Who was King Ahaz in the Bible?

King of Judah (B.C. 742-727), son and successor of Jotham (apparently, the same as ACHAZ in Matt. 1:9). He erected molten images for Baalim, made his children pass thorough the fire, and gave himself up to open idolatry. 2 Kings 16:2-20; 2 Chr. 28:2-27. Being harassed and weakened by Pekah king of Israel, Rezin king of Damascus, and others, he called to his aid Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, to whom he gave the treasures of Jerusalem; who after dispersing those who warred against Ahaz, himself 'distressed' him and made him tributary. This brought the great desolator of Israel, the Assyrian, into the land. Ahaz displaced the altar of burnt offering by one made like an altar he had seen at Damascus when on a visit to Tiglath-pileser. Isaiah was prophet in the days of Ahaz, but the king heeded not his instructions. The house of David was ripening for judgement: 120,000 were slain in one day and 200,000 women and children were carried to Samaria, but were released by means of Oded a prophet. God's mercy lingered over Judah, and to Ahaz was the sign given 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 prospect through whom blessing would be finally secured. Both in Kings and Chronicles it states that Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 16 years; Hezekiah his son was 25 years old when he succeeded Ahaz. Apparently there is an error in the ages given: either Ahaz was older, or Hezekiah was not so old, for he would have been born when his father was 11 years of age. In one Hebrew MS, the LXX, etc., 25 years is given in the Chronicles as the age of Ahaz.

Ahaz was wicked as his father Jotham was righteous. "Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places" (not removed in Jotham's day, 2 Kings 15:35), "and on the hills, and under every green tree." It seems strange that the best of men frequently have the worst of sons. Ahaz' mother is not mentioned, and it is possible that his father was unfortunate in his choice of a wife. A king with the heavy responsibilities of government pressing constantly upon him can have little time to give to the training of his children: that important duty must fall largely on the mother. It was not every king of Judah that was blessed with such a mother as king Lemuel's (Prov. 31).

But whoever, or whatever, Ahaz' mother may have been, he was himself responsible for his idolatrous deeds, and God punished him accordingly. "Wherefore the Lord his God delivered 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 delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter." These statements in no way clash with what is recorded in 2 Kings 16:5 — that these confederate kings "could not overcome him." They could not get into the city, nor reach the king personally, though they entered the land. "God delivered him," and "they smote him," means his people and kingdom. Elath was also lost to Judah at this time (2 Kings 16:5). It was the purpose of "the two tails of these smoking firebrands" to dethrone king Ahaz, and set up in his stead "the son of Tabeal" (a Syrian, probably; it is not a Hebrew name). It was doubtless Satan's plot, if not man's, to destroy the Davidic dynasty; and God, for this reason, did not deliver Jerusalem into their hands. But the slaughter and slavery of the people at large throughout the kingdom was something almost unparalleled. See 2 Chron. 28:6. This is why Isaiah took with him his son Shear-jashub (the remnant shall return), when he went forth to meet king Ahaz. There should be a remnant left to return to the land; and the virgin should bear a son, so there should not fail a king upon the throne of David. The dynasty could never be destroyed, for of Immanuel's kingdom there shall be no end. See Isa. 7.

Ahaz stands in startling contrast to his father. His mother's name is not mentioned, perhaps because she was not worth mentioning. Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign and reigned 16 years, so that he died at the early age of 36. He seemed to revel in doing evil, not only following the ways of the kings of Israel, but adopting the wicked worship of the nations the Lord had dispossessed because of their evil, - even sacrificing his son to the flames of idolatrous worship. It is a mercy that he had another son, Hezekiah, who proved to be a godly man. Ahaz sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, the hills and under every green tree, but the house of the Lord (God's centre), and the altar of the Lord meant nothing to him.

Ahaz, the son of Jotham, began to reign over Judah three years before the death of Pekah, king of Israel, who reigned twenty years at Samaria. As though God would spare bringing shame to his mother, her name is not given us. Instead of serving the Lord, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and returned to the evil days of ungodly Ahab, establishing in Judah the worship of Baal and that of Moloch, to whom he sacrificed his sons (2 Chr. 28:2). His predecessors had never abolished the high places, and had allowed the people to burn incense there without themselves joining in this idolatry. Ahaz himself "sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree" (2 Kings 16:4). He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord like the kings of Israel. Let us observe that this designation "evil" is always given us in reference to the Lord. It no doubt happens that forsaking God delivers the guilty one 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, contributing to establish its repute and to reconquer its domains. But for God, the question is a different one. It is a matter of determining the relationship that these kings, as Ahaz king of Judah here, had with Him. The simple fact that the moral stature of a man is found in his conduct relative to God is especially forgotten in our days. A man may be a freethinker, even an atheist; if he conducts himself morally and renders service to humanity, even Christians will regard him as an excellent man, as though God could accept something from him or in some way exempt him from believing in Him on account of His good conduct. This is a fatal error for such a man, but it is especially distressing when one sees it sanctioned by Christians who thus are not recognizing that without the fear of God there cannot be even the beginning of wisdom for man. When these unbelievers appear before God, they will be convicted by Him — alas! too late for them — of having done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Christians who have excused their unbelief will be responsible for having by their guilty approbation of them closed the path of repentance. Ahaz "walked in the ways of the kings of Israel" (v. 3). Double condemnation for this king who, knowing the worship of the true God in Judah, turned his back upon Him in order to follow the abominations of the idolatrous nations.

Also the judgment which was prepared for the people under Jotham now overtakes Ahaz on account of his unfaithfulness. We are told, "Then Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to battle; and they besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him" (v. 5). Although we must, to limit ourselves, postpone the mention of the prophets of Judah till we study 2 Chronicles, we are obliged here and there to depart from this rule and to refer here to Isaiah, the more so as Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, plays an important role there. The king of Israel, once at war with Syria, is now its ally, no doubt in order to free himself on the one side from the yoke to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, who, as we have seen previously, had stripped him of a large part of his territory, but also to regain, while serving the designs of his ally, that which Judah had taken from him.

These two kings, then, went up against Jerusalem and "besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him." The hearts of Ahaz and his people are agitated "as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind" (Isa. 7:2). The Lord sends Isaiah to meet the king. The prophet is accompanied by his son Shear-jashub, whose name signifies "the remnant shall return" (cf. Isa. 10:21). He speaks in grace to this wicked king. It is true that whatever may happen, God remains faithful to His promises, and He will renew His relationships with Israel and Judah in the persons of Christ and of the remnant. But how touching is the patient grace God has toward this evil king! He reassures him instead of crushing him; He announces deliverance to him; He says to him, "Take heed and be quiet" let Me act. He says, "Fear not" to him who on his part had everything to fear. He gives him the date when Ephraim "shall … be broken, so as to be no more a people." Evil is decreed for a fixed and irrevocable time, and in spite of everything, if he would believe, then Judah would yet continue to exist for a little while (Isa. 7:9). The Spirit of God, through the prophet, says to Ahaz: "Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God." Ahaz answered, "I will not ask, and will not tempt Jehovah" (Isa. 7:10-12), coloring his unbelief and his disobedience with an appearance of piety. To tempt the Lord was to distrust Him, but in fact, Ahaz did much more than distrust Him: he did not believe the word of the Lord. Then God announced a sign to him: Judah, that is to say, the house of David represented by Ahaz, had wearied the patience of God, who would replace him by Immanuel, the Seed of the woman (v. 14). But before the second son who to be born to the prophet would know "to refuse the evil, and to choose the good, the land whose two kings thou fearest shall be forsaken" (v. 16). Before this Maher-shalal-hash-baz (haste ye, haste ye to the spoil) should know "to cry, My father! and, My mother!" the lands of Pekah and of Rezin should be forsaken. This prophecy was literally accomplished, and the design of these kings to establish "the son of Tabeal" over Judah was brought to naught.

Ahaz prefers to confide in the king of Assyria against Pekah and Rezin than to confide in the Lord and to obey Him. This explains his answer to Isaiah. He had "sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: "I am thy servant and they son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and the gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried it captive to Kir, and put Rezin to death" (2 Kings 16:7-9). Also God declares to Him: "Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days which have not come since the day when Ephraim turned away from Judah — even the king of Assyria" (Isa. 7:17); and against Israel and Syria: "The riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria" (Isa. 8:4). Thus, that which the Lord had pronounced against Israel which had sought the support of Assyria (Hosea 5:13-14), He now pronounces against Judah, who sought this same alliance. The first result of this trust in Assyria seemed to be favorable for Judah. Tiglath-pileser seized Damascus, carried away its inhabitants, and slew Rezin. The prophecy pronounced long before by Amos (Amos 1:3-5) is now fulfilled.

Ahaz. Not a single good word is said in Scripture for the son of Jotham, for he “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim” (2 Chr. 28:2). He “burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen,” and for these and other sins “the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria.” Smitten by the Syrians, by Israel, Edom and the Philistines, he sought the help of the Assyrians, but “Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.”

What a dreadful catalogue of sins Ahaz produced: worshipping before an altar he brought from Damascus, and breaking up the furniture of God’s house and closing its doors; and when he died he was not buried among the kings of Judah.

The reign of Ahaz forms an epoch. Entirely forsaking Jehovah, he gives himself up wholly to idolatry; and, the more he is smitten of God, 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 interposes for the rescue at least of the captives. The Edomites, and afterwards the Philistines, invade Judah. All this distress induces Ahaz to seek help from the king of Assyria, who only brought him into still greater trouble (compare Isa. 7:17; see also Hosea 5:13-15).

Then came Ahaz, the twelfth king of Judah. He was an ungodly ruler and his reign was marked by disaster. (See 2 Chronicles 28; 2 Kings 16.) In idolatry such as burning incense in the valley of Hinnom, and burning his children in the fire of idol worship, he was as wicked, or almost so, as his grandson Manasseh. As a punishment the Lord sent the kings of Syria and Samaria against him. In one day Pekah the king of Syria killed a large number of Jews and took 200,000 captive. They were only saved from deportation by the intercession of the prophet Obed. The full record of this is found in 2 Chronicles 28. Then Ahaz trembled before this strong alliance and resolved in calling in the aid of the Assyrian.

It was at that time that prophet and king met at the waterworks as recorded in chapter 7. The prophet assured the wicked monarch that Jerusalem had nothing to fear from Syria and Samaria, that Jehovah would protect Jerusalem. He urged Ahaz to ask a sign, which he refused to do. Then the Lord gave him a sign, that of the virgin who should conceive and bring forth a son and call his name Emmanuel. It is a prediction concerning the virgin birth of Israel's Redeemer King, the Son of God. The thought is this; How can Jerusalem and Judah perish as long as He, the Messiah, David's Son and David's Lord, has not come? Isaiah also told the king that the menace then threatening would be speedily removed, but that his alliance with the Assyrian would bring disaster. But Ahaz, though he saw a fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the kings of Syria and Samaria, did not heed the warning. When an invasion of the Edomites and Philistines threatened (2 Chronicles 28:17, etc.), he turned again to his old ally, the king of Assyria. He made him costly presents. Tiglath-Pileser, as already stated above, conquered the kings of Syria and Samaria. Ahaz visited his heathen friend and ally in Damascus, and when he saw there a beautiful altar, he sent a model of it to Urijah, the priest, in Jerusalem, who constructed one like it, and afterward Ahaz used it to commit idolatry and all the abominations which go with it. (See 2 Kings 16.) But the prophecy about disaster through the Assyrian king was not fulfilled during the lifetime of this wicked king. It came with Sennacherib's invasion during the reign of the next king Hezekiah. He invaded the land but could not touch Jerusalem.

Jotham dies, and Ahaz succeeds him — an impious son who "walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim" (2 Chronicles 28). Not satisfied with that, he, even as we know, brought down the pattern of a new altar from Damascus into the very house of God; but God smote him. "Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken Jehovah God of their fathers." 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.

A reference to the prophecy itself, together with its context, will make this abundantly evident. Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, was at that time upon the throne of Judah. He "did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel." (2 Kings 16:2-3.) However, notwithstanding his wickedness and apostasy, God still waited with much long-suffering, and forebore to deal with his guilty servant. Yea rather, on Ephraim and Syria entering into a confederacy against the house of David, and going up to besiege Jerusalem, Jehovah sent His servant Isaiah with a message of encouragement, assuring Ahaz that the designs of his enemies should not prosper. The prophet added, at the same time, the warning word, "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." Ahaz might be delivered from the present peril, but unless he turned to, and stayed himself upon, the word of the Lord, he should not escape his merited chastisement. (See 2 Chron. 28)

A reference to the prophecy itself, together with its context, will make this abundantly evident. Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, was at that time upon the throne of Judah. He "did not that which was right in the sight of the. Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel." (2 Kings 16:2-3.) However, notwithstanding his wickedness and apostasy, God still waited with much long-suffering, and forebore to deal with His guilty servant. Yea rather, on Ephraim and Syria entering into a confederacy against the house of David, and going up to besiege Jerusalem, Jehovah sent His servant Isaiah with a message of encouragement, assuring Ahaz that the designs of his enemies should not prosper. The prophet added, at the same time, the warning word, "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." Ahaz might be delivered from the present peril, but unless he turned to, and stayed himself upon, the word of the Lord, he should not escape his merited chastisement. (See 2 Chr. 28)