Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - You Belong to God | Historical Books | 2 Kings 16:1-9

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Do you give to God what belongs to him? What do you worship? Why can we have hope? In today's episode, Patrick shares how 2 Kings 16:1-9 encourages us to give our whole lives to God. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Kings 16:1-9

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. A few years ago, I was looking for a missing Bible commentary on the book of Isaiah. Now, I've got a little collection of commentaries, and I've got to be honest, I'm not the most sentimental guy in the world. I don't get really attached to stuff, but I am kind of attached to my commentaries. I guess we all have something.

So anyways, I'm trying to find this commentary, and I'm racking my brain to remember who in the world borrowed it. A few ideas came to mind, and so I started texting those people. And finally, someone said, yes, it was me, I borrowed it. The problem was that they didn't have it anymore. They'd given it to someone else and told that person to return it to me. So I went to that person and I said, hey, do you happen to have my Isaiah commentary? And they agreed, yep, I had it at one point, but they couldn't remember if they gave it back to the original borrower or maybe they gave it to someone else. But both people assured me they would get it back to me at some point. Well, that commentary never found its way back. And I guess I'm glad there's someone out there who gets to study Isaiah.

But it highlighted one thing for me. It's frustrating when someone gives something that belongs to you to someone else. I'm sure you've had borrowed items go missing along the way. You know that feeling too. But sometimes it's a lot more serious than someone borrowing something and giving it away. It's what happens when a husband gives the love that belongs to his wife to a different woman, or when an employer gives money that belongs to an employee to himself, or when a dear friend gives your private struggles to someone else in an act of gossip. And don't we all do this with God? We give what belongs to him to other people, other things.

In 1st King 16, we read the story of a king of Judah named Ahaz, and it might not be obvious at first, but we'll see. that he gives something that wasn't his to give away, something that was actually gods. And the consequences of this would be dire. Let's pick up in verse 16. In the 17th year of Pika, son of Rameleah, so that's the king of Israel, the northern kingdom. Ahas is a king in Judah, the southern kingdom. It goes on. It says Ahas, son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 16 years. Unlike his father David, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,

and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places on the hilltops under every spreading tree. Then Resin, King of Aram, and Pika, son of Ramalaya, that's the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel again, they marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they couldn't overpower him. Okay, so let's pause here for a moment. We've just found out that Ahaz successfully resists Pika and Resin, and yet we're about to find out he's still afraid that he's not going to be able to hold out. In fact, if we flip over to Isaiah Chapter 7, we'll get a more in-depth look at what happened after this initial attack. Now, the House

of David was told, Aram, that's King Resin, has allied itself with Ephraim, that's Israel. King Pika. So the hearts of Ahas, it's king of Judah, and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, go out, you and your son, Shir Dishab, and meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool on the road to the launderer's field. Say to him, be careful, keep calm, and don't be afraid. Don't lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood because of the fierce anger of resin and Aram and the son of Remalia. So again, let's pause. Ahaz is quite literally shook. But God sends Isaiah to tell him that as long as Ahas trust in God, Judah will not only survive, Judah will thrive. And his enemies,

the men that he's afraid of, they will fall. So what does Ahaz do? Well, this is what he says to Isaiah. Verse 12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test. So God tells Ahaz to ask him for help and what does Ahaz do? He refuses. Now, I know this could sound pious and religious, but it's not. You see, Ahaz doesn't really believe God can do anything. And so he's just saying no to Isaiah in a really religious sounding way. He's trying to get Isaiah off his back. Well, how do we know this? Well, let's go back to Second King's 16, where we actually find out what Ahaz did next. And as we'll see, he gives something a way that wasn't his to give.

Verse 7. Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Polizer, the king of Assyria. So Assyria was the big bad boy to the northeast of Israel. And they could easily conquer Aram and Pika and all the people who are coming up against Ahaz. So anyways, Ahaz sends this message, I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hands of the king of Abraham and the king of Israel who are attacking me, and Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries

of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus, that's Aram, and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to cure, and he put resin to death. Now, I know we don't live in the ancient nerees, so it might be hard to see what Ahaz gave away that wasn't his to give, but I want to show you. First, he obviously gives away all the gold and silver in the temple. That's not his money. That's money for the upkeep of God's house to ensure that the sacrifices and worship continue. By giving that away, Ahaz is effectively saying, worshiping God doesn't matter. In fact, I worship the power of a serious king and a serious gods more than God himself because I'm trusting them. The second thing that it

gives away is actually the kingdom of Judah itself. When it says that he makes it, he makes it, makes a covenant with the king of Assyria and that he's going to become his vassal. It isn't merely saying, hey, let's be allies. Instead, he's saying, me and my kingdom are now yours. We are a vassal state owned and operated by Assyria. But God is clear time and again. Judah is his. The people are his people.

He rescued them from slavery, not Ahaz. And he founded their nation, not Ahaz. They don't belong to Ahaz. but now Ahaz has given them away to someone else. I know it's easy to judge Ahaz, but we can't forget that he was in a terrible situation, one that could have been resolved if he'd merely trusted God, put his faith in Yahweh.

But I know that I'm not that different from Ahaz. I mean, how often do I give away to others what belongs to God? God has owed my worship and my adoration, but how often do I give that worship and love to control, to achievement, to my own reputation. The whole of my life, all of my stuff, all of my bank accounts, all of my house, all of my family belongs to God. But how often do I live as though it's my stuff?

And I'm going to spend it on myself. I'm going to spend it on my own possessions when the reality is I should be giving that back to God. I get frustrated when someone gives my commentary away without my permission and then I turn around and pour out all the resources God has given me to steward to feed my own idolatrous love for technology, for possessions, for more. I get frustrated when someone gives my book away, but I give my heart away to idols, like achievement and control.

If you'll remember to get the full context of the story, we went back to Isaiah 7, where Isaiah is talking with Ahaz. Now here's the strange thing about Isaiah 7. It's that it actually begins one of the most famous strings of prophecy in the Old Testament. And God says that he will not give people what they deserve. And in this passage, God says that he's not going to give Ahaz or the people of Judah what they deserve for betraying him, for giving away to others what they should have only given to him. He says, I will not turn on you. Instead he does the opposite. The prophecy concludes in chapter nine.

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. All those people who were shook, God says, no more gloom despite what you've done. Isaiah goes on to predict that God will break the yoke of sin and death and war and that he will set his people free. How will he do it? Why, Isaiah makes it clear in verse six, he'll send a Messiah as a child. Listen to this. Verse six, for to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders. And we will call him wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. So if you've given your heart away to anything but God, you're not alone. Me too. But don't forget the end of Isaiah's prophecy, you should take hope because God doesn't give up on us. God sent his son and his son died for your sin and now his son reigns in heaven and now his son sends his spirit to renew your heart day by day. So take your heart back from the idols. Take all the things that you've given away to your idols or to yourself that you should have given to God. Take them back. Confess those things to God and give the whole of yourself to him.