Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 16:12-18
The Subsequent Bastardisation Of The Temple Resulting From Ahaz's Submission. The Temple Is Despoiled (2 Kings 16:12).
What followed was unquestionably a bastardisation of the Temple. The ‘true' altar of YHWH was replaced with one based on a foreign pattern, and the offerings made on that altar would partly be to the gods of Assyria and partly to YHWH (possibly often both at the same time in the eyes of different worshippers). The Temple had thus become similar to the syncretistic sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel. This was further confirmed by the fact that the Temple ceased to be the royal chapel, with the special passageway leading from the palace to the Temple being closed, in recognition of the new situation whereby the Temple was now under the sovereignty of Assyria. Furthermore, the altar of YHWH became Ahaz's own altar for the purposes of divination, and all signs of the special relationship of YHWH with Judah, indicating His rule over the twelve tribes, such as the twelve oxen under the moulten sea, and the lions, oxen and cherubim on the plates covering the laver stands, were removed. Judah was now to be seen as wholly subservient to Assyria in both its worship and its rule. It was not that the Assyrians sought to interfere with the local gods of their vassals, they simply required that the gods of Assyria be acknowledged as well, and that Assyria be pre-eminent. But Ahaz took it further than required.
Analysis.
a And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar, and the king drew near to the altar, and offered on it. And he burnt his burnt-offering and his meal-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offerings, on the altar (2 Kings 16:13).
b And the bronze altar, which was before YHWH, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of YHWH, and put it on the north side of his altar (2 Kings 16:14).
c And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king's burnt-offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice” (2 Kings 16:15 a).
b And the bronze altar will be for me to enquire by. Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded (2 Kings 16:15).
a And king Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, and removed the laver from off them, and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a pavement of stone, and the covered way for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry outside, he turned to the house of YHWH, because of the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:17).
Note that in ‘a' the new altar was dedicated by the king to the service of Assyria, and in the parallel the old signs of Judah's independence were removed. In ‘b' the bronze altar was sidelined, and in the parallel it became Ahaz's altar of divination. Centrally in ‘c' all worship was conducted on the new foreign great altar.
‘And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar, and the king drew near to the altar, and offered on it. And he burnt his burnt-offering and his meal-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offerings, on the altar.'
Once the king returned from Damascus he dedicated the new high altar (the fact that this was a dedication is evidenced by the fact that the blood was sprinkled on it), and acting as a king-priest, offered his own burnt offering, meal offering, drink offering, and blood of the peace offerings. For these types of offerings see Leviticus 1-7. But they should only have been offered by ‘sons of Aaron'. By this he was committing both himself and Judah fully to worship at the new foreign altar. And however the rest of the Jews viewed the situation, in his own eyes he was making his offerings to foreign gods (2 Chronicles 28:23). This was indeed the very purpose of the new altar, and the reason for its existence. Ahaz was not just ‘modernising' the Temple, he was bastardising it. Against all God's commands he had introduced an altar made of hewn stone, one that was approached by steps up to the altar. (See Exodus 20:25).
The burnt offering was the offering which was wholly consumed by the fire and offered to God. The meal offering was the offering of the gifts of creation. The drink offering was in respect of the libations of wine offered at the altar. The peace offerings were those offerings which were partly partaken of by the people.
‘And the bronze altar, which was before YHWH, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of YHWH, and put it on the north side of his altar.'
The true altar of YHWH, ‘the bronze altar which was before YHWH' (and was acknowledged by Him) he had removed from its central position and put on the north side of the new foreign altar. Notice the confirmation of the fact that this was recorded by eyewitnesses, something made evident by the unusual temporary situation of having two altars. It is clear from this that Ahaz had sent his instructions about the building of a new altar, instructions which had been faithfully carried out, but he had failed to give instructions concerning what was to happen to the old altar. So Urijah had accordingly built the new altar behind the current bronze altar of YHWH, and it was not until the king returned that the bronze altar's future could be determined. For only the king could sanction the removal of the bronze altar.
‘And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king's burnt-offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice.'
From now on all of Judah's recognised offerings had to be offered on the new altar. In effect these offerings now served a multiple purpose. Offered by the authorised priests of YHWH they could be seen as offerings to YHWH, but as offered on the foreign altar they would also be offerings to the gods of Assyria and Aram, and this was especially so when they were offered by the king-priest himself. The offerings included the morning and evening offerings which were offered every day on behalf of God's people (Exodus 29:38; Numbers 28:2; mentioned also in 2 Kings 3:20; 1 Kings 18:29), the king's special burnt offering and meal offering, and the burnt offerings, meal offerings and other sacrifices offered on behalf of the people (see Leviticus 1-7). All were being bastardised.
Note how the author records it without comment, but we need not doubt that he did it with gritted teeth. As we have seen before he regularly records things without comment and expects us to recognise their significance. The same is true here.
‘And the bronze altar will be for me to enquire by.'
The biggest insult to YHWH of all was that the bronze altar on which so many offerings had been made to YHWH, was trivialised by being turned into a private altar which Ahaz could use for the purposes of divination, probably by means of the examination of the entrails of the animal sacrifices.
‘Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.'
We can almost hear the scandalised note in the author's voice as he explains that the High Priest made no objection to all this, but carried out all the instructions of Ahaz. He did not seek to defend the purity of Yahwism in any way. He took the way of compromise. Such was the situation in Yahwism at that time. (And this would be in the face of Isaiah's protests).
‘And king Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, and removed the laver from off them, and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a pavement of stone.'
Furthermore Ahaz removed all the symbols which emphasised the independence of the Jews and the significance of God's people. He cut off the panels on the bases of the lavers which were decorated with lions, oxen and cherubim, representing the heavenly connection of God's people with YHWH, and removed the twelve oxen which held up the moulten sea, which represented the twelve tribes and their princes.
There may also have been in this an attempt to obtain as much valuable metal as possible in view of the need to pay tribute, but that is not what the context is all about, and it is not consistent with the fact that the bronze bulls were still in existence in Jeremiah 52:20. Thus it would appear that the bronze bulls were put in storage (and possibly reinstated by Hezekiah). The context is stressing the stripping away from the Temple of all that was distinctively connected with the religious position of Judah, and that is what the author is seeking to emphasise.
‘And the covered way for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry outside, he turned to the house of YHWH, because of the king of Assyria.'
The final alteration was the closing of the private access of the king to the Temple. It was no longer the king's chapel. It was under the control of the king of Assyria. The outside entry from the palace, and the covered way in the Temple by which the king approached the altar area each Sabbath, were both closed in recognition of the overall lordship of the king of Assyria. ‘He turned to the house of YHWH.' That is he made them totally independent of the palace complex and made the house of YHWH self-contained.