DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- SYNCRETISM

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – SYNCRETISM

"Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyiria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship." (II Kings 16:10)

Ahaz was one of the few really bad kings of Judah. His biography says, "he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree" (II Kings 16:2b-4).

Ahaz had absolutely no reverence for God nor regard for the faith that had been passed down through the generations from King David. An incident recorded in chapter 16 shows his absolute disregard for God and His laws. The story goes like this: Rezin, king of Syria, attacked Judah's territory. So Ahaz made a pact with Tiglath-Pilezer, king of Assyria, for protection from the king of Syria.

King Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet with Tiglath-Pilezer, and while he was there, he saw a wooden altar for a god of the Assyrians that he took a fancy to. So he made a pattern of its design and ordered Urijah, a priest in Jerusalem, to build a replica. Urijah did as he was instructed and built this altar and put it in front of the temple. King Ahaz was pleased and sacrificed offerings on it. But not only that, but he took the bronze altar which was before the Lord, and placing it on the North side of the new altar. The bronze altar became his own private altar. In other words, he combined the true faith and the heathen religion and syncretized the two. Throughout history, there has been many such attempts to combine the Gospel with worldly heathen cultures and religions.

That is something I have to be careful of. Sometimes churches try to incorporate practices and philosophies of the world system into what God has revealed as true in order to make the Gospel feel good and more appealing to the unbeliever. Adding to the Gospel only dilutes the Gospel. We can add nothing to the Gospel to improve it. It is the power of God unto salvation, and it is all we need. Beware of adding to God's truth.

Love, Dad