Standing Against the Normalcy of Evil

English Standard Version Chapter 18

18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil.

The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil. This is a statement which at the first time you hear it, you may think, “Yeah, that’s a no brainer, Connor.” Well, let me repeat it so that you may get it into your mind that I am using a particular word which must be noticed. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil. Did you hear it? I put some emphasis on the word that I want you to focus on. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil. It is no secret to anyone, of any belief system, of any world view, that there is evil in the world. I heard it once said that all people have problems. If you approach someone on the street and you said to them, “I heard about your problem” they will likely respond with “who told you?” Everyone, from all walks of life, recognizes that there are problems in the world, and that there is evil in the world.

Introducing Hezekiah

Hezekiah, whom we just read about, is one of the good kings of Judah. Hezekiah was able to recognize that there is evil in the world. Hezekiah himself comes form a wicked line of kings. His father, king before him, was Ahaz. Two chapters before our text for today in 2 Kings 16, we read about Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz.

2 Kings 16:2-4

English Standard Version Chapter 16

2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, 3 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Ahaz, this evil king, father of Hezekiah, was so wicked that he performed a ritual that is so despicable, it is hard to believe anyone could ever perform it, yet we read about it briefly here. Ahaz is a king who sacrifices one of his children to a false God. It was a common practice for the Ammonites during this time to sacrifice their children by fire to an idol named Molech. Ahaz does, as the text says, what the other nations surrounding him do. He follows pagan nations rather than God. In other words, he partakes in the evil of the world. He does what is perfectly normal to the pagan people surrounding him. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil.

Today, as we are reading this text I want to read it by asking questions. The first question I have for you, I have also given the first answer to. The question is,

What was the normalized evil for Hezekiah?

The worship of false gods.

The first answer is one form of evil was that which was normalized by the evil king Ahaz—worship of false gods. So that I might not downplay the way in which Ahaz has performed this worship of false gods, let us be clear that the manner in which he has done it is a terrible and disgusting form of worship of a false god. You see our actions have consequences, and the things which we direct our actions toward matter.

You can tell a tree that you love it, and perhaps you are inclined to do so, but it will not tell you it loves you back (except by providing you oxygen). Yet, you can tell a significant other, or a friend, or a relative that you love them, and likely they will respond with an “I love you too”. Even in the moments that they are mad at you, chances are they won’t withhold the appropriate response. If they do, you must’ve messed up big time, and perhaps it is time for some reconciliation.

Ahaz directs his love incorrectly towards a false god who does not exist, and who the people think demands child sacrifice. He will receive no love in return, only void response. We should be asking ourselves, what are we directing our love towards?

Idolatry

The first form of evil in Hezekiah’s day was the worship of false gods. The second answer is idolatry. The keen theologian will ask the glaring question, “isn’t idolatry the same as worship of false gods?” To that I respond, “kind of!” You see, worship of false gods is a form of idolatry, but idolatry is a much larger and broad term. Think of the worship of false gods as being a subset of idolatry. The way in which Ahaz worshipped the false god of Molech was through the action of human sacrifice, but idolatry is happening in many different ways throughout the entire nation of Judah.

Today I have chosen to read 2 Kings 18:1-8, however, some of you may be aware that there is another more detailed telling of this story in 2 Chronicles 31. In the larger details of this story, we see that idolatry was rampant throughout the entire nation of Judah, which Hezekiah is king of. Hezekiah sends a decree that all the pillars (those are dedicated idols to false gods) and all the high places and altars be destroyed.

Look at what Hezekiah is doing. He sees destructive things throughout the nation that lead the people to worship false gods, and he says destroy them! Get rid of them! If something is leading the people of God away from God, then it should no longer exist in this holy nation of Judah. It makes you wonder, what things are pulling us from God? What things are we worshiping rather than our Father? What things are leading us further from Him? We have a propensity to point to things that are of the world. We say things like money, sexual immorality, pride, pornography, substance and a love of self power pull us from God. These things are certainly true, and can pull us from God and become a sort of idol in our lives. We would, however, be missing a vital point if we stopped there…you see, the people of God have done something in this passage which is truly offensive.

Turning good things into terrible things.

They have turned something good, which was a gift from God, into something evil. Verse 4 continues by saying that Hezekiah broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). You have to understand what this bronze serpent is in order to comprehend why it is such a big deal that it warrants mentioning the bronze serpent by name.

You see generations before Hezekiah is king, there is a special event happening that you may have heard of. It’s called the Exodus. During the Exodus, the Israelites complain a lot, and speak out against God, and essentially call him a bully for saving them from slavery in Egypt. This would be like a high school kid being upset with his mother for making a turkey sandwich instead of a ham sandwich for their school lunch. You’re old enough to do it yourself, you don’t deserve your mother packing your lunch, and yet you still want to complain? Guess what, no more lunch for you. The Israelites in one instance while they are talking back to God are struck with a plague of what the Bible calls “fiery snakes”. Perhaps for the high schooler, the fiery snake is more likened to their phone suddenly not having any service plan.

Well the Israelites do what the Israelites do often, they repent. God then instructs Moses that he should make a bronze serpent, and so he does, and he sets it on a pole for all to see. The Israelites are instructed that if they should be bit, they should look at the pole, and they will live. A sort of, “remember your place, I can take you or leave you. You need me, and I want you. I want to be your God, and I want you to be my people.”

It appears that the Israelites saved this bronze serpent as a sort of reminder. Something for them to look at, and remember how God has saved them, and how they have needed to rely on him. Does this sound like a noble thing to do? Does this sound like something that we do now? I would answer “yes” to both of those questions. It is a noble and good thing to save this icon as a reminder of God’s promise. And it is something that we do now.

Look at what is hanging 25 feet behind me. There is a cross, is there not? What is the purpose of this cross that we have in our sanctuary? It is an icon, which is the center point of the stage, to remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus has given for us. It reminds us of what he has done, and who we are to him. We are his children, his bride, his Church, and we are reminded of that relationship by this cross in this sanctuary, it is a reminder, not something that we worship. Let me give you a cold warning. If at any point we are worshiping this cross, rather than the one who hung upon a cross, then we would be better off ripping that wood off the wall. We do not worship reminders and icons. We do not worship that cross. We worship the one who hung on it.

In Hezekiah’s day, they worshipped the bronze serpent, and it was perfectly normal to do so. They offered sacrifices to it, and it was perfectly normal to do so. Hezekiah did the bold thing, he broke it into pieces. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil.

What evil have we normalized?

This is our second question for today. I think every generation needs to ask this question on an occasional basis. Perhaps there are things which we have allowed to enter into our worship, and into our minds which we think are good, but are poison in disguise. Charles Spurgeon once told a story about a little girl and her father...

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon (Confiscated Berries (Job 1:21))

A child came home from the woods one day with her lap full of bright shining berries. She seemed very pleased with what she had found, but her father looked frightened when he saw what she had and anxiously asked her, “Have you eaten any of those berries?”“No, father,” replied the child, to his great relief. Then he said to her, “Come with me into the yard,” and there he dug a hole, put the berries in, stamped on them, and crushed them, and then covered them with earth. All this while, the little girl thought, “How rude. How unkind father is to take away these things that pleased me so much!” But her father explained and he told her that the berries were so poisonous that if she had eaten even one of them, she would in all probability have died in consequence. The daughter began to understand why the father reacted like he did. In like manner, sometimes, our comforts turn to poison, especially when we begin to make idols of them. It is kind on the part of God to stamp on them, and put them away from us, so that no mischief may come to our souls.

Money can be a good thing, can it not? And yet, it can be a poison which we chase after. Substances which altar our mind, the culturally acceptable ones being weed and alcohol are seen as something to celebrate with, and yet they can be a poison—addictive poisons at that.

Music, even music of the world, can be calming, and inspiring. Yet, it can pull us from God. The bright shining things of the world seem good to us, and let me be clear, there are many things created by God which are for our enjoyment. However, when we chase after those things as if they are God, we act as those who Hezekiah was surrounded by. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil.

How did Hezekiah over come the normalized evil of his day?

Our third question. Moral strength. Let me be clear, this is not just any moral strength. Hezekiah was a man who wanted to please the Lord, verse 5 describes him as one who trusted in the Lord, and that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. The world needs more Christians like Hezekiah! The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil. How did he do it? He sought after good moral strength not in himself, but in God. Verse 6 says that Hezekiah holds fast to the Lord.

Ulrich Zwingli said it right when he said “The business of the truth is not to be deserted, even to the sacrifice of our lives. For we live not for this age of ours, nor for the princes, but for the Lord. To admit for the sake of the princes anything that will diminish or [spoil] the truth is silly, not to say impious. To have held fast to the purpose of the Lord is to conquer all adversaries.”

Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

Hezekiah holds fast to the Lord, he shuts out all other adversaries, the text says that Hezekiah did not depart from following the Lord, but instead kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. He knew the Law, he knew the Word of God, and it was his rule of life. His moral strength was not informed by what he desired, we already saw that program. Ahaz leaned upon his own moral strength, and where did it lead him? To human sacrifice of one of his sons.

Proverbs 3:5-6

English Standard Version Chapter 3

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

6  In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

How do we stand against the normalized evil of our day?

Prayer, word of God, being with believers, and of course, love properly directed to God and others. Zig Ziglar said that repition is the mother of learning, and the father of action. You need to hear these instructions often. If you pray, God will reveal guidance. If you read the Word, you will find guidance. If you are with believers, you can be assured in that guidance. If you love God, you will act upon that guidance.

Yet we must recognize that these things will require great moral strength on our part. It is not a cool thing to push back against the things of the world. Most of the world will tell you that getting your own by any means possible is just being competitive. That pornography is natural, and just curiosity. The world will tell you that sexual immorality should be encouraged before marriage. Be assured that Hezekiah was not very popular at first for demanding the destruction of idols, especially that of the bronze serpent. That’s okay. It’s okay to the odd one out on these topics. The world needs truth. We all know that great Christian classic of a verse, John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Yet, we choose to end there. Jesus kept talking after that verse you know… he went on to say

John 3:17-21

English Standard Version Chapter 3

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

If you pursue moral courage as a Christian, I feel I must warn you, the light will expose what is hidden in the dark, and it is glorious. This is true freedom! To have nothing to hide from God! To have nothing to withhold from Him, and to have nothing which He will hold you accountable for! Those who put their trust in Jesus are declared clean and clear in the courtroom of God, and what’s more is they walk by the Spirit! Moral courage from God is yours, so long as you trust in Him who can supply it.

All people are slave to something. Og Mandino wrote this about habits:

“As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men…Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed. I will form good habits and become their slave.”

Does this sound familiar to you? It is not original to Og Mandino was not the first to write something like this, Paul wrote in Romans 6:

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 6:15–18.

All Christians are called to the pursuit of being a slave to righteousness. When we were children, it was excusable to live impulsively. Now that we are mature, both in age and in faith, we are called to live as a slave to righteousness. Let our habits reflect the righteousness which God has given us. To be clear, this is not works based salvation. We are not saved by the works that we do in Christ’s name. Rather, we respond to the saving grace of Christ with an enthusiasm and gratefulness for the newness that he has bestowed upon us.

We have a calling, Church, we have a calling to be the good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil in this world. To speak up for the poor and oppressed, to speak out against evil we see in the world, to speak gently and calmly to those who live in sin—even those who may be doing so in our own congregation. The world needs good Christians who stand against the normalcy of evil. We have a calling to join in this work. Would you join me in prayer?