but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made molten images for the Baals;
Ahaz inherits David's throne in Jerusalem. At once he takes his model from the northern kingdom, which had already left the Lord. The verse names the model he chose and the images he made. Where does a borrowed pattern of worship end?
Walking "in the ways of the kings of Israel" was not vague drift. One writer names the reign Ahaz was reviving, and then shows what the word "evil" measures.
Instead of serving the Lord, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He went back to the evil days of ungodly Ahab. In Judah he set up the worship of Baal and of Moloch, to whom he sacrificed his sons. … Notice that this word "evil" is always given to us in reference to the Lord. No doubt forsaking God can hand the guilty one over to all sorts of moral evil, to crime and impurity. But it is not always so. Jeroboam I, Joash of Israel, and Jeroboam II were remarkable monarchs in the eyes of men. Two of them were "saviours" of their nation. … But for God the question is a different one. It is a matter of determining the relationship these kings, like Ahaz king of Judah here, had with Him. … People today especially forget that the moral stature of a man is found in how he acts toward God.
Ahaz had better examples close at hand. He passed over them.
Ahaz stands in painful contrast to his father. Jotham had not been able to turn Judah away from worshipping in high places. His influence over his own son seems to have failed too. From the start of his reign, at the age of twenty, Ahaz set himself on a course of evil. Ignoring the faithfulness of his father David and that of other kings of Judah, he chose to follow the wicked example of the kings of Israel.
The name Ahaz cast in metal is plural: "the Baals" (older translations read "Baalim"). Its meaning explains the appeal.
The word "Baals" means "lords," just as today there are many who will talk about "the Lord" while not at all meaning the Lord Jesus. … People commonly prefer a substitute that will not try their consciences.
A dictionary entry names this "lord" and describes his worship in the land Israel entered.
The name means "master, possessor". … The chief male god of the Phoenicians and the Canaanites. When the Israelites came into the land, they no doubt found temples, groves, altars and high places set apart to Baal. There people offered incense, burned offerings, and sacrificed children to him.
Ahaz did not create the appetite he fed. One writer looks back at Jotham: the king did right, but the people were corrupt.
If the people acting corruptly shows a lack of energy in the king, how much greater was the corruption in his son Ahaz? He soon went further, and led the people in their corruption. Jotham could not put down the idolatry of his own family, or hold back the leanings of the heir to his throne. Much less could he hold back the same leanings in the nation. Two things mark his reign. The king himself was righteous, but he had no zeal. Meanwhile the people acted corruptly, and so made themselves ready to follow Ahaz in all his abominations.
The images of verse 2 were the opening move of a reign that hardened under every blow.
The reign of Ahaz forms a turning point. He forsakes the Lord completely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. … All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into still greater trouble.
One writer sets a king like Ahaz inside a larger story: man's failure shown again and again.
In the lives of many people, God first showed their failure and then made them objects of grace. History shows that His dealings with man as a whole follow the same order. … Thirty-nine books of the Old Testament testify to the failure of man: in paradise; after the fall, when he was given a conscience; in the time of government, as with Noah; in the time of promise, as with Abraham; and in the time of the law, as with Moses. In every case, man failed. Even the priesthood God gave failed. The kings failed. And when God sent prophets to call for repentance, men failed to listen.
- Pattern — Ahaz took his model from the kings of Israel, reviving the Baal and Moloch worship of Ahab's days.
- Measure — God measures him by David, not by public success. A king can be "remarkable in the eyes of men" and evil in reference to the Lord.
- Substitute — "Baal" means lord or master; people still prefer a lord who will not trouble the conscience.
- Soil — A father who was right himself but had no zeal left both family and nation ready to follow Ahaz.
- Slide — The cast images were only the start. The more God struck him, the more he sinned, and the help he bought brought worse trouble. Man fails at every stage, and grace comes after.
and he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel.
Ahaz, a king in David's line, burned his own sons in a ravine outside Jerusalem, copying the nations God had driven out. Two questions follow: how could a king sink this low, and what does God do with a nation that acts like the people it replaced?
Ahaz did not invent his religion. He copied the kings of Israel. One writer weighs what that says about the guilt of Judah's kings.
Another effect of that link with Ahab is that Ahaz walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. This expression seems to mark the greatest guilt of the kings of Judah, and it is used after a link with Ahab. Ahaz burned his children in the fire. Manasseh dealt with a medium and with mediums. Could the chosen nation sink lower?
One writer describes what these sacrifices involved. He also notes that men like Ahaz thought of themselves as religious.
He made idol images and burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and there he sacrificed his own children to the fire (v. 3). They did this by placing the young child in the arms of a metal idol. Then they lit a fire under the child and beat drums to drown out the child's cries. Such is the callous wickedness of idolatry. Yet men like Ahaz think they are very religious when they practise it.
Some readers take the phrase "pass through the fire" as a harmless dedication ceremony. One writer rejects that, and sets what the idol demanded beside what God asked for:
Some have used the words "passing through the fire," here and elsewhere, to deny that they burned their children. But this seems a kind attempt to soften how wicked it really was. It was the fullest, though not the only, profanation of the name of Israel's God. The Lord accepted a sheep or an ox, or even a much smaller sacrifice; Satan under these names demanded their sons.
Ahaz copied "the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out." God had warned Israel: the land would cast them out for the same sins.
For these sins the land they were entering was casting out its inhabitants. And they are warned: if they practise such things, it will cast them out too. God's righteousness is the same towards all His creatures. Israel, now cast out of their land, are witnesses to it.
The valley itself matters. What happened there gave it a name the New Testament still uses.
In some part of this valley, thought to be the east end, children were passed through the fire to false gods. To stop this, Josiah defiled Topheth in this valley. The prophet Isaiah gives the key to why the New Testament links this place, under the name Gehenna, with eternal punishment. Isaiah writes: "For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it."
Defeat followed defeat. One writer traces what those blows did to Ahaz.
The reign of Ahaz forms an epoch. Completely forsaking the Lord, he gives himself up wholly to idolatry; and the more he is struck by God, the more he sins against Him. He is handed over to the Syrians, and to Pekah, the king of Israel.
God still sent a promise into this reign. One writer notes who received it — not a reformer, but the man who burned his children.
The godly might have had discouraged moments when Ahaz reigned, yet what a clear and definite promise is given, and given to "that king Ahaz"! Not for his sake is it given, but to tell the nation what God will do for them, and to cheer and brighten the lives of the oppressed few.
- Copying. Ahaz's guilt starts with copying. Walking in the ways of the kings of Israel seems to mark the greatest guilt of Judah's kings.
- Burning. The rite was real burning, not a symbolic dedication; where God asked for a sheep, the idol demanded a son.
- Repeating. He did what the nations had done. God had driven them out for it, and the same standard later emptied Israel's land.
- Naming. Josiah later defiled Topheth in that valley. The New Testament calls the place Gehenna and links it with eternal punishment.
- Sparing. Blow after blow only hardened him, yet God still sent a clear promise to "that king Ahaz" — for the sake of the faithful few, not for his.
And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
Ahaz moves the worship of Judah out of the house God had chosen and spreads it across hilltops and shady trees. So what was a "high place," and why did God count that worship as evil?
Ahaz did not invent the high places. Where the ESV says he "made offerings," older translations read "burned incense." His father Jotham left them standing, and one writer traces the line from father to son, and on to worship today.
Though his father Jotham did not burn incense in the high places, he had allowed those places to remain, and Ahaz forgot the temple of God and burned incense in the high places and other outdoor areas. He was like many today who claim they need not gather with others to worship God, but can worship just as well in enjoying the scenery while they hunt or fish or play golf or hike in the mountains.
The words about hills and green trees are not just scenery. They come from Moses' warning about the religion Israel would meet in the land.
The high places were very offensive to the Lord, because they were the expression of the people's neglect and even contempt for His chosen centre. He had plainly commanded the people to destroy all the images of the Canaanites and to tear down their high places. Moses told the people before he died that they would find the land full of idols, with places of worship "on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree." All this came from the self-will of people who knew nothing of God, people under the blinding influence of Satan. But the people of God must not be like them. They must listen to His voice, and obey Him in all things, especially in matters of worship. He would choose His own centre, and there the tribes of Israel were to bring their sacrifices and offerings.
Scattered shrines fit a scattered idea of God. One writer sets that against the God Israel knew.
There are many demons. That is why the nations worship many gods in many places: on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree! In contrast, the main thought of the Old Testament is "The LORD our God, the LORD is one." They knew Him as the Creator God, the Almighty, and as Jehovah. That is why there can be only one place of worship, only one way to render service to God. There can be no agreement with idol worship.
High places did not begin as idol shrines. One writer explains how they started, and what changed.
The high place was a sort of necessity, brought in by the failure and disordered state of the people as a whole. So high places were not necessarily connected with idolatry. In fact, at the start they were devoted to the true worship of God. To some extent they were places where He Himself in grace recognised the need and met with His people, though not according to the order He Himself had provided. Later on, however, He established His centre, placed His name at Jerusalem, and the temple of His glory was there. From then on, worship at the high places was direct disobedience to His will. So it was bound to become more and more connected with the idolatry the people were always prone to.
Ahaz is called evil. One writer asks who that word measures him against.
Notice that this description "evil" is always given to us in reference to the Lord. Forsaking God does sometimes hand the guilty man over to all sorts of moral evil, to crime and impurity. But it is not always so. Jeroboam I, Joash of Israel, and Jeroboam II were remarkable kings in the eyes of men. Two of them were "saviours" of their nation, helping to build its reputation and to win back its territory. But for God the question is a different one. It is a matter of deciding what relationship these kings, like Ahaz king of Judah here, had with Him.
- Tolerated. Jotham never burned incense in the high places, but he left them standing — and so handed his son a compromise to take up.
- Adopted. Ahaz went further than his father. He burned incense on the hills and under the trees himself — the kind of shrine God had told Israel to tear down.
- Scattered. Many gods suit many places. Because the Lord is one, there is one place of worship and one way to serve Him.
- Disobedient. High places once met God's grace. After He placed His name in Jerusalem, worship there was plain disobedience, and it slid into idolatry.
- Measured. The word over Ahaz is "evil" — and God measures a reign by its relationship to Him, not by its reputation among men.
Therefore Jehovah his God gave 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 given into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
Ahaz filled Judah with idols, and two armies then tore his kingdom apart: Syria, and the northern kingdom of Israel. The verse credits neither army: the LORD his God handed Ahaz over, and the rest of the chapter shows what Ahaz did with that blow.
Ahaz had burned his own children in the fire. The defeat answered that. One writer traces the slide, and says there is no middle ground between God and Satan:
As we read the Old Testament histories, it is important to remember one thing. These things happened, and Scripture records them, as a warning to us. In looking at the history of Judah during the reign of Ahaz, we see the most fearful results of turning away from God. "He burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations." How terrible! Man cannot turn from God without turning to Satan... God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and into the hand of the king of Israel. That king struck him down with heavy loss of life, "because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers."
In Kings the same campaign ends with a note that the allied kings could not conquer Ahaz. This verse says God handed him over and they struck him. One commentator fits the two records together, and shows why Jerusalem itself escaped:
These statements do not clash at all with 2 Kings 16:5, which says that these allied kings "could not conquer him." They could not get into the city, and they could not reach the king himself, though they entered the land. "God delivered him," and "they struck him," means his people and kingdom... It was the purpose of "these two smoldering stumps of firebrands" to dethrone king Ahaz, and set up in his place "the son of Tabeal"... It was doubtless Satan's plot, if not man's, to destroy the line of David; and God, for this reason, did not deliver Jerusalem into their hands.
Syria and Israel won the day, but neither had clean hands. One writer states the principle at work:
In the way God governs nations, He may use one nation as His rod to punish another. We see this again and again in the Old Testament. But woe to the nation He uses this way if it grows proud of it. God rules with justice, so He will justly humble that nation in its turn. For it is true of all alike: "Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God?" (2 Chr. 28:10).
The defeat by Syria was the first of a series: Israel, then Edom, then the Philistines. Watch which way Ahaz turned under each blow:
The reign of Ahaz forms a turning point. He forsakes Jehovah entirely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. He is delivered into the hands of the Syrians, and into the hand of Pekah, the king of Israel. In the latter case, however, God steps in to rescue at least the captives. The Edomites, and afterwards the Philistines, invade Judah. All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria. That help only brought him into still greater trouble.
Syria carried the captives away to Damascus. Ahaz drew his own conclusion from the defeat, and it was the wrong one:
God's patience had no good effect on Ahaz. His determination to do evil only grew; nothing stopped it (v. 22). Syria had defeated him, and he thought Syria did so by the power of their idols. So he took up Syria's idolatry and sacrificed to their gods. But this only involved him and all Judah in deeper evil.
Everything in Judah was falling apart under Ahaz. Into that ruin came a promise that reached far beyond him:
God's mercy lingered over Judah. He gave Ahaz the sign that "the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Everything was failing in Judah as well as in Israel. Yet God had One in prospect, through whom He would at last secure blessing.
- Handed over. Ahaz was not just outfought. His idolatry brought this on, and the verse names God Himself as the one who gave him up.
- Hand restrained. The allied kings entered the land, but they could not take the city or the king. God guarded the line of David even while He struck the nation.
- Hand borrowed. Syria and Israel were a rod, not heroes. Verse 10 asks the winners whether they have sins of their own against the LORD.
- Hand rejected. The more God struck him, the more Ahaz sinned. The blow that should have broken him hardened him, until he worshipped the gods of the army that beat him.
- Hand outstretched. To this idol-worshipping king came the promise of Immanuel. When Judah had nothing left, God pointed to the One through whom blessing would come at last.
And Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers.
Ahaz had turned Judah to idols, and this verse records the cost: 120,000 fighting men killed in one day by Pekah of Israel. It also names the reason. The defeat was not a failure of strategy. It was a nation that had let go of the God of its fathers.
The dead were not raw recruits. One writer notes that Judah lost its best troops. The king escaped the battle, but he did not escape the blow:
The 120,000 killed in one day were the best of Ahaz's army, and they fell "because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers." Though the king himself escaped, God's rod reached him through his son: "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son." He also killed the "commander of the palace" and "Elkanah the next in authority to the king." How, or where, we do not know. God can find the guilty where and when He will.
The sword that fell on Judah belonged to Israel — the northern kingdom, the same family. A commentator writing on Pekah's reign draws out what that means:
Though Pekah was unable to resist Assyria, he did have the more questionable distinction of killing … men of Judah in one day! How often it seems we do more damage to our own brothers than we do to the power of our enemies!
The killing was massive, yet Jerusalem never fell. One writer explains why, and what the attackers were really after:
The record here does not clash with 2 Kings 16:5, which says the allied kings could not overcome Ahaz. They could not get into the city, and they could not reach the king in person, though they entered the land. When Scripture says God handed him over and they struck him, it means his people and his kingdom. Their aim was to remove king Ahaz from the throne and set up "the son of Tabeel" in his place. (Tabeel was probably a Syrian; it is not a Hebrew name.) It was surely Satan's plot, if not man's, to destroy the line of David; and for this reason God did not give Jerusalem into their hands. But the killing and enslaving of the people across the whole kingdom was almost without parallel. That is why Isaiah took with him his son Shear-jashub (the remnant shall return) when he went out to meet king Ahaz.
The judgment was severe, but it had a limit.
The same reign that produced this massacre also produced one of the most famous promises in Scripture. A reference work on Ahaz puts the two side by side:
The house of David was ripening for judgment. Israel's army killed 120,000 in one day and carried 200,000 women and children off to Samaria. A prophet named Oded won their release. God's mercy still lingered over Judah. He gave Ahaz the sign that "the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Everything was failing in Judah as well as in Israel, yet God had One in view through whom blessing would finally be secured.
Defeat on this scale should have driven a king to his knees. It did the opposite. Summarising the whole chapter, one writer traces the pattern:
The reign of Ahaz forms a turning point. He forsakes Jehovah entirely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. He is handed over to the Syrians, and to Pekah, the king of Israel. In the second case, however, God steps in to rescue at least the captives. The Edomites, and afterwards the Philistines, invade Judah. All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into greater trouble.
One writer follows Ahaz's slide to the end, then turns it on the reader:
He was handed over to the king of Syria and to the king of Israel. They struck him with a great slaughter, "because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers." He had turned away from Jehovah, and now he adds to his wickedness by looking to the world for help… How rapid the downward course! "And in the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD — this same King Ahaz." And this is the downward course of every heart that departs from the living God. Sin cannot be played with.
- Cause — The verse names the reason for the defeat, not just the body count. They had forsaken the Lord, and courage could not cover that gap.
- Sword — The blow came through Israel, their own kin. We often do more damage to our own brothers than to our enemies.
- Limit — Jerusalem did not fall. God would not let the line of David be destroyed, so the judgment had a limit.
- Mercy — In the same reign the captives went home and God gave the sign of Immanuel. Mercy still lingered over a guilty nation.
- Warning — Ahaz was struck and grew worse, not better. That is the road of any heart that walks away from the living God.
And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king.
Ahaz had led Judah into open idolatry, and this verse records part of the cost. One raider from the northern kingdom killed three of the highest men in Judah — so why did God let the nation's leaders fall, and what was He saying to a king who would not listen?
The narrative does not treat this as bad luck in battle. It names a cause, and one writer traces it through the whole sequence of defeats Ahaz suffered.
Jotham dies, and Ahaz takes his place — a godless son who "walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made metal images for the Baals" (2 Chronicles 28). Not satisfied with that, he brought the pattern of a new altar down from Damascus into the very house of God. But God struck him.
Ahaz himself came out of the war alive. One writer shows where the blow landed instead.
"Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor" — the best of Ahaz's army — "because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers." The king himself escaped. But God's rod reached him through his son: "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son." He also killed the "commander of the palace," and "Elkanah the next in authority to the king." How, or where, we do not know. God can find the guilty where and when He will.
Three of the highest men in the kingdom fell to a single attacker. The one called governor of the house held a specific post in Ahaz's administration.
Governor of the house of king Ahaz: he was slain when the Israelites and Syrians invaded the land. 2 Chr. 28:7.
The death of the king's son was not just a private grief. The two attacking kings had a political aim, and one writer explains why they never took Jerusalem.
These statements do not clash with 2 Kings 16:5, which says these allied kings "could not overcome him." They could not get into the city, nor reach the king himself, though they did enter the land. "God delivered him," and "they struck him," means his people and his kingdom… The aim of "these two smoldering stumps of firebrands" was to dethrone king Ahaz and set up "the son of Tabeal" in his place… It was doubtless Satan's plot, if not man's, to destroy the line of David. For this reason God did not deliver Jerusalem into their hands.
God's answer to that plot went far beyond keeping one family on the throne.
Not only will a remnant return, but the promised Seed, the virgin's Son, will be born. Immanuel was an unfailing assurance that no alliance could ever put down David's house. Messiah, Son of David, is the divine guarantee. The virgin must bear Him from that family line. And the virgin's Son must also be, in some true though mysterious way, God Himself. Immanuel makes sure that God's purpose of blessing will stand and hold firm for ever.
Losses on this scale should have driven Ahaz to his knees. One writer puts the obvious question to him.
The damage done to Judah must have been staggering! Syria killed many men and carried off great numbers as captives. Then Israel killed 120,000 and took 200,000 captives. Why did Ahaz not realize that this was a judgment from God, and turn to the Lord in repentance? But his heart remained hard as a stone.
One writer sums up the whole reign in two lines.
The reign of Ahaz marks a turning point. He forsakes the Lord completely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him.
- Cause — Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. God struck Ahaz for the idolatry he led them into.
- Rod — Ahaz escaped capture. The rod still reached him through his own son. God can find the guilty where and when He will.
- Reach — One raider killed the king's son, the palace commander, and the man next in authority. The judgment went straight to the top.
- Target — Behind the raid lay a plan to dethrone Ahaz and put the son of Tabeal in his place. God kept Jerusalem out of their hands, because the line of David was at stake.
- Guarantee — Immanuel, the virgin's Son, was God's answer. No alliance could ever put down David's house.
And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took away also much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
Under Ahaz, Judah suffered a crushing defeat, and Israel marched 200,000 of its women and children off to Samaria, the northern capital. Judah's captors were its own kin — so why did God allow it, and what right had they to enslave their own people?
This defeat was not about Israel's military strength. One writer traces the loss to Judah's abandoning of the LORD, and notes that the blow reached the king's own family:
"Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor" — the best of Ahaz's army — "because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers." The king himself escaped, but God's rod reached him through his son: "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son." How, or where, we do not know. God can find the guilty where and when He will.
These captives were Israel's own relatives. The northern kingdom had already abandoned God, yet here Judah is the more ruined of the two:
It was the sin of Ahaz that made him prominent. Among the things that came out at that time was Judah's decline: "For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, because he had made Judah open to attack and had been unfaithful to the LORD." The record calls Ahaz king of Israel — that was his position before God, for the ten tribes had abandoned God. Judah was the Israel of God, yet Judah was left open to attack, never so low as now, even lower than the Israel that had abandoned Him.
Winning the battle did not give Israel a free hand. God's law had already ruled out their plan. Oded's message named two angers — God's at Judah, and God's at Israel:
Israel had the upper hand, and they were bent on doing all they could to humiliate their brothers in Judah. But God sent the prophet Oded to the army of Israel with a solemn message. He told them that, because the Lord was angry with Judah, He had allowed Israel to crush them. But Israel's rage against Judah had reached up to heaven, and now they were planning to force the women and children into slavery. Israel's law had forbidden them to make slaves of other Israelites (Lev. 25:39). Did the Israelites think Judah's sin against the Lord made it right to enslave them? Oded answered by reminding Israel that they were guilty before God too (v. 10).
Being God's instrument of judgment is not a license.
Oded spoke at the worst possible moment for his message — in the middle of a victory celebration:
Chronicles alone records the prophet Oded, and who he was we do not know. He was a true and courageous prophet of the LORD in the middle of idol-worshipping Samaria, a place rushing toward the doom foretold for it. Only a true prophet clothed with the Spirit of power could deliver such a daring message. It came at a time of victory and excitement, and it was bound to humble the people.
The plunder carried to Samaria does not stay plunder. A few verses later, Israel spends it on the very people they stripped it from:
This is a noble example of the power of love in the most corrupt days of Judah. Instead of slavery, the moving appeals of the Lord's prophet set every captive free. And Israel did more than free them — they showed them every mark of tender affection: "with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees."
Ahaz had every reason to soften. He lost the war, and then the victors showed him mercy. Neither moved him:
The Lord dealt with Judah by letting Syria and Israel devastate them. Then Israel showed Judah kindness by returning the captives. Even so, Ahaz did not turn to the Lord. It seems he stayed as cold and hard as before. Some men are so completely sold to do evil that they only grow harder. God appeals to them again and again, patiently, and they still do not respond.
- Cause — Judah lost 120,000 men and 200,000 captives "because they had forsaken the LORD." God allowed the enemy's strength; the enemy never held the real power.
- Reversal — God brought Judah, the Israel of God, lower than the tribes that had abandoned Him. The record even calls Ahaz "king of Israel."
- Limit — God used Israel to discipline His people, but that gave Israel no right to enslave them. The law forbade making slaves of fellow Israelites, and their rage "reached up to heaven."
- Voice — God still had Oded inside idol-worshipping Samaria, brave enough to humble a nation in its hour of victory.
- Result — The spoil became clothing, food and donkeys for the captives. Ahaz saw both judgment and kindness, and hardened further still.
But a prophet of Jehovah was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because Jehovah the God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he gave them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
Israel's army has just killed 120,000 men of Judah in one day. It is marching home to Samaria with 200,000 women and children as prisoners, and a prophet named Oded steps out to meet the troops with God's verdict on their victory.
Samaria was the capital of a kingdom that had turned to idols. Even there, at the height of its triumph, God had a man ready to speak.
This interesting record of the prophet Oded appears only in Chronicles. Who Oded was we do not know. He was a true and courageous prophet of Jehovah in the middle of idolatrous Samaria. That city was moving fast toward the doom God had predicted for it. Only a true prophet clothed with the Spirit of power could deliver such a daring message. It was designed to humble the people at a moment of victory and excitement.
Oded's first word is "Behold" — and what he points to is not Israel's army but God's anger with Judah. God handed them the win, and it came with limits they had already broken.
Having the upper hand, Israel was bent on doing everything in their power to humiliate their brothers in Judah. But God sent the prophet Oded to the army of Israel with a solemn message. He told them that, because the Lord was angry with Judah, He had allowed Israel to defeat them soundly. But Israel's rage against Judah had reached up to heaven, and now they were planning to force the women and children into slavery. Israel's law had forbidden them to make slaves of other Israelites (Lev. 25:39). Did the Israelites think that because Judah had sinned against the Lord, it was therefore right to make them slaves? Oded answered that by reminding Israel that they were guilty before God too.
"A rage that has reached up to heaven" describes a punishment that outran its commission. God can use a nation without approving of that nation.
In God's governmental ways with nations He may use one as His rod to punish another. We see this again and again in Old Testament Scriptures. But woe to the nation so used if she becomes lifted up with pride over it. God rules with justice, and He will just as surely humble her in her turn, and rightly so. For of all alike it is true that there are "sins with you, even with you, against the Lord your God."
The prophet does not stop at Judah's guilt. He turns the victors around to face their own record, and one writer applies that to anyone who enjoys denouncing others.
It is pleasant and easy to sit in the judge's seat and denounce the vices of others. It is easy to wonder why God does not stop them, and even to criticise Him for seeming to do nothing, as though we were more righteous than He is. It is easy to point the finger at the enemy and cry, "You are the man." But what if some prophetic voice answered our accusation, as one did long ago: "Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?"
The same question reaches nations at war with each other.
He who sits on the throne judging righteously is displeased with them all. But suppose one nation — just one — would face up to its own condition in His sight. Suppose it admitted its many transgressions and its long contempt for the things of God. Then He would forgive, and peace and quiet would return. Mutual accusations lead nowhere. To nations inclined to accuse and destroy their neighbours, the prophet Oded's words in 2 Chron. 28:9-11 may well have a voice.
The prophet's appeal changed the conduct of a whole army.
Here is a noble example of the power of love in the most corrupt days of Judah. The prophet Oded met the children of Israel carrying into captivity two hundred thousand of their brothers... But instead of slavery, the moving appeals of the Lord's prophet set them all free. They were not only set free, but treated with every mark of tender affection... they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals. They gave them food and drink and anointed them. They carried all the feeble on donkeys and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers.
- Handed over. Israel did not win by its own strength. God was angry with Judah and gave them into Israel's hand.
- Handed too far. The rod went past its orders. The slaughter became a rage that reached heaven, and the plan to enslave brothers broke God's own law.
- Hand turned back. God humbles in turn the nation He uses as His rod, if that nation grows proud.
- Held to the mirror. The prophet's question stops the accuser mid-sentence: the sins to deal with first are the ones "with you, even with you."
- Hands opened. Israel heard the word and acted. They fed the captives, clothed them and carried them home. Love took the place of mutual accusation.
And now ye think to subjugate the children of Judah and Jerusalem as your bondmen and bondwomen. Are there not with you, even with you, trespasses against Jehovah your God?
Israel's army had beaten Judah and was marching the captured women and children home as prizes of war. A prophet named Oded stepped into the road and stopped them with one question about their own sins.
Israel had just won a crushing battle. One commentator traces what Oded told the winning army about that victory.
Israel had the upper hand, and was set on doing all they could to humiliate their brothers in Judah. But God sent the prophet Oded to the army of Israel with a solemn message. He told them that the Lord was angry with Judah, and so had let Israel defeat them badly. Israel's rage against Judah had reached up to heaven. Now they were planning to force the women and children into slavery. Israel's law had forbidden them to make slaves of other Israelites (Lev. 25:39). Did they think that because Judah had sinned against the Lord, it was right to make them slaves? Oded answered that by reminding Israel that they too were guilty before God.
God had handed Judah over to Israel. But the handover had a limit. One writer describes the line God draws around any instrument He uses on His own people.
God will not allow the nations to treat His poor straying people outrageously. He will use them as His rod of discipline. But the moment they give way to their own bitter hatred and go past the limit He appointed, He will break the rod in pieces. He will make it plain to everyone that He Himself is dealing with His beloved but straying people, for their final blessing and His glory.
Another writer applies this to nations. He shows what happens when the nation God uses grows proud of being used.
In God's government of the nations He may use one nation as His rod to punish another. We see this again and again in the Old Testament. But it will go badly for the nation so used if she becomes proud of it. God rules with justice, and just as surely she will be justly humiliated in her turn. For of all alike it is true that there are "sins with you, even with you against the Lord your God" (2 Chr. 28:10).
Oded ends by asking about Israel's own sins. Older translations keep his repeated words: "Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?" That repetition turns the punishment back on the punishers. The same question, one writer says, still waits for anyone who enjoys passing sentence on someone else.
It is pleasant and easy to sit in the judge's seat and condemn the faults of others. It is easy to wonder why God does not stop them, and even to criticize Him for seeming to do nothing, as though we were more righteous than He. It is easy to point the finger at the enemy and cry, "You are the man." But what if, in answer to our accusations, a challenge rang out from some prophet's lips, as of old, "Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?"
Oded's words were not only a rebuke. They opened a door, and one writer shows where it leads.
He who sits on the throne and judges righteously is displeased with all the nations. But if any nation — even one — would face its own condition in His sight, and admit its many sins and its long contempt for the things of God, He would forgive, and peace and quiet would return. Nations trading accusations get nowhere. To nations disposed to accuse and destroy their neighbours, the prophet Oded's words in 2 Chron. 28:9-11 may well have a voice.
The word landed. Israel had turned from God altogether, yet some among them saw that keeping these captives would pile new guilt on old.
Israel had taken the place of those who had abandoned God. Yet it still had some righteous men who felt their position — men of weight and influence, who would not add to their trespass by keeping the captives from Judah. "Our trespass" was no doubt their great trespass in rebelling against the house of David. The rebuke from Oded and the protest of the four princes sent the captives home. Israel seemed more open to correction than Judah.
- Delivered — Israel won because God was angry with Judah and gave Judah into their hand. The win was a loan, not a verdict of approval.
- Exceeded — God uses a nation as His rod of discipline. He breaks the rod the moment it gives way to its own hatred and passes the limit He set.
- Even with you — the guilt of the punished never erases the guilt of the punisher. Oded's question denies Israel the judge's seat.
- Enslaved — the plan to hold brothers as slaves broke Israel's own law, so the punishment they planned was itself the next sin.
- Answered — a few men took the word to heart, refused to add to their trespass, and sent the captives home. The question can be answered, not just resented.
And now hear me, and send back the captives again, whom ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of Jehovah is upon you.
The prophet Oded met an army flushed with victory and told them to hand back the 200,000 relatives they had just carried home as captives. He did not say Judah was innocent. He said Israel was guilty too, and that God's anger now rested on them.
Israel had won because God allowed it. Oded's message was about what they planned to do next.
The Lord stepped in to stop Israel from going too far in their harsh treatment of Judah. Israel had the upper hand, and they meant to humiliate their relatives in Judah in every way they could. But God sent the prophet Oded to Israel's army with a solemn message. He told them that, because the Lord was angry with Judah, He had allowed Israel to soundly defeat them. But Israel's rage against Judah had reached up to heaven, and now they were planning to force the women and children into slavery. Israel's law had forbidden them to make slaves of other Israelites (Lev. 25:39). Did the Israelites think that because Judah had sinned against the Lord, therefore it was right to make them slaves? But Oded answered this by reminding Israel that they also were guilty before God (v. 10). Therefore, he told them, return those captives to Judah, for the fierce wrath of God was against their plan to make slaves of them (v. 11).
The rescue is credited to God Himself, not to Israel's better feelings.
He is delivered into the hands of the Syrians, and into the hand of Pekah, the king of Israel. In the latter case, however, God interposes for the rescue at least of the captives.
Oded pressed the victors about their own sins before God. That question reaches beyond Israel.
He who sits on the throne and judges righteously is displeased with all the nations. But if any nation — even one — would face up to its own condition in His sight, and own its many transgressions and its long contempt for things divine, He would forgive. Peace and quietness would return. Trading accusations leads nowhere. To nations disposed to accuse and destroy their neighbours, the prophet Oded's words in 2 Chron. 28:9-11 may well have a voice.
It took nerve to say this to a celebrating army in Samaria, the capital of a kingdom that had abandoned God.
Only Chronicles gives this interesting record of the prophet Oded. Who Oded was we do not know. He was a true and courageous prophet of the LORD, while idolatrous Samaria rushed so quickly toward its predicted doom. Only a true prophet clothed with the Spirit of power could speak such a daring message. It came at a time of victory and excitement, and its aim was to humble the people.
Four leaders in Israel backed the prophet. Their concern was their own account with God, not Judah's.
Israel had taken the place of a nation that had turned away from God. Yet it still had some righteous men who felt their position. They were men of weight and influence, and they would not let Israel add to its trespass by keeping the captives from Judah. "Our trespass" was no doubt their great trespass in rebelling against the house of David. Oded's rebuke and the four princes' protest send the captives home. Israel seemed to be more open than Judah to correction.
Obedience went further than the prophet had asked.
The prophet Oded met the Israelites as they carried 200,000 of their relatives from Judah and Jerusalem into captivity, including women, sons, and daughters. But instead of slavery, the moving appeals of the Lord's prophet won them all their freedom. And not only freedom: they were treated with every mark of tender affection. "And the men who were mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They dressed them, gave them sandals, and gave them food and drink. They anointed them, put all the weak ones on donkeys, and brought them to their relatives at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria."
Israel handed the captives back. That did not settle their account with God.
How many and how great were Israel's sins! "The fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you" — and within a few short years they themselves were carried captive beyond Babylon.
Judah, meanwhile, watched its own people come home fed and clothed and drew no lesson from it.
The return of the captives and the cause of it could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz; but it had no effect on the dull hearts of the men of Judah. They were already feeling the judgment of God. They might not have noticed it, yet the judgment was just as visible. For the LORD was calling them to remember His goodness, by making the Israelites send the captives of Judah back fed and clothed.
- Wrath moves. God's anger handed Judah over to Israel. Then Israel's rage turned that same anger on the victors. The fierce wrath now rests on them.
- Your own sins. Oded does not deny Judah's guilt. But Israel carried sins against God too. A beaten brother's sin gave them no right to enslave him.
- Permission has limits. God allowed Israel to win. He did not allow their rage, and He did not allow their plan to enslave the women and children — their own law forbade enslaving fellow Israelites.
- Hear and release. Four leaders of weight and influence owned their own great trespass and sent the captives home — clothed, fed, and carried to Jericho. Obedience turned into kindness.
- Two hearers, two ends. Israel listened, yet went into captivity a few years later. Judah saw its own people come home and stayed unmoved. Mercy shown is not the same as mercy received.
And certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,
Israel's army is marching home with 200,000 captives from Judah, and the prophet Oded has just told them to send the prisoners back. Verse 12 names four men of Ephraim who block the road — leaders of a kingdom that had turned away from God.
God sent the rebuke through a prophet. The question was who in Israel would answer it — the king, Pekah, or someone else.
The Lord sent the prophet Oded to rebuke the men of Israel and to tell them to send back their captives. We read of no response from Pekah. But four of the heads of the children of Ephraim publicly acknowledged their nation's guilt before the Lord... It is good to see, even at this low point in Israel's history, a remnant responding to the word of the Lord.
These men had no royal order behind them, and they did not send for one.
Pekah, the king of Israel, is not mentioned as having anything to do with the protest of these four men. It is good to see that they did the right thing without consulting the king. Their word had good effect on the warriors. The soldiers left the captives and the spoil for the leaders to do with as they saw fit.
Their argument is not that Judah is innocent. It is that Israel already owes more than it can pay. One writer traces that debt back to Israel's break with the house of David.
Israel had taken an apostate place before God. Yet Israel still had some righteous men who felt their position. They were men of weight and influence, and they would not add to their trespass by keeping the captives from Judah. "Our trespass" was no doubt their great trespass in rebelling against the house of David... Israel seemed to be more open to correction than Judah. With some of them, at least, memory drew out a confession. They remembered what they had been under David, and how they had sinned and forfeited every mercy promised in the covenant when they rebelled against Rehoboam. So they said, "for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."
Older translations read "trespass" here, where the ESV has "guilt."
Samaria was a city sunk in idol worship. That is what makes this scene surprising.
Here is faithfulness and denunciation of sin where one might least expect it — in the city of Samaria, and from leaders, heads of the people. There were not ten righteous men in Sodom; and Samaria, one might think, was not much better. But not everyone there had bowed the knee to Baal. These men speak for truth and right with boldness, right in the face of a returning, victorious army... The righteous Lord who loves righteousness has seen to it that these men of tender heart and upright conscience should be "mentioned by name." The God of Israel has placed this incident on eternal record, so that people might know that He never forgets a kindness done to His people, even while they suffer the just punishment of their sins.
Stopping the wrong was only half of it. The prophet's appeal changed what happened to the captives.
Here is a noble example of the power of love in the most degenerate times of Judah... But in place of slavery, through the touching appeals of the Lord's prophet, they were all set at liberty, and not only at liberty, but with every mark of tender affection.
God meant this kindness as a call to Judah. King Ahaz read nothing in it.
The return of the captives and the cause of it could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz; but it had no effect on the dull hearts of the men of Judah, who were already feeling the judgment of God. They may not have realised it, but the judgment was plain. The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness. He did this by causing the Israelites to send Judah's captives home fed and clothed. Yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help."
- Warning — God sent Oded to a victorious army. The king gave no answer, so the word fell to others to obey.
- Standing — four heads of Ephraim did the right thing without asking the king, and the armed men handed over both captives and plunder.
- Trespass — their reason was not Judah's guilt but their own. Their debt was already great, and they would not add to it.
- Mercy — the protest did not stop at refusal. The captives went home clothed, fed and carried, with every mark of tender affection.
- Refusal — the same kindness left Ahaz unmoved. He sent to Assyria instead, while God kept these four names on eternal record.
and said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; because, for our guilt before Jehovah, ye think to increase our sins and our trespasses for our trespass is great, and fierce wrath is upon Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Then the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.
An army of Israel had just crushed Judah and marched home with 200,000 captives. In this verse those soldiers set both prisoners and plunder down in front of their own leaders — so what changed their minds?
The rebuke that stopped this army came from inside the northern kingdom, not from Jerusalem.
Here is faithfulness, and open condemnation of sin, where one might least expect it — in the city of Samaria, and from leaders, heads of the people. There were not ten righteous men in Sodom; and Samaria, one might think, was not much better. But not all there had bowed the knee to Baal. These men speak for truth and right with boldness, straight in the face of a returning, victorious army. And their words have the effect they aimed at, because the wicked will sometimes listen to the words of the righteous in a most wonderful way.
The prophet was a man named Oded. His message landed while the army was celebrating a win.
Who Oded was we do not know. He was a true and courageous prophet of Jehovah in the middle of idolatrous Samaria, a city rushing toward the doom foretold for it. Only a true prophet clothed with the Spirit of power could speak such a daring message. It came at a time of victory and excitement, and its aim was to humble the people.
The leaders did not plead that the captives were innocent. They owned their own guilt. Their words about a great trespass reach back past this battle to the day the kingdom split.
Israel had taken a place of turning away from God. Yet it still had some righteous men who felt their position. They were men of weight and influence, and they would not add to their trespass by keeping the captives from Judah. "Our trespass" was no doubt their great trespass in rebelling against the house of David. The rebuke of Oded and the protest of the four princes send the captives home. Israel seemed to be more open to correction than Judah.
Nothing in the account says the king approved this.
Pekah, the king of Israel, is not mentioned as having anything to do with the protest of these four men. But it is good to see that they did right without consulting the king. Their word had a good effect on the warriors. The warriors then left the captives and the spoil for the leaders to handle as they saw fit.
The goods set down in this verse do not go back into Samaria's treasury. In the next verse they are spent on the very people they were stripped from.
We have another equally noble example of the power of love in the most degenerate times of Judah. 2 Chronicles 28:1-15. The prophet Oded met the children of Israel carrying two hundred thousand of their brothers into captivity — the people of Judah and Jerusalem, including women, sons, and daughters. But instead of slavery, through the moving appeals of the Lord's prophet, they were all set free, and not only set free, but treated with every mark of tender affection.
Scripture records these men by name, one by one. That was no accident.
Their conduct was morally beautiful. It looks even more beautiful against the dark background of the evil times and kingdom they lived in. And the righteous Lord who loves righteousness has made sure that Scripture names these men of tender heart and upright conscience. The incident is like a little gleam of light shining out of a darkness that was deepening fast. The God of Israel has placed it on eternal record and spread it far and wide. He did this so that men might know He never forgets a kindness done to His people, even when they are suffering the just punishment of their sins under His government.
The captives walked home. Ahaz, watching it happen, drew no conclusion from it.
The return of the captives, and the reason for it, could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz. But it had no effect on the dulled hearts of the men of Judah. They were already feeling the judgment of God. They might not have noticed it, but the judgment was just as visible. The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness, as He made the Israelites send back the captives of Judah fed and clothed. He was also calling them to remember His just wrath, which let the Edomites and the Philistines strike and invade Judah. Yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help," and paid for it with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
- Voice. The rebuke came from the least likely place. Samaria had turned from God, yet a prophet and four named leaders there spoke it straight into a victorious army's face.
- Conscience. The soldiers moved because they owned their own guilt. Their great trespass reached back to their rebellion against the house of David.
- Release. That conscience produced this verse. The soldiers set down captives and plunder, and they never waited for the king to approve.
- Kindness. The leaders then spent the spoil on the captives. Plunder became clothing, food, and a ride home for the weak.
- Record. God had these kind men named in Scripture forever. He never forgets a kindness done to His people. Ahaz watched the whole mercy and still sent to Assyria for help.
And the men that have been expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them on asses, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm-trees, to their brethren. And they returned to Samaria.
The king of Israel plays no part in this scene. The response comes from men who heard God's word and acted on it, and one writer notes how rare and welcome that is.
We do not read of any response from Pekah, but four of the leaders of the tribe of Ephraim openly acknowledged their nation's guilt before the Lord... It is good to see, even at this low point in Israel's history, a remnant responding to the word of the Lord.
These men did not wait for permission from the throne. They also faced battle-hardened soldiers who had every reason to keep their prize.
Pekah, the king of Israel, is not mentioned as having anything to do with the protest of these four men. But it is good to see that they did what was right without consulting the king. Their word had good effect on the warriors, who left the captives and the spoil for the leaders to do with as they saw fit. Then these men showed proper concern for the captives. They used the spoil to clothe and feed them, and even provided donkeys for those who were feeble. They brought them to Jericho, to return them to Judah.
The prophet's appeal was for the captives' freedom. The verse describes far more — clothing, sandals, food, drink, oil, and transport for those too weak to walk.
We have another noble example of the power of love in the most corrupt times of Judah. The prophet Oded met the people of Israel as they carried 200,000 of their brothers into captivity — the people of Judah and Jerusalem, including women, sons and daughters. But instead of slavery, the moving appeals of the Lord's prophet set them all free. And they were not only set free, but treated with every mark of tender affection.
Everything given to the captives came out of the plunder taken from them. The goods meant to enrich the victors were spent on the defeated instead.
The verse opens by pointing back to men listed by name in the previous verses. One writer takes that naming as God's own doing.
Their conduct was morally beautiful. It shines all the more against the dark background of the evil times and kingdom in which they lived. And the righteous Lord who loves righteousness has seen to it that these men of tender heart and upright conscience should be named. The incident is like a little gleam of light shining out of the fast-deepening darkness. The God of Israel has placed it on eternal record and made it widely known, so that people might know He never forgets a kindness done to His people — even when they are suffering the just punishment of their sins under His government.
The returned captives carried a message to Judah from God. King Ahaz turned elsewhere for help.
Israel seemed to be more open to correction than Judah... The LORD was calling Judah to remember His goodness. He did it by causing the Israelites to send back the captives of Judah fed and clothed. He was calling them to remember His just anger too, in allowing the Edomites and the Philistines to strike and invade Judah. Yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help," and paid for it with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
And the city of Jericho became "the city of palm trees" once more. There they clothed the naked, fed the hungry, and helped the feeble. There brothers long separated came together again, and the people obeyed the Word of God. So it shall be with every one of us who turn wholly to the Lord and hold to Him with purpose of heart. The grace that began with our salvation will not fail us; it is enough for our whole lives, in every phase of them.
- Word. A prophet's rebuke stopped an army at the height of its victory. Four leaders took it to heart and acted without waiting for their king.
- Conscience. They owned their nation's guilt before the Lord and gave back what their army had taken.
- Mercy. Release was not enough. The plunder itself became clothing, food, oil and transport for the very people it came from.
- Names. God put men of tender heart and upright conscience on record by name. He never forgets a kindness done to His people.
- Call. That kindness was God calling Judah to remember His goodness. Ahaz answered by sending temple gold to Assyria.
At that time king Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him.
Syria, Israel, Edom and the Philistines all struck Judah, and every blow was a message from God about the king on David's throne. Ahaz answered by sending for a foreign army.
The words "at that time" matter: they date Ahaz's move to the very moment God was dealing with Judah.
The return of the captives and the cause of it could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz; but it had no effect on the dull hearts of the men of Judah, who were already feeling the judgment of God. They might be unaware of it, but the judgment was no less visible. The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness: He made the Israelites send the captives of Judah home fed and clothed. He was calling them to remember His just anger too, in allowing the Edomites and the Philistines to strike and invade Judah. Yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help," and he purchased that help with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
Ahaz had already turned away from the Lord. Sending to Assyria was not a new direction but the next step in the same one.
Having turned away from the LORD in this way, he still adds to his wickedness by looking to the world to help him. "At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help." Instead of help, there is only more distress — Judah sank very low... How rapid the downward course! "In the time of his distress he sinned still more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz." And this is the downward course of every heart that departs from the living God. Sin cannot be played with.
Assyria's king did come, and Ahaz found out what his money had bought.
The king of Assyria also came to Judah, but not to help Ahaz — rather to add to his troubles. In fact, Ahaz robbed the temple of God to give some of its treasures to the king of Assyria, and the king gladly took them without any intention of helping Ahaz.
Two kings had frightened Ahaz, so he looked to a third.
The two kings made Ahaz afraid; but God sends the very one he wanted to lean on as a chastening on him. That is what one should fear — that God should take up the rod... God would be our strength; the heart of man never wishes it. Our fear of trouble makes us look for support in whatever looks safe to us. These are the very things God uses to chastise us. The kings of Israel and of Syria came against Judah of their own will. God stops them. Ahaz and his people would lean on the king of Assyria; and God makes the Assyrian come against them in the end.
So why did the trouble not turn Ahaz around?
The soul that is not searched by the trial goes through it in pride, or in its own natural strength. The heart hardens, the conscience may be deadened, and so the soul loses the blessing, for God wants to deal with the conscience in particular... Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften; instead it hardened him.
Two men in his own family took the other road.
He trusted in man and leaned on human strength. His heart turned away from the Lord, and he brought the resulting curse and barrenness on himself and his kingdom (Jer. 17:5). "In the time of his distress he sinned still more against the Lord." What a contrast with his great ancestor David! "In my distress," he says, "I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help" (Ps. 18:6). Even his wicked grandson Manasseh sought the Lord his God "when he was in affliction."
The pull Ahaz felt is not only a king's problem.
The tendency is immense to meet a worldly trial in a worldly way. We are apt to think that we cannot meet the world's efforts against us by spiritual means. So we are in danger of turning to earthly means to escape. ... Be sure, if we do not feel the danger, it is because we are ourselves under the world's influence. God uses the sense of danger, the dread in our spirits, and the fear of meeting flesh with flesh to make us look to Himself. God will never put His seal on self-dependence.
- Called — God spoke to Judah through both mercy and invasion; "at that time" Ahaz answered Him by sending to Assyria.
- Bought — Ahaz paid for that help out of the house of the Lord, so the alliance cost him what was God's first.
- Unhelped — Assyria took the treasure and gave no protection; leaning on human strength brings only barrenness.
- Chastened — God turns the chosen support into the rod, so the power Ahaz leaned on came back against him.
- Hardened — trouble drove David to call on the Lord; it only pushed Ahaz further into sin. Scripture leaves his name as a warning: "this is that king Ahaz."
And again the Edomites came and smote Judah, and carried away captives.
Ahaz had already been beaten by Syria and by Israel, and now a third enemy moves in while Judah is weak. This verse records another raid and more captives taken. It comes just after the king's decision to buy help from Assyria instead of turning back to God.
Chronicles does not treat these invasions as bad luck. One writer sets the two raids side by side and names their cause:
Ahaz had refused the Lord, so he sought help from the kings of Assyria. At that time the Edomites again attacked Judah and took captives, and the Philistines invaded Judah's cities and took some of them for themselves (vv. 16-18). So the Lord brought Judah low. Anyone ought to have been able to see the reason: the bad influence of Ahaz, his own moral depravity and his contempt for the worship of the God of Israel (v. 19). But Ahaz was so deluded by his own wickedness that he was blind to the reasons for his defeat.
The word "again" points to a pattern. Two kings, Rezin and Pekah, had already defeated Judah, and their success drew others in:
The Edomites were no doubt encouraged by the success of Rezin and Pekah. They invaded the land and "carried away captives." The Philistines also invaded the lowland and the south of Judah, and settled in the cities they took. The Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he made Judah lawless and sinned greatly against the Lord.
Edom attacked as a relative, not a stranger. One writer sees more in that than family history:
The judgment passes on to Edom, the typical enemy of Israel. As we have seen elsewhere, Edom pictures for us the world of the old man — the natural fallen man. He is the most real enemy we have as Christians, and no less so because he is related to us all by nature, just as Edom was the brother who would not act like a brother to Israel. Here his hostility takes the form of revenge. He had, as we know, a quarrel from the beginning — the original loss of his birthright-blessing, and he has forgotten that he sold it for a bowl of stew.
Ahaz answered every blow by sinking further:
The reign of Ahaz marks a turning point. He abandons the Lord completely and gives himself up to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. He is handed over to the Syrians, and then to Pekah, the king of Israel. The Edomites invade Judah, and afterwards the Philistines. All this distress pushes Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into worse trouble.
Trouble does not always soften a person. It can do the opposite:
A soul that is not searched before God goes through the trial in pride, or in its own natural strength. The heart grows hard, and the conscience may be seared. So the blessing is lost, for God wanted to reach the conscience itself… Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften. Instead it hardened him.
Judgment was not God's only voice in this chapter. Kindness came with it, and Ahaz ignored both:
The return of the captives, and the reason for it, could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz. But it had no effect on the dull hearts of the men of Judah, who were already feeling the judgment of God. They may have been unaware of it, but the judgment was plain to see. The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness, for He made the Israelites send Judah's captives back fed and clothed. He was calling them to remember His just anger too, for He let the Edomites and the Philistines strike and invade Judah. Yet at that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help, and paid for it with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
Ahaz had one move left, and he made it away from God:
Having turned away from the Lord, he adds to his wickedness by looking to the world for help. At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. Instead of help, there is only more distress — Judah was brought very low… How fast the downward course! In the time of his distress he sinned even more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. And this is the downward course of every heart that departs from the living God. You cannot play with sin.
- Cause — The raids were not random. The Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, and the reason was visible to anyone willing to look.
- Opening — Edom struck only after Syria and Israel had already succeeded. Weakness invites the next attacker.
- Kinship — Edom was the brother who would not act like a brother. He pictures the fallen nature in us, the most real enemy a Christian has.
- Hardening — The same blow that softens one heart hardens another. Ahaz is the man whom affliction could not soften.
- Direction — Distress drove him to Assyria instead of to God. That choice cost him the temple gold and gained him nothing but more distress.
And the Philistines invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Socho and its dependent villages, and Timnah and its dependent villages, and Guimzo and its dependent villages; and they dwelt there.
Six towns of Judah change hands in this verse. The invaders do not raid and leave — they settle. The question the chapter raises is not military but moral. Why could the kingdom of David no longer hold its own border?
The raids hit the Shephelah, the lowland. This was familiar ground for this kind of attack.
In the west, south of Aijalon, is a district called the Shephelah. It is distinct from the plain by the sea coast, and distinct from the hill country. Some call it low hills, or "the lowland." This was the region where the Philistines so often attacked Israel.
One of the captured towns carried a heavy memory:
Beth-shemesh was a town of the Levites on the north border of Judah. God guided the ark there by a miracle when the Philistines sent it back from Ekron, and the people there were struck down for looking into it. Here Jehoash king of Israel defeated Amaziah king of Judah. Later the Philistines occupied it.
Under Ahaz the Philistines learned to look down on Judah. Their advantage had a time limit.
The enemy had learnt to despise Judah in the days of unworthy Ahaz. Who was Ahaz's son, that they should fear him? Yet they had no reason to rejoice, for out of the serpent's root would come a viper. This was fulfilled first in the reign of Hezekiah, of whom it is recorded in 2 Kings 18:8 that he struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders.
The chapter itself supplies the cause in the next breath, and it was there for anyone willing to look.
Ahaz refused the Lord and sought help from the kings of Assyria. At that time the Edomites attacked Judah again and took captives, and the Philistines invaded Judah's cities and took some of them (vv. 16-18). So the Lord brought Judah low. Anyone ought to have been able to see the reason. It was the bad influence of Ahaz, his own moral corruption, and his contempt for the worship of the God of Israel (v. 19). But Ahaz was so deluded by his own wickedness that he was blind to the reasons for his defeat.
God used these raiders. That did not make them innocent.
They were the unconscious instruments used by God in the chastening of His people. Their own motive was of quite another kind. Eighty years later God measured out to them the punishment their attack on the land of Judah deserved. Keep this important principle in mind in any study of God's ways in government, with either men or nations.
Judah's people fled, and the enemy moved into what they left.
For the moment the victory of the Philistines is complete. The terrified Israelites leave their homes and their cities to the conquerors, who live in them. Every defeat by the enemy means the enemy occupies land that should belong to the people of God.
These blows were a call to remember God, not only a punishment. Ahaz answered by sending to Assyria.
The return of the captives, and the cause of it, could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz. But it had no effect on the dull hearts of the men of Judah, who were already feeling the judgment of God. They might not know it, but the judgment was just as visible. The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness, by making the Israelites send back the captives of Judah fed and clothed. He was calling them to remember His just anger too, in allowing the Edomites and the Philistines to strike and invade Judah. Yet at that time king Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him.
One writer sums up the man in a single line:
Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften; on the contrary, it hardened him.
- Brought low — Philistine strength did not take these lowland towns. The Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz.
- Borrowed hand — The raiders were unconscious instruments in God's chastening. He still judged them later for the attack He allowed.
- Lost ground — Defeat always ends the same way. Someone else lives in what belonged to God's people.
- Loud call — The raids, and Israel's kindness to the captives it sent home, called Judah to remember God's goodness and His anger.
- Hard heart — Ahaz saw the same events and sent to Assyria instead of to God. Affliction that does not soften will harden.
For Jehovah humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah lawless, and transgressed much against Jehovah.
One sentence passes the verdict on Ahaz's reign. The losses Judah suffered from Edom, Philistia and Assyria were not bad luck. They came from the LORD's own hand, and the reason He gives is the king himself. Two questions follow. Older translations say the king "made Judah naked" — what does that mean? And why does the verse call a king of Judah "king of Israel"?
(The commentators quote older translations. Where the ESV has "the LORD humbled Judah" and "he had made Judah act sinfully," they read "the LORD brought Judah low" and "he made Judah naked.")
The chapter lists invasion after invasion. This verse names who was acting:
Ahaz refused the Lord and sought help from the kings of Assyria. At that time the Edomites attacked Judah again and took captives, and the Philistines invaded Judah's cities and took possession of some of them (vv. 16-18). So the Lord brought Judah low. Anyone ought to have been able to see the reason for this: the bad influence of Ahaz, his own moral depravity and his contempt for the worship of the God of Israel (v. 19). But Ahaz was so deluded by his own wickedness that he was blind to the reasons for his defeat.
The picture is of a people stripped bare. One writer keeps the older wording and notes how another translation renders the phrase:
The Philistines invaded "the low country, and the south of Judah," and settled in the captured cities. "For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked [lawless, New Translation], and sinned greatly against the Lord."
Ahaz ruled Judah. Yet the verse gives him the title of the northern kingdom, which had already abandoned God. The title measures how far he had dragged his own people down:
It was the wickedness of Ahaz that made him stand out... Ahaz is called king of Israel — that was his position before God, for the ten tribes had abandoned God. Judah was the Israel of God, yet Judah was made naked, never so low as now, lower even than the ten tribes who had left Him.
The same writer points out the irony of the chapter. The prophet Oded rebuked the northern kingdom, and they sent Judah's captives home, while Judah stayed hard. Israel, it seemed, "was more ready than Judah to take correction."
The verse blames one man, but he did not act alone. The nation watched him tamper with the temple and said nothing:
Ahaz, king of Judah, made it his business to change the basic arrangements of the temple of the Lord. We do not see the people protesting at all against this irreverence. They let him do as he pleased. And so the Lord's anger burned against Judah under the reign of Ahaz (2 Chr. 28:9), handing it over to Ephraim, and against Ahaz himself, "for the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel" (2 Chr. 28:19).
Trouble like this should bring a man to his senses. With Ahaz it did the opposite:
A soul that is not exercised goes through the trial in pride, or in its own natural strength. The heart is hardened, and perhaps the conscience is seared. So the blessing is lost, for God wants above all to deal with the conscience... Ahaz was a man whom suffering could not soften. On the contrary, it hardened him.
Set him beside his ancestor, and the contrast is the whole lesson:
The king of Assyria came, but instead of helping him he "distressed him." "And in the time of his distress he sinned yet more against the Lord." How different was his great ancestor David! "In my distress," he says, "I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God" (Ps. 18:6).
Even at this point God had not finished with the house of David. To this king He gave a sign:
God's mercy lingered over Judah, and He gave Ahaz the sign that "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isa. 7:14. Though all was failing in Judah as well as in Israel, God had One in view through whom He would finally secure blessing.
- Cause. Judah's defeats came from the LORD's hand. The reason was plain to anyone willing to look: the king's own depravity and his contempt for God's worship.
- Stripping. Another translation renders "made Judah naked" as "lawless": Ahaz left his people stripped bare, and invaders settled in their cities.
- Title. Calling Ahaz "king of Israel" marks his position before God: he sank his people lower than the ten tribes who had already left God.
- Silence. The nation never protested while he changed the temple. A people who let a leader do as he pleases share his judgment.
- Response. God brings a man low to reach his conscience. David cried to God in his distress; Ahaz hardened and sinned more. Yet even to this king came the promise of Immanuel.
And Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and troubled him, and did not support him.
Enemies pressed Ahaz, king of Judah, on every side. So he sent to Assyria for rescue. This verse records what that rescue delivered, and it raises a question for every reader: what happens when a person in trouble turns to power instead of to God?
Ahaz asked for help in desperation. One writer traces the blows that pushed him toward Assyria:
He completely abandons the Lord and gives himself up to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. He is handed over to the Syrians, and to Pekah, the king of Israel... The Edomites, and afterwards the Philistines, invade Judah. All this distress pushes Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria. That king only brought him into still greater trouble.
A reference work names this king and traces how the deal ended:
In the days of Ahaz, Pekah formed an alliance with Rezin, king of Damascus, against Judah. So Ahaz appealed to the king of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser attacked Damascus. His own monuments say that he destroyed that city and put Rezin to death... Scripture tells us that Ahaz met him there and paid a heavy tribute. But in the end Tiglath-pileser distressed Ahaz instead of helping him, and carried off as captives the tribes east of the Jordan.
Ahaz did not pay for this protection out of his own pocket:
The king of Assyria also came to Judah, but not to help Ahaz. He came instead to add to his troubles. In fact, Ahaz robbed the temple of God to give some of its treasures to the king of Assyria. The king gladly took them, with no intention of helping Ahaz.
This was not bad luck. Isaiah had named the very nation that would ruin him:
It happened just as the prophet Isaiah had warned him: "The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria." He trusted in man. He made flesh his strength, and his heart turned away from the Lord. So he brought on himself and on his kingdom the curse and barrenness that follow.
The pattern is older than Ahaz. One writer sees an old habit here: leaning on a strength that turns on the one who leans:
It is only the old leaning on Egypt that we see so often in Israel. In the end they found it a broken reed. Even their enemies judged it to be a reed that, if a man leans on it, "will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it." And yet how often we still seek help of this kind! We ask for or accept help that cuts us off from the help of God. All such things only deny Him, who alone is the security His people need.
Distress is meant to reach the conscience. In Ahaz it did the opposite:
Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften; on the contrary, it hardened him.
Another writer notes what God was doing at that very moment. The northern kingdom had just sent Judah's captives home, fed and clothed:
The Lord was calling them to remember His goodness, by making the Israelites send back the captives of Judah fed and clothed... Yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help," and he bought that help with the gold of the temple and of his palace. The Assyrian king did not help him but distressed him more. Even so, Ahaz sinned more, for he sacrificed to the gods that struck him.
One writer sets Ahaz beside two men of his own family who did the opposite:
How different was his great ancestor David! "In my distress," he says, "I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help." Even his wicked grandson Manasseh sought the Lord his God when he was in trouble. But Ahaz seemed determined to fill up the measure of his sins.
- Sought — Syria, Israel, Edom and the Philistines all pressed him hard. Ahaz looked to Assyria instead of to God.
- Paid — He stripped the temple and the palace to pay. The Assyrian king took the money "without any intention of helping Ahaz."
- Distressed — The protector became the oppressor. He destroyed Damascus, took heavy tribute, and carried off the tribes east of the Jordan.
- Foretold — Isaiah had already named the king of Assyria as the coming judgment. The outcome was not bad luck. It was a warning ignored.
- Hardened — Affliction did not soften Ahaz. It hardened him, and in his distress he sinned more. David called on the Lord in distress; Ahaz leaned on a reed that pierced his hand.
For Ahaz stripped the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave to the king of Assyria; but he was of no help to him.
Ahaz has just lost wars to Syria, Israel, Edom and the Philistines. Instead of turning to God, he pays Assyria for protection with the treasure of God's own house — and it buys him nothing.
The payment was not spare cash. Ahaz raised it by stripping the temple, his palace and his officials. A prophet had already told him where this road would end.
The king of Assyria came, but instead of helping him he distressed him. He took the treasure that Ahaz had stripped for him from the house of the Lord, from his own house, and from the houses of the princes. Isaiah the prophet had warned him: "The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria." Ahaz trusted in man and leaned on human strength. His heart turned away from the Lord, and he brought curse and barrenness on himself and his kingdom.
The deal was one-sided: Assyria pocketed the treasure and gave nothing back.
The king of Assyria also came to Judah, but not to help Ahaz. He came to add to his troubles. In fact, Ahaz robbed the temple of God to give some of its treasures to the king of Assyria, and the king gladly took them with no intention of helping Ahaz.
God was speaking to Judah in two ways at once: kindness and correction. Ahaz sent to Assyria anyway.
The LORD was calling them to remember His goodness. He did this by causing the Israelites to send the captives of Judah home fed and clothed. He was also calling them to remember His just anger, which allowed the Edomites and the Philistines to strike and invade Judah. Yet at that time king Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him, and bought that help with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
The darkest part of the record is how Ahaz answered God's discipline.
He forsakes Jehovah completely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him... All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into still greater trouble.
Others make the same point about the scale of the mistake: in his desperation he asked for a small favour and received a large disaster.
And so we find further sorrows without end upon Ahaz, so that in the extremity of his distress he sends for a little help to the king of Assyria, only to add to his sorrows.
The pattern did not die with Ahaz. Writers turn it from history into a test for us.
We ask for or accept help that cuts us off from the help of God. All such things are plainly a denial of Him. He is the one security His people need, and our obedience to Him should allow no compromise.
Another writer puts such an alliance in the sharpest terms.
Nothing is more contemptible than the people of God in alliance with the world. They can only add their misery to that of the world, and the world profits them in nothing.
Judgment is not the whole story of this reign.
It was in Ahaz's time that the prophecy of Immanuel was given; yes, it was to Ahaz himself. What grace! that a wicked man should draw out from God the clearest pledge of the glory of the Messiah! Yet so it was. How completely God moves above the evil of man! And if God acts like this toward evil people, what is He not toward the righteous?
- The cause — Ahaz trusted man instead of God, leaning on human strength while his heart turned from the Lord.
- The cost — he stripped God's house, his own house and his officials to pay Assyria. The buyer never meant to help.
- The warning ignored — Isaiah had already named the king of Assyria as the coming trouble. God was calling through kindness and correction too.
- The result — the distress that should have driven him to God drove him further away, and Assyria brought him greater trouble still.
- The grace — even to this king God gave the promise of Immanuel. God moves far above the evil of man.
And in the time of his trouble he transgressed yet more against Jehovah, this king Ahaz.
Ahaz was already suffering under God's hand. The pressure that should have driven him back to the Lord pushed him further away, and the verse ends by naming him as a warning.
Every blow that fell on Judah came by God's permission, and Ahaz answered each one by sinning harder.
The reign of Ahaz forms a turning point. Completely forsaking the Lord, he gives himself up entirely to idolatry; and the more he is struck by God, the more he sins against Him. He is handed over to the Syrians, and to Pekah, the king of Israel. In the second case, however, God steps in to rescue at least the captives. The Edomites, and afterwards the Philistines, invade Judah. All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into still greater trouble.
Trouble does not always soften a person. It can do the opposite, and in Ahaz it did.
The unexercised soul goes through the trial in pride, or in the strength of nature. The heart is hardened and perhaps the conscience seared, and so the blessing is lost, for God would deal specially with the conscience... Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften; on the contrary, it hardened him.
Ahaz was not the only king to face pressure. Others met it and turned to God.
How different was his great ancestor David! "In my distress," he says, "I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help" (Ps. 18:6). Even his wicked grandson Manasseh sought the LORD his God when he was in distress. But Ahaz seemed determined to fill up the measure of his sins...
The next verse spells out what "yet more" meant.
God's patience had no good effect on Ahaz, for his determination to do evil only increased instead of being stopped (v. 22). Since Syria had defeated him, he thought Syria did so by the power of their idols. So he adopted Syria's idolatry, sacrificing to their gods. But this only involved him and all Judah in deeper evil.
Another writer draws out the bargain Ahaz was making with himself, and where such reasoning ends.
He says, in effect, "The Lord does not help me the way the gods of the Syrian kings help them. So it is better for me to forsake Him and worship gods that will do me some good."... How far can they fall who, instead of obeying the word of God, are moved and governed by whatever has some present, apparent success!
While Ahaz sank, God was not silent. Israel had just fed Judah's captives, clothed them and sent them home. It made no impression on Ahaz.
The return of the captives and the reason for it could have been no secret to Judah and Ahaz. But it had no effect on the dulled hearts of the men of Judah. They were already feeling the judgment of God... the Lord was calling them to remember His goodness, by causing the Israelites to restore the captives of Judah fed and clothed... yet "At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help," and paid for it with the gold of the temple and of his palace.
The closing words of the verse are not a footnote. They are a verdict.
Ahaz was so infamous for his very great wickedness that the Spirit of God has marked his very name: "This is that King Ahaz," or "This same King Ahaz." He "wearied men"; he plundered and shut up the temple. Oh the tender mercies of our God! In those distressing days He appointed for His people a sanctuary, even Himself! (Isa. 8:14).
- Distress — God Himself put the pressure on Ahaz, and it was aimed at his conscience.
- Hardened — affliction could not soften this man. He met trouble with pride, and lost the blessing.
- Chose — he reasoned that the gods who defeated him were the gods worth serving. That choice drew him and all Judah deeper into evil.
- Refused — God was calling him back through the captives sent home fed and clothed, and it left him unmoved.
- Named — the Spirit of God marks his name: "this same King Ahaz." David in distress called on the Lord, and even Manasseh sought Him.
And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had smitten him; and he said, Since the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.
Syria has just beaten Ahaz. Instead of turning back to God, he decides the winning side must have the stronger gods. So he sacrifices to those gods for help, and they ruin him and the nation with him.
Ahaz drew a conclusion from his defeat, and the conclusion drove his worship.
God's patience had no good effect on Ahaz. Nothing stopped his determination to do evil; it only grew. Syria had defeated him, and he thought Syria won by the power of their idols. So he took up Syria's idolatry and sacrificed to their gods. But this only involved him and all Judah in deeper evil.
His argument was a simple comparison of results. The warning falls on anyone who judges the same way.
What a blind delusion demon-worship is! He says, in effect, "The LORD does not help me the way the gods of the Syrian kings help them. So it is better for me to forsake Him and worship gods that will do me some good." ... How far they can fall! They do not obey the word of God. Instead, anything with some present, apparent success moves and governs them.
Each blow from God should have turned Ahaz back. Each one pushed him further.
The reign of Ahaz forms an epoch. Entirely forsaking the LORD, he gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him. All this distress leads Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into still greater trouble.
Ahaz brought home the design of an altar he had seen in Damascus.
He went to Damascus to meet the king of Assyria, whom he congratulated for his help and his success. Having seen Rezin's idolatrous altar, he sends its pattern to Jerusalem and has it erected in the court of the temple. He finds a high priest to carry out this act of sacrilege. 2 Chronicles 28 tells us that Ahaz sacrificed to the gods of Damascus. To burn a sacrifice on any altar other than the bronze altar was to sacrifice to false gods.
One writer applies the ruin of Ahaz to people today.
King Ahaz, taken with the beauty of the Syrian altar, may reject the altar of God; but it was the ruin of him and of all Israel. So now people may refuse the preaching of the cross of Christ. By their own reckoning they find in it either a stumbling-block or foolishness. So they choose an altar for their worship that meets their own artistic tastes, one that will not offend the prejudices of the natural man. But, as with Ahaz, it can only end in their everlasting ruin. God alone can prescribe the fitting way and method of access to Himself.
The verse ends with ruin. The next verses show how far that ruin went.
Man cannot turn from God without turning to Satan. ... Who can tell where departure from God may lead? Mark the sad climax in the downward course of Ahaz. He gathered the vessels of the house of God and cut them in pieces. He shut up the doors of the house of the LORD. He made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. This was the sad course of Judah's backsliding — the true picture of every heart that departs from God.
There is another side to this reign.
It was in Ahaz's time that God gave the prophecy of Immanuel; yes, He gave it to Ahaz himself. What grace! — that a wicked man should draw out from God the plainest pledge of the glory of the Messiah. Yet so it was. How completely God moves above the evil of man! And if God is like this toward the evil, what is He not to the righteous?
- Misread blow. Ahaz read his defeat as proof that Syria's gods were stronger. So he copied the worship of the nation that beat him.
- Wrong altar. A sacrifice on any altar but God's bronze altar went to false gods. The ritual could look right and still be idolatry.
- False help. What he adopted for help became his ruin and the nation's, because God alone sets the way of access to Himself.
- Shut doors. It ended with the temple vessels cut up and its doors shut. Altars stood in every corner of Jerusalem. That is the picture of any heart that leaves God.
- Grace above. In the reign of a wicked king, God gave the promise of Immanuel. He moves above all the evil of man.
And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and closed the doors of the house of Jehovah, and he made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
Syria had just defeated Ahaz, and instead of turning back to God he sacrificed to the gods that beat him. Verse 24 is where that logic ends: smashed vessels, shut doors, and altars everywhere else.
The verse is not a sudden collapse. It is the end of a line of reasoning that started with watching results instead of God's word. One writer traces the thinking out loud:
He says, in effect: "The LORD does not help me the way the gods of the Syrian kings help them. So it is better for me to abandon Him and worship gods that will do me some good." So he cut the vessels of the house of God to pieces and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD. His turning away from God was now complete. How far people fall when they stop obeying the word of God and let whatever seems to be succeeding right now govern them!
Another writer calls this the climax of a downward course — and not Ahaz's alone:
Who can tell where departure from God may lead to? Mark the sad climax in the downward course of Ahaz... This was the sad course of Judah's backsliding — the true picture of every heart that departs from God.
Ahaz had already set up a copy of an idol-altar, and a priest named Urijah was willing to run it. Shutting the doors finished the job:
Ahaz set up a new altar in the Temple, copied from the idol-altar. That opened the door wide to unlawful worship in the Temple of God. He found a willing helper in Urijah (the name means "the LORD is light"), who ran the worship "according to all that King Ahaz commanded." And worse dishonour to God followed. He even shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, which probably meant a complete stop to the services in the Holy Place.
Each piece of furniture in the temple stood for something. So cutting them up attacked what they taught:
It seems he was doing everything he could to insult the God of Israel (v. 24). This pictures what many religious leaders are doing today. For instance, the table of showbread in the temple symbolized Christ as the Sustainer of true communion with God. Ungodly people who claim to be religious have cut that truth to shreds with their false teaching. The lampstand speaks of Christ as the Sustainer of testimony, but this truth too has been treated with utter contempt.
The second half of the verse is more than extra idolatry. Ahaz swapped one God-given place for as many places as he pleased:
By shutting the doors of the temple, Ahaz was indicating he considered the temple no longer of any use... In contrast to this, Ahaz made altars in every corner of Jerusalem. God had placed His name in the temple. But Ahaz refused God's centre and made centres wherever he wanted. Denominations today do the same. They think it right to forget God's one centre, which is Christ, and to adopt for themselves any number of centres that appeal to their selfish feelings.
Ahaz never stopped being religious. He kept on sacrificing. That is why this verse is a warning and not just history:
Then the progress is rapid. A portion of time for prayer, or reading, or other helps to the soul, as we say, goes to business or pleasure instead. The ruling passion of the mind begins to get a firm hold in secret over the person. Sin now gets such power that the climax soon comes. Real worship stops. The doors are shut and the lamps go out — and all this may happen while there is still a great show of outward religion.
Ahaz's own son grew up inside this ruin. He reversed it in his first month on the throne:
Ahaz had surrounded Hezekiah with idolatry. He had idols in every single city, in every grove, on every high hill, and he had shut the doors of the LORD's house. Wherever Hezekiah looked, an idol met his eye. And yet in the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD.
- Drift — Ahaz judged God by results. Other nations' gods seemed to deliver, so he changed suppliers. Anyone ruled by what looks successful now can fall as far.
- Damage — The vessels pictured Christ, who sustains communion with God and sustains testimony. Cutting them up was an attack on that.
- Doors — Then Ahaz locked the doors and worship stopped. First an imitation altar, then a priest willing to serve it, then a shut house.
- Dispersal — Shut doors, and altars in every corner instead. God appointed one centre; Ahaz picked as many as suited him.
- Daylight — Hezekiah opened those same doors in the first month of his reign. He grew up surrounded by idols, which shows a shut house need not stay shut.
And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger Jehovah the God of his fathers.
Ahaz has just shut the doors of the temple, and now he fills the country with substitutes: a high place in every town, and incense burning to gods that are not God. The last words of the verse name the offence — he provoked the God his own fathers had worshipped.
The point of "in every city" is not just quantity. Ahaz had rejected the one place God chose. So he set up a replacement in every direction.
Besides his many other wicked actions, Ahaz made high places in every city of Judah for burning incense to false gods. He despised God's centre, Jerusalem, so he made centres all through Judah. Many locations made their worship more convenient (v. 25). Satan likes to make people feel at ease, with no exercise of heart and conscience to know and obey the Word of God. So he has religions of every kind to suit the sinful desires of everyone. But such things provoked the Lord to anger.
The high places were not Ahaz's invention. Earlier kings left them standing without joining in. Ahaz used them, and he did it knowing the true God of Judah.
The kings before him had never removed the high places. They let the people burn incense there, though they did not join in this idolatry themselves. Ahaz himself "sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree" (2 Kings 16:4). He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, like the kings of Israel. Let us observe that this description "evil" is always given to us in reference to the Lord... Ahaz "walked in the ways of the kings of Israel." That is a double condemnation for a king who knew the worship of the true God in Judah, yet turned his back on Him to follow the detestable practices of the idol-worshipping nations.
The same writer sees this habit today, in people who prefer the outdoors to gathering:
His father Jotham did not burn incense in the high places, but he let those places remain. Ahaz forgot the temple of God and burned incense in the high places and other outdoor spots (v. 4). He was like many today who claim they do not need to gather with others to worship God. They say they can worship just as well while they enjoy the scenery — hunting, fishing, playing golf, or hiking in the mountains.
Behind all this building lay a calculation. Ahaz picked the gods with the better record, then filled the towns of Judah to match.
"For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him... But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel." He says, in effect, "The LORD does not help me as the gods of the Syrian kings help them. So it is better for me to forsake Him and worship gods that will do me some good."... How far can they fall! Instead of obeying the word of God, they let anything with some present, apparent success move and govern them.
This verse comes at the end of a reign full of blows from God. Each one left Ahaz worse, not better.
The reign of Ahaz forms a turning point. He forsakes the LORD entirely and gives himself up wholly to idolatry. The more God strikes him, the more he sins against Him.
Another writer explains why trouble can do this, and points to Ahaz as the example:
The soul that is not exercised goes through the trial in pride, or in its own natural strength. The trial hardens the heart and may sear the conscience, so the blessing is lost. God wants to deal with the conscience above all... Ahaz was a man whom affliction could not soften; on the contrary, it hardened him.
The verse also sets the scene for the next chapter. Ahaz's son Hezekiah grew up in this landscape and did not keep it.
Ahaz had surrounded him with idolatry. He had idols in every separate city, in every grove, on every high hill, and he had shut the doors of the LORD's house. Wherever Hezekiah looked, an idol met his eye. And yet in the first year of his reign — in the first month! — he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. This is remarkable in Hezekiah himself, and astonishingly so, as evidence of the power of God over the influences around him...
- Centre — God put His name in one place. Ahaz despised it and scattered "centres" across Judah, with convenience as the selling point.
- Tolerance — the high places he used were the ones earlier kings had left standing. What one generation permits, the next adopts.
- Calculation — he chose gods by results. Syria's gods seemed to work for Syria, so he tried them. They ruined him.
- Hardening — blow after blow from God only drove him further. Trouble that is not taken to heart sears the conscience instead of softening it.
- Recovery — the boy who grew up with an idol in every direction opened the temple doors in the first month of his reign. God's power is stronger than everything that surrounds a person.
And the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
Ahaz's thirty-six years end with a footnote, not a verdict. The verse points the reader away from Chronicles to a fuller archive that held all his acts and all his ways, from first to last. This closing formula raises two questions. What does God notice in a life, and who keeps the books that last?
The verse pairs two words: acts and ways. One writer notes that Scripture uses the same pair of God Himself.
"His acts," and "his ways"! God too has "ways" and "acts." "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel" (Ps. 103:7). His ways showed His nature; His acts showed more of His power. Of Ahaz it says "all his ways." And what wickedness of heart his thirty-six years brought out! No wonder the inspiring Spirit led the writer of Chronicles to call him "king of Israel" (2 Chron. 28:19). He was so like the nineteen idolatrous rulers of the northern kingdom.
So the record covers more than what Ahaz did. It covers what he was.
"From first to last" gathers up a whole life, beginning to end. In Ahaz's case the whole line runs downward. One writer follows that decline to the words where the Spirit speaks of him with contempt.
The Assyrian king did not help him, but distressed him more. Yet Ahaz sinned more, for he sacrificed to the gods that struck him. And the sacred writer, even the Holy Spirit, says as if in the utmost human contempt, "This is that king Ahaz."
The full record of that life shows real gifts and no repentance.
He seems to have been a man of artistic taste, as even the most ungodly men may be, since he admired the altar at Damascus. He also seems to have taken an interest in science, since he brought the Chaldean sundial into Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:11). He does not seem to have had a persecuting spirit either, for he did not shed innocent blood or put the prophets to death, as his grandson Manasseh did. He had (Ahaz means possessor) much that men admire and praise today. But all this, without godliness, is worth nothing. He stayed unrepentant to the last, it seems, and he died as he had lived.
Chronicles points readers to other writings again and again. One survey counts twelve named sources across the book, including the book of the kings of Judah and Israel cited here (Arno Clemens Gaebelein). That is not a gap in the book. It shows a choice about what belongs in it.
Some think that Chronicles is a supplement to the earlier historical books, written to make up for omissions and defects supposed to be found in them. This is a denial of God as their Author. Each book of the Bible is perfect in itself. Each is a necessary part of one divine whole, and needs neither filling up nor correction. Even in the historical books the events reported are never a bare record. They all stand in special relation to the object the Holy Spirit has in view. So circumstances that have no direct and immediate bearing on the Spirit's object in that book may be left out — not because they are unimportant in themselves, but because the purpose of God does not call for their mention.
One writer sums up that purpose. Chronicles tells the story of David's house, and it dwells on God's grace more than on a full record of failure (Walter Scott).
No one can read that book today. Writing on the same closing formula in another reign, one writer notes what a royal archive would hold and what it would leave out.
The chronicles of the kings of Israel, if they were ever found, would contain the acts and all the might of Jehu. They would not contain what he was before God, or God's judgment on his conduct as king.
One record is never lost. Writing on a closing note like this one, another writer turns it on the reader.
Yes, and they, with the wicked acts recorded here, are written in God's books above. Those books hold not only "the chronicles of the kings of Israel," but the deeds and doings of every man's life, whether good or evil. Solemn facts for us all!
- Acts. The formula covers deeds — what a king did, and what his power achieved.
- Ways. It also covers character. Scripture uses the same pair of God: His ways showed His nature, His acts His power. Ahaz's ways showed his heart.
- From first to last. The formula sums a whole life, not a highlight. Ahaz had taste, curiosity and clean hands, and without godliness it was worth nothing. He died unrepentant.
- Selection. Chronicles points to other records and lets them carry what its own purpose leaves out. Every book of the Bible is whole as it stands.
- The ledger that remains. A royal archive could record might, never what a man was before God. God keeps that record above, for every life, good or evil.
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
Ahaz dies at thirty-six, and the closing note of his reign records his deeds and then his burial — inside Jerusalem, but outside the royal tombs. It is a strange epitaph: a burial that is also a verdict on a king who ruined his nation.
The summary of Ahaz's life uses two words: his acts, and his ways. Scripture uses both words of God Himself.
"Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel." "His acts," and "his ways"! God too has "ways" and "acts." "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel" (Psalm 103:7). His ways were the showing of His nature; His acts more the displays of His power. "All his ways," it is said of Ahaz. And what showings of his heart's wickedness did his life of thirty-six years bring out! It is little wonder that the inspiring Spirit led the chronicler to call him "king of Israel" (2 Chron. 28:19) — so like was he to the nineteen idolatrous rulers of the northern kingdom.
The people who shut him out of the royal tombs were corrupt themselves. Yet even they drew a line.
Another writer reads the refusal as the people's own decision about what he had earned:
He was buried in Jerusalem, but not with the kings of Judah. The people evidently refused him this honor, for he was not worthy of it.
The parallel account in 2 Kings closes his reign more gently.
2 Chronicles 28 gives us more of the history of Ahaz. Kings tells us that Ahaz was buried with his fathers, yet Chronicles tells us (v.27) that they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel.
Chronicles is not a second copy of Kings. Writers describe it as the same history told from another angle — the line of David, and God's dealings with it.
They tell the history of the house of David from the point of view of grace… Chronicles presents not the history of the kings of Israel, but that of the kings of Judah. They stayed faithful longer, and God entrusted His testimony to them. The Spirit of God points out the work of grace in them, and all that the Lord could approve. He often passes over their shortcomings in silence to bring out His purpose, but He does not try in the least to hide their weaknesses.
Ahaz was not a monster in every respect. He had taste, curiosity, and a measure of restraint — and it counted for nothing.
He seems to have been a man of artistic tastes (as even the most ungodly of men may be), since he admired the Damascus altar. He seems to have been interested in the sciences too, since he brought the Chaldean sundial into Jerusalem. He was no persecutor either, it seems, for he did not, like his grandson Manasseh, shed innocent blood or put the prophets to death. He had (the name Ahaz means possessor) much that men admire and praise today; but all this, without godliness, is of absolutely no worth. He seems never to have repented. He died as he had lived, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
The verse ends with a new name on the throne: Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz.
If godliness is not passed from father to son, grace can work in the heart and direct the steps of one who had the most wicked father. This was the case with the son of Ahaz. The way in which Hezekiah sought the glory of his God shows remarkable faith and energy.
- Ways, not just acts. The record covers his acts and all his ways — not just what he did, but what his heart was over thirty-six years.
- Ways earn a name. He lived so much like the northern kings that Scripture calls a son of David "king of Israel."
- A name loses a grave. Even a corrupt people felt he did not belong among his royal ancestors.
- A grave is not the last word. Chronicles tells David's line from the side of grace — it hides no weakness, yet it brings out God's purpose.
- Grace outlives the line. The verse closes with Hezekiah. Godliness is not inherited, but grace can reach the son of the worst father on the throne.