King Ahaz
2 Chronicles 28:1-27

Ahaz Rules in Judah

2 Chronicles 28:1-15

• Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king and reigned for 26 years. (v. 1)
• Ahaz did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord. (v. 1)
• Ahaz was the most wicked king that Judah had yet known. To get the full story of Ahaz's reign, see 2 Kings 16 and Isaiah 7.
• Ahaz followed the example of the kings of Israel, offering sacrifices to idols, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire. (v. 2-4)
• This is a revival of worshiping Molech, a practice that had not occurred in Judah since the says of Solomon.
• Note that the Chronicler is using Israel as a standard of how ungodly kings are judged.
• Because Ahaz was a bad king, God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. Ahaz was was also defeated by the armies of Israel. (v. 5)
• God used Judah's enemies to inflict His judgment on Judah for abandoning the Lord. (v. 6-8)
• The armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and children and took a large amount of plunder back to Samaria. (v. 8)
• It was when Ahaz was threatened by Rezin and Pekah that God gave the promise of the virgin-born Immanuel through Isaiah. (see Isaiah 7:14)
• A prophet in Samaria, Oded, warned Israel that they went to far in exacting God's revenge on Judah. Oded told Israel to return the captives and pay attention to their own sins. (v. 9-11)
• Some of the leaders of Israel agreed with Oded and instructed the warriors to release the prisoners. The warriors released the prisoners and sent them back home before returning to Samaria. (v. 12-15)
• The Israelites had planed to enslave the captured people from Judah, which was forbidden in the Law of Moses (see Leveticus 25:39-40).

Ahaz Closes The Temple

2 Chronicles 28:16-27

• See Isaiah 7:7-9 to see that Isaiah implored Ahaz to trust in the Lord for help.
• Ahaz was having so much trouble, he asked the king of Assyria for help against his enemies. (v. 16-19)
• See 2 Kings 16:9 to see that the king of Assyria (Tiglath-Pileser) helped by attacking Syria and killing Rezin in Damascus.
• When the king of Assyria arrived to help Ahaz, he oppressed him instead. Ahaz took the valuable items from the Temple, the palace, and from the homes of Judah's officials to give to the king of Assyria as tribute, but that didn't help. (v. 20-21)
• Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord when faced with trouble. (v. 22)
• Ahaz turned to the gods of Damascus, thinking that since they helped to defeat him earlier, they might help him if he worshiped them. That didn't work out for him, either. (v. 23)
• Ahaz broke the Temple utensils and closed the doors so that no one could worship at the Temple. (v. 24)
• Ahaz set up pagan shrines all over the country and offered sacrifices to other gods. This aroused the anger of the Lord. (v. 24-25)
• Ahaz was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetery. (v. 26-27)
• Ahaz established idolatry so strongly in Judah that even his son, Hezekiah - who was very good, could not root it out.
• The first part of Ahaz's story (v. 1-15) is the story of his misdirected worship. The second part (v. 16-27) shows how he looked to the wrong place for help.