2 Chronicles 28: 1 – 27
Apostasy
28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David had done. 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made molded images for the Baals. 3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They defeated him and carried away a great multitude of them as captives and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. 6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. 7 Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king. 8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. 10 And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the LORD your God? 11 Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.” 12 Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the LORD. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. 15 Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So, they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria. 16 At the same time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 For again the Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. 18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. 19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD. 20 Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him and did not assist him. 21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the LORD, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him. 22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD. This is that King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because 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. 24 So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers. 26 Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Forgive me Holy Lord Yahweh but as I was going over today’s chapter my thinking was on the movie The Godfather. It starts out with an undertaker talking to The Godfather. He wanted his help but not necessary his friendship or relationship.
Amerigo Bonasera is a fictional character created by Mario Puzo who appears in his novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film adaptation. Though he is not a major character, he plays a vital role in revealing the merciful side of main character Vito Corleone. The novel opens with the words: "Amerigo Bonasera sat at New York Criminal Court...". The film also starts with his famous line, "I believe in America. America has made my fortune."
Bonasera is a proud Italian-American undertaker who tends to keep away from the Corleone family, knowing they are involved with the Mafia, though Don Corleone's wife is a godmother to Bonasera's daughter. His daughter is brutally beaten by her boyfriend and his friend for refusing to have sex after they had plied her with whiskey. The men escape any serious penalty because they are from wealthy, politically connected families.
Desperate, Bonasera decides to go to Don Corleone on the day of his daughter's wedding to ask him to kill the young men; according to tradition, a Sicilian never refuses a favor on the day of his daughter's wedding. His proposition angers Don Corleone, who reprimands him for asking for a favor without showing the proper respect, and for seeking the attackers' deaths when his daughter was alive and would recover.
Corleone refuses and rebukes Amerigo for basically being a rainy-day-friend. Corleone says:
“…until this day you never came to me for counsel or help. I can’t remember the last time you invited me to your house for coffee though my wife is godmother to your only child. Let us be frank. You spurned my friendship. You feared to be in my debt. … Now you come to me and say, ‘Don Corleone give me justice.'”
He continues
“Why do you fear to give your allegiance to me? … if you had come to me, my purse would have been yours. If you had come to me for justice those scum who ruined your daughter would be weeping bitter tears this day. If by some misfortune an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies” – the Don raised his finger pointing at Bonasera – “and then, believe me, they would fear you.”
“you shall have your justice. Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do me a service in return. Until that day, consider this justice a gift from my wife, your daughter’s godmother.”
In a future line the Don is informed that justice was delivered “… they seemed to be pulps of human beings. Miraculously, said the News, they were both still alive though they would both be in the hospital for months and would require plastic surgery.”
Our Holy God Is Pure and Good and there is no darkness in Him unlike a Mafia Don but there was a point to consider from a sinful king Ahaz who also wanted help without relationship. Ahaz wanted our Holy God’s protection and favor without wanting anything to do with Him. Like the movie this kind of insult was plain wrong.
In composing His narrative our Precious Holy Spirit contrasted the righteousness and goodness of Jotham (who as we have seen was presented as almost without blemish), with the horrible and idolatrous behavior of Ahaz, who was painted as black as can be. And this was enhanced by the fact that the righteous King Hezekiah, who removed all idolatry from Israel, immediately followed Ahaz. The life of Ahaz was thus painted against the background of two righteous kings.
And the contrast is startling, for as will soon be apparent, Ahaz sank into every level of idolatry, and this included the passing through the fire of his children in the Valley of Hinnom. He thus sank to the very depths of evil in a way in which not even the worst of his forefather had done. He reveled in idolatry of every kind.
We are intended to see in this chapter the depths to which Judah itself had fallen. We have constantly learned of the continued prevalence of the high places in Judah because of the relentlessness of the people (14.3; 21.11), even in the face of the attempts by righteous kings to reform (15.17; 20.33). And we have learned that during the reign of Jehoshaphat the people had not set their hearts to the God of their fathers (20.33), so that even during the reign of righteous Jotham ‘the people still dealt corruptly’ (27.2). There was thus clearly a continual undercurrent of idolatrous behavior in Judah. But now the depths to which they had fallen comes out in the way in which Ahaz behaved, for he could not have incited them as he did without many of them being willing. It must at least partly have been because of subversive activity among the people. Furthermore, some influential parties must have been influencing him in his behavior, for it was not his father, nor presumably, his father’s close advisers, who incited him in this way. Ahaz should, of course have risen above it, and God gave him every opportunity to do so, but instead he appears to have entered enthusiastically into the ideas of corrupt people, and this in the face of the prophesying of Isaiah.
Furthermore, Isaiah makes clear that he was without excuse. For through Isaiah YHWH offered him deliverance from his enemies, and even offered to give him a supernatural sign of the certainty of that deliverance (Isaiah 7.1-11), but Ahaz refused both, preferring to look to the king of Assyria who would prove his downfall. YHWH therefore did give him a supernatural sign, but this time it was a sign of his rejection, for it asserted that the coming expected David who would establish the everlasting kingdom would not be born of his house, but would be supernaturally born of a virgin (Isaiah 7.14), a sign remarkably fulfilled in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, great David’s greater Son.
Thus, during the reign of Ahaz two history changing events took place. First that Israel were exiled from their land for most of them never to return (they would be absorbed among the nations), and second that the coming son of David was no longer to be born of David’s seed through Solomon but was to be supernaturally born.
28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David had done.
Whereas previous kings, other than those affected by the house of Ahab, have been depicted as at least partially doing what was right in the eyes of YHWH using David as a pattern. Ahaz is here described as an exception. From the commencement of his reign he ‘did not do what was right in the eyes of YHWH like David his father.’
We have already seen in respect of Jotham that Ahaz was co-regent for at least twelve years of Jotham’s reign, for four of which he was prime ruler. Thus his total prime rulership appears to have lasted for around eight years (16 - 12 + 4), which with his eight years of co-regency makes sixteen years. Please think about this once more for a moment. All the disgusting damage Ahaz did was done in just 4 years.
The full name of Ahaz was Jeho-ahaz. It may be that his behavior was seen as so abominable that the name of YHWH was dropped from his name. It may even be that Ahaz chose to drop the name of YHWH from his name himself when he became an apostate. The discovery of a seal bearing the inscription, ‘Ashan, official of Ahaz’ would appear to confirm the use of the shorter name officially.
2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made molded images for the Baals. 3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
It is quite clear that Ahaz must have come under bad influences from an early age. He went wrong from the beginning. There is no redeeming thing to say about him. Of Jehoshaphat it had been said that he ‘walked in the ways of his father David’ (17.3). It was Jehoram who had previously ‘walked in the ways of the kings of Israel’ (21.6, 13), but he at least had the excuse that he was heavily under the influence of servants of Ahab who acted as his advisers, while his wife also led him astray. For Ahaz there was no such excuse. He openly and deliberately abdicated his responsibility as a son of David.
And he did it to excess. He:
• ‘Made molten images for the Baalim’, presumably in the form of a bull. These would be for people to bow down to and worship.
• ‘Burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom’, a place noted for idolatrous abominations. The burning of incense was a central act of worship. Consider how seriously God had seen Uzziah’s act of wrongly burning incense.
• ‘Burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom YHWH cast out before the children of Israel.’ Probably to the Ammonite god Molech (Melech) in the Valley of the son of Hinnom.
• ‘Sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.’
He was totally obsessed with every form of idolatrous abomination that he could find. The extent of his obsession was revealed in that he would not even consider receiving a sign from YHWH, hiding his unwillingness under a cloak of piety (Isaiah 7.11-12).
5 Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They defeated him and carried away a great multitude of them as captives and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. 6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.
Because of his attitude and behavior (and the attitude and behavior of those who followed his example) he was attacked on two fronts. The kings of Aram (Syria) and Israel both banded together against him. And while they were unable to take Jerusalem, they inflicted dreadful damage on Judah as a whole. Chronicles here emphasis is that they attacked on two fronts, and he deals first with the attack of Aram (Syria). It resulted in Judah being smitten and many captives being taken captive to Damascus, the capital of Aram (Syria). The taking of captives as hostages and slaves was a natural consequence of warfare in those days. They would also have taken away much spoils. Judah, because of its blatant idolatry, was suffering its own taste of ‘exile’.
Israel also invaded on another front and the forces of Ahaz were delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, Pekah, the son of Remaliah. One hundred and twenty thousand people were subjected to massive slaughter.
7 Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king.
Among those slain in this warfare were some who were close to King Ahaz, including his son Maaseiah, the ruler of his house Azrikam, and his closest adviser and official Elkanah. These were slain by a warrior named Zichri.
8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.
Here also captives were taken in great numbers consisting of two hundred families, including wives, sons and daughters. And along with them much spoil. And the spoil was delivered to Samaria. But YHWH was watching over these captives and wrought a great deliverance for them.
9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
We have a reminder here that while Israel was rejected by YHWH because of their sin and idolatry, there were still those in Israel who were faithful to YHWH. These faithful men are being held up as an example to Judah intended to put them to shame. What Judah should have been they were. Nevertheless, it should be noted that their godliness would not prove sufficient to save Israel from their coming fate. Israel had sunk too far into sin.
The first to meet the hosts of Israel marching back in triumph with their captives was a prophet of YHWH whose name was Oded. He pointed out to them severely that their victory was because YHWH was angry with Judah. But they had overlooked this and had been entirely merciless in their dealings with Judah, slaughtering them needlessly in battle rage, a rage that ‘reached up to heaven’.
10 And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the LORD your God?
Then he pointed out to them that they had sinned even further in taking large numbers of captives from Judah to turn them into bond slaves. Let them take note of the fact that YHWH was equally aware of their guilt and saw them breaking His Law in many ways. Unless they were careful they would bring down on Israel the wrath of YHWH.
11 Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.”
He pointed out that whilst YHWH was angry with Judah He was also fiercely angry with them for taking their brother Israelites into captivity and bondage (Leviticus 25.39-55). Let them therefore hear what he had to say and send back the captives to Judah.
12 Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the LORD. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”
His words appear to have convinced the leaders of the tribe of Ephraim, for certain of them, as named, stood up to those who had come back from the war, and told them not to bring the captives into Samaria. They pointed out that that would add to their sins and their breach of covenant with YHWH. Was there not already fierce wrath against YHWH because of their breaches of covenant?
We learn from this that there were still men in Israel who would listen to the prophets of YHWH and take note of their words. But in the end, there were not sufficient to turn YHWH from His purpose of destroying Israel. And, indeed, their end would soon come. Judah would only survive because of God’s covenant with David to preserve for His seed a kingdom.
14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the leaders and all the assembly.
In response to the demands of their leaders the armed men surrendered both their captives and their spoil into their charge.
15 Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So, they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
Then the men named in verse 12 took the captives, and fed them and clothed them and conveyed them to Jericho in Judah. And there they left them and returned to Samaria. The use of Jericho was probably to prevent a further clash between Israel and Judah, which might have resulted from a more direct approach.
This remarkable deliverance of the captives by Israel should have been an indication to Ahaz of what YHWH could do. But he was not prepared to listen. Dependence on YHWH would have required him to give up the idolatry which he loved.
16 At the same time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 For again the Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. 18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there.
With his kingdom having been ravaged by Aram (Syria) and Israel, and his army having been decimated by them, and with Edom and the Philistines successfully threatening his borders, Ahaz, having rejected YHWH’s offer to act on his behalf, could only see one place where he could turn, and that was to the one whom all his enemies saw as a threat, the King of Assyria. He knew, of course, that it would be costly, but it appeared to be his only hope.
The Edomite invasion had seemingly been with a view to obtaining spoil and carrying away valuable captives who would be sold into slavery, as well as achieving the consolidation of their hold on their own territory and with Aramean (Syrian) help they also seized Ezion-geber from Judah (2 Kings 16.6). The Philistines, however, had had a more permanent aim in mind, that of taking and retaining land and cities which belonged to Judah and establishing themselves there permanently. Their aim was apparently to secure the valuable trade routes from the north and east to Egypt, and to expand their borders, by taking control of Judean border towns which guarded the passes to Jerusalem. Bethshemesh guarded the inland route from the Jordan to the Coastal Plain. Aijalon guarded the Aijalon Valley and the trade routes which went through it. Gederoth was near Lachish and was on the borders of Judah, as was Soco which was near Azekah and similarly placed. Both guarded vital roads. Timnah was another border town in the Sorek valley. Gimzo was north of Gezer. It will be noted that not only were these cities occupied by the Philistines, but also the towns scattered around them.
Had Ahaz but known it he need not have contacted the king of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser already had his own plans for the area. First in 734 BC he moved down through Philistia, conquering its cities and ensuring that Egypt did not come to the aid of Palestine. In 733 BC he subjugated Galilee, turning it into the Assyrian provinces, of Gilead, Megiddo and Dor, and obtained tribute from what was left of Israel under their new king Hoshea who assassinated Pekah, and took over the throne from him. In 732 BC he crushed Aram (Syria) and took Damascus, killing Rezin and turning Aram into Assyrian provinces. Thus, most of Ahaz’s enemies were crushed by the Assyrian might regardless of any submission by Ahaz.
19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD.
The Biblical reason for Ahaz’s dire situation is given here. It was because YHWH had brought Judah low because of the behavior of Ahaz. Note again the title King of Israel applied to a king of Judah. The use of Israel for Judah occurs several times in Chronicles, so it is clearly deliberate. Judah had become the representative of Israel. Here the added irony many be intended that he behaved like a King of Israel.
Thus, all that happened was because Ahaz had dealt evil in Judah, and had trespassed grievously against YHWH. But we must also add, as had the people, as we have seen previously.
20 Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him and did not assist him.
His attempt to get Tiglath-pilneser on his side failed miserably. The king of Assyria certainly came to him, but it was not as a friend but as a suzerain making demands. And he gave Ahaz nothing in return. All he ‘gained’ was the destruction of enemies who would have been destroyed anyway. This occurred around 734 BC.
21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the LORD, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.
Furthermore it was at great cost, for he drew on the Temple treasures, his own treasures and the treasures of his princes in order to meet Tilgath-pilneser’s demands. But it brought him no help at all. Had he heeded Isaiah’s words from YHWH how different things might have been (Isaiah 7.1 ff).
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD. This is that King Ahaz.
Meanwhile, instead of the distress in which he found himself making him stop and think, it simply drove him on to even greater trespasses against YHWH. He appears to have had an insatiable appetite for foreign gods.
23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because 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.
In his desperation all that he could think of was that he had been heavily defeated by Aram (Syria), and it made him assume that this could only be because their gods were stronger than YHWH. Thus, when he was called to Damascus to submit to the king of Assyria he obtained a copy of the altar in Damascus and ordered that one be built in Judah so that he could sacrifice to the gods of Damascus (2 Kings 16.10-11). They were his ruin and the ruin of his people (again called ‘all Israel’).
24 So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
Ahaz followed up his sacrilege by going even further. He was so incensed against YHWH (or possibly protesting Yahwists), that he deliberately sabotaged the worship of YHWH, for he gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut them in pieces and he closed the doors of the Sanctuary, preventing the priestly activities. Thus his action may have been in reaction to priestly protest. And as well as erecting this foreign altar in the Temple courtyard he also built altars for himself, and presumably the people, in every part of Jerusalem. YHWH worship had reached its lowest point. Judah appeared to be going the way of Israel.
25 And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.
Furthermore, in every city of Judah he erected ‘high places’ on which to burn incense to other gods. These were possibly artificial erections which were intended to represent mountains, on which were erected incense altars through which they could worship the gods. And this provoked YHWH, the God of his fathers, to anger. It appeared that Judah were well night doomed.
26 Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
We are now referred for further details of his activities to what were probably the official court records, ‘the book of the kings of Judah and Israel’.
27 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
When Ahaz died he was ‘buried in the city, even Jerusalem’. No mention is made of him being buried in the city of David, (although he might well have been), for he was the antithesis of all that David stood for. But it is stressed that they did not bury him in the sepulchers of the kings. He was disgraced in his death. And Hezekiah his son reigned instead of him.
Although it is not specifically mentioned his reign and his activities bring out how much a portion of the people were gripped by idolatry. Without them he would probably not have commenced on his course of action. He would certainly not have been able to maintain it. He built the idolatrous altars because there was a demand for them. It was clear that parts of Judah had almost sunk to the level of Israel, bringing Isaiah almost to the depths of despair (Isaiah 6.9-13). And, as we have seen, this has been deliberately contrasted with the fact that in Israel there were still men who truly heeded YHWH, and prophets who proclaimed His will (verses 9-13). But the difference lay in the fact that this was an aberration in Judah, while in Israel most of the people were still content with their idolatrous worship. Israel would thus shortly be destroyed, and its people taken into captivity, while Judah would continue for another hundred years, thanks to kings like Hezekiah, and later, Josiah.
