worshipped him, but did not. And you've got to also remember, secondly, there was a covenant between God and the people and nation. And God was still that covenant God.

The truth of the matter is this, folks. God is in control of every king, of every president, every congressman, every person, every family, every nation, and every entity that exists anywhere and everywhere because God is God. Listen to what the Bible says in Psalm 145 in verse 13.

There is not one individual over which God does not have total and absolute sovereign control. You remember that passage, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." Daniel said in Daniel 4 and verse 3,

You will remember, at least I hope you will, that there was one king who was brought to his knees by God, whose name was Nebuchadnezzar. And when God got through driving him insane and making him eat grass like an ox for seven years, in Daniel 4, verses 34 and 35, Nebuchadnezzar confessed this.

Listen to what he said. "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" Nebuchadnezzar said, I butted heads with God. I butted heads with God, and I was the only one that got hurt. Yeah, that's a fact. Because God is God.

Now, I want you to look back in verse 5 of 2 Chronicles 28. What did the sovereign God of heaven and earth do for Ahaz? Because of his rebellion, he delivered him over into the hand of the king of Syria. And they smote him. And then he also delivered him into the hand of the king of Israel. God delivered him over. What does that mean? There was war. And it was not just war. He was defeated.

120,000 men in one day were lost. Why? Because of his rebellion.

Second Reason for War: Wickedness of the Common People

The people also forsook the Lord, following wicked rulers and their statutes. God judges both rulers and people who obey man's law over God's law, as seen in 2 Kings 17 and Hosea.

But there's a second reason. Look in verse 6. 2 Chronicles 28, verse 6. You'll find this, that God plunged the nation into war because of the wickedness of the common people. Look in verse 6. "For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men." Why? "Because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers." So it wasn't just the king who was wicked. The people were wicked as well.

Do you realize here is an unhappy truth? Wicked rulers beget wicked citizens. People tend to follow their rulers, whether their rulers are good or bad. Now, it is often true, folks, or it is true that oftentimes God does indeed give a people wicked rulers as a form of punishment. In fact, if you will turn to Hosea, chapter 4, I'll show you that. Hosea, chapter 4. Daniel, Hosea, Hosea, chapter 4, and notice if you would please beginning there with verse 17, look what God says.

So God says, look, you've joined yourself to idols. And I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll just let you alone. I'll give you your wicked rulers, that's what you want. Fine, you can have them. Sometimes God does give wicked rulers as a judgment. However, it is equally true, listen to me now, that a wicked people not only choose, but desire wicked rulers. And let me show you, if you look in Hosea chapter 8, God complains against the people because they are choosing those wicked rulers. Look what he says in verse 4, Hosea 8 verse 4. "They, that is the people, have set up kings, but not by me."

"They have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off." God says they've set up kings, but not by me. In other words, they never consulted God. They never chose a ruler that would fit biblical guidelines. He said they made princes, I knew it. Not that God is not omniscient. He is omniscient. But he says they did it without my blessing. They chose these wicked rulers. And guess what?

It brought judgment upon them. Since you're in the book of Hosea, look in Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5 and verses 10 and 11. Hosea 5, notice verse 10. "The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound."

Now stop there just a moment. The princes of Judah were like those that removed the bound. You remember back in Psalm 2, what did the kings of the earth say? "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." We don't want that. God has set boundaries for civil government. Well, the princes didn't like those boundaries. And so here in Hosea chapter 5 and verse 10,

We will remove the boundaries. We won't follow what God says. What does God say concerning princes who do that? "Therefore," says God,

How does water pour? Freely. Easily. Readily. Willingly. God said, so all of those civil rulers that removed my boundaries, I'm going to pour out my wrath upon them like water. Now, look at the next verse.

"Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment." Why? "Because he willingly walked after the commandment." In other words, he willingly obeyed wicked rulers. Now, said God, I'll judge them exactly the way I judge the wicked rulers. Now, let me show you a turn, if you would, to Isaiah, chapter 9. I want to show you this verse. Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 16. Here's another verse that you should memorize. In light of what I'm teaching, Isaiah, chapter 9, and look in verse 16. We're talking about wicked rulers and a wicked people, and I told you earlier that people tend to follow their rulers, whether the rulers are good or bad. And Isaiah 9 in verse 16, he says this, "For the leaders of this people cause them to err." Wait a minute. "For the leaders of this people cause them to err." Who is leading the people astray? The leaders, the rulers.

"And they that are led of them are destroyed." What happened to the people who followed wicked rulers? They were destroyed. War. Judgment. And one of God's judgments is indeed war.

Now, I made a statement and I'm trying to make this point. We cannot sacrifice the law of God for the law of man. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 17. Let me show you why God sent the children of Israel into captivity. 2 Kings 17. Watch this passage. 2 Kings 17, verse 7.

I want you to help me with this. I want to think through this passage. 2 Kings 17 verse 7.

Whoa, stop there. God brought them up out of the land of Egypt. He's the one true and the living God. He said, you're going to worship me and I'm going to be your God and you're going to be my people. They said, that's exactly what we're going to do. But they got in the land and the Bible said they feared other gods.

Now, here is my question. How do we know they feared other gods? Well, you say they were bound down to those idols. No, you don't have to have an idol to fear other gods. How do we know they feared other gods? What is the evidence? Well, look in verse 8. Let's go back to verse 7, the latter part, "...and had feared other gods," here it is, "...and walked in the statutes," or the laws, "...of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made."

What were the people doing? They were following the statutes, the laws of their wicked rulers who were issuing wicked laws. And guess what God did? God sent them into captivity. He turned them over to war because of their rebellion to Him. Why do we say they feared other gods? Because they weren't obeying God. They weren't following God's law. They were following man's law. And God sent them into captivity because they obeyed man before they obeyed God.

Well, look, if you would please down to verses 18 and 19. The same thing happened to Judah. The northern kingdom went into captivity in Assyria, southern into Babylonia. Notice, if you would, verse 18. "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel, which they made." Isn't that amazing? They were trading God's law for man's law. They were walking in their statutes. And God says, that's idolatry. That's fearing other gods. I'm going to tell you, the American people, and I'm afraid most professing Christian people, have made a god out of civil government. And they do not understand that God and his law is to be first. Look in your Bibles to the book of Micah, chapter 6. Micah, chapter 6, one of the minor prophets. Micah, chapter 6. Right before the book of Nahum, you have the book of Micah, Micah, chapter 6, and look at verse 16. Look what is said. "For the statutes of Omri are kept." Now, wait a minute. You know, a statute is a law. Do you know who Omri was?

Applications: Consequences of Forsaking God

When God's hand is against a people, alliances are useless, small enemies prevail, people often become more wicked, and citizens share responsibility for not stopping wicked rulers.

are useless and will come to nothing. Look in 2 Chronicles 28 verse 16. 2 Chronicles 28 verse 16. "At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him." Now, if you'll remember, he took money and treasures out of the temple, money and treasures out of his own house, money and treasures from the princes and sent them to the king of Assyria. Now look in verse 20 and 21. "And Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not." The most powerful king in the region couldn't do one thing for him when God's hand was turned against him.

Let me put it to you like this. There is no help for a people who have forsaken God except repentance. All of our coalitions, all of our pacts, all of our treaties are useless. We have allies. I don't care. Ahaz had an ally, too, but it didn't help him. The second application is this. When God's hand is turned against a people, even small, insignificant countries and nations and peoples will arise against them to execute vengeance.

Look down in verses 17 and 18. Oh, man, what an embarrassment. "And again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, and Gimzo with all the villages thereof: and they dwelt there." Notice, these little puny, weak countries taking over? God does not have to use China or Russia to bring us to our knees. Cuba is sufficient. When we forsake God, those little, tiny, insignificant, weak countries are quite capable of taking over huge militaristic peoples. Why? Because the Lord is our refuge, and when he turns his hand against us, we're gone. Here's a third application. I want you to see it right here in the Bible.

Oftentimes, when God's judgments are against a nation, the civil rulers and the people will do even more wickedly, deserving greater punishment. Look in verses 22 through 25. "And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me." "But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel." And there, of course, you read how he stole everything out of the house of God and shut up the doors of the temple. He wouldn't worship there. He didn't want anyone else to worship there until he was destroyed. Many times when God's hand is upon a people for evil, they'll do worse and worse until they basically destroy themselves. Here's the fourth application. Do not think that we as a people will escape God's righteous judgment just because it is our civil rulers who do wickedly.

No, we have a responsibility to stop them. Look, if you would, in 2 Chronicles 28 in verse 19. "For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord." Huh? They wouldn't stop him. They just followed him. And God judged the people with the ruler.

Now, let me give you one other verse and I'll quote it. If I were to ask you who the most wicked king in Israel was, I would expect you to say Ahab, for he was. If I were to ask you who the most wicked king in the southern kingdom was, I would expect you to say Manasseh, for he was. And in Jeremiah 15 and verse 4, God said this, "And I will cause them," that is the people, "I will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem." Why is God going to remove the people for what Manasseh did? Because Manasseh was their ruler and they had a responsibility to stop him. And they wouldn't stop him.

They followed him and enjoyed all the benefits of his wickedness. So God said, I'll judge you when I judge him. You see, folks, God is immutable. He does not change. And if God judged wicked civil rulers and wicked people in times past, he'll do it today as well.

Conclusion: True Peace Only Through the Prince of Peace

World peace will not come until Christ returns and establishes His kingdom fully, as prophesied in Isaiah 2. Until then, wars result from rebellion, but individuals can pursue godliness to avert judgment.

Now, one last passage, and I want you to turn there, look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2. You say, well, Brother Weaver, when in the world will all this stop? Well, I'll tell you. We will not have world peace, contrary to what the United Nations says and George Bush. But we will not have world peace until the Prince of Peace returns and fully establishes his kingdom. His kingdom has come. His kingdom is here now, but his kingdom is coming in its fullness. Now, if you look in Isaiah 2, beginning there with verse 1, notice, if you would, "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house," that is the kingdom of the Lord, "shall be established"

"in the top of the mountains," that is over the kingdoms of men, "and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." Now look. "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord," that is to his kingdom, "to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people." "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Why? Because the Prince of Peace will have come. His kingdom will be fully established. And we will be obeying His law. Why are there wars? Basically, because of man's rebellion against God, until our Lord returns. But we must learn this.

God does judge wicked rulers. And God does judge a wicked nation. And one of His sore judgments listed in the book of Ezekiel is the sword or war. That means this. One way that we can avoid war is for each one to determine to be as godly and as obedient and as holy as he can be by the grace of God and live righteously. You say, how is that going to help? You remember, if God had only found ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, He would have saved those cities. And there's more than ten right here. We just need to determine that we're going to be holy and godly and obedient and do that which is right and honorable in the eyes of the Lord. Let's pray.