Natural Instinct - 2Ki. 16:14, 18

From 7/4/07 reading:

"Then King Ahaz removed the old bronze altar from the front of the Lord's Temple, which had stood between the entrance and the new altar... In deference to the King of Assyria." 2Ki. 16:14, 18

When I read these verses, I immediately thought of what I read a couple of days ago in Jude: "...But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand, like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction." While King Ahaz did not have the Holy Spirit to alter his natural instincts, he did have the Law and the prophets--he was without excuse. King Ahaz is a great example of what happens to God's people when they forget who should be serving who. When we remove God from the picture, our own self-import grows to the point of our destruction. This is the lesson the books of Kings and Chronicles tries to teach us over and over again--our "natural instinct" leads us to death.

Today's reading: 2Ki. 15-16; Hos. 1; Heb. 1