2 Kings 16:1-20
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
3 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.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath:a and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy 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, which rise up against me.
8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus,b and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
10 And king Ahaz went to Damascusc to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings,d upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
THE WICKEDNESS OF AHAZ
(vv.1-4).
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.
ATTACKS AGAINST AHAZ
(vv.5-9)
The Lord did not leave Ahaz without warning as to his evil actions, but sent Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel against Judah, to besiege Jerusalem. Yet they could not overcome Ahaz, for the Lord also was gracious to Judah (v.5). Ahaz ought to have realised that God was slow to destroy Judah because Of his Own promise and because Jotham father of Ahaz, had been a godly ruler.
However, Rezin captured Elath, a city of Judah, and drove tile people of Judah out of the city, allowing the Edomites to take possession of it (v.6). This spurred Ahaz to appeal, not to God, but to the king of Assyria, Tiglath Pileser, telling him that he (Ahaz) was his servant and asking his help against Syria and Israel. How foolish a move was this on the part of a king of Judah! It cost him something too. He stole from the Lord the silver and gold that was in the house of the Lord as well as taking silver and gold that were in the treasuries of the king's house, to pay the king of Assyria for his protection (v.8).
Then the king of Assyria attacked Damascus, capital of Syria. defeating and killing Rezin king of Syria, taking the people into captivity. Thus Assyria was strengthening its kingdom to become a great empire.
AHAZ ATTRACTED BY A SYRIAN ALTAR
(vv.10-20)
Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser, likely to congratulate him for his victory. But while there Ahaz saw a Syrian altar that he evidently liked better than the altar of the Lord. He therefore sent the pattern of the altar to Urijah the priest at Jerusalem, instructing him to build one like it for the worship of Judah (v.10). Ahaz was therefore a religious man, but choosing wicked religion above the true worship of the Lord. Christendom has been guilty of the same evil in imitating the false worship of unbelievers. But why did Urijah not have the spiritual strength to resist this evil of the king? Instead of resisting, he fully concurred with this false worship and had built the altar by the time Ahaz returned (v.11).
Ahaz then, ignoring the altar of God, offered burnt offerings, meal offerings and drink offerings on the altar he liked, sprinkling the blood also on the altar (v.13). We are not told whether the priest was the intermediary for this or not, but Ahaz could boast of having some details correct, while being basically rebellious against God. The Lord Jesus spoke of the scribes and Pharisees teaching, "Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it" (Matthew 23:18). But the Lord called these teachers "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?" (v.19). The gift speaks of Christ's sacrifice, but the altar pictures Christ Himself the basis of the value of the sacrifice. Therefore, the altar of Ahaz signifies his introducing a false Christ. How dreadful is such an evil as this!
Not only did Ahaz introduce an idolatrous altar into the temple worship, but he displaced the copper altar that was in front of the temple and put it on the north side of his new altar (v.14). The Lord had the copper altar placed in front of the temple because it speaks of the only way of approach to God, which is Christ as the One whose sacrifice is indispensable, But how many today are like Ahaz, pushing Christ out of the way and despising the value of His perfect sacrifice.
Ahaz then gave orders to Urijah totally contrary to God's Word, and the weak priest was ready to disobey God. All of the offerings were offered on the new altar of Ahaz. Ahaz knew something of the offerings and he wanted to keep up a show of religious zeal while refusing the very basis of all true worship, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, while he put the copper altar out of the way, he told Urijah it could be used as a charm for him "to enquire by" (v.15). If there were hard problems or danger threatening, he could use the copper altar, just as men today consider Christ as One to be consulted if they are in trouble, but this only amounts to superstition with no faith whatever in Christ Himself. Thus they want Christ to be merely their servant, not their Lord.
The bold sacrilege of Ahaz was further seen in his treatment of the lavers (v.17) which were placed for the washing of the sacrifices, speaking of the perfect purity of the Lord Jesus. Ahaz removed the lavers from their bases. The basic fact of the purity of the Lord Jesus is also given up today by many who dare to dispute the sinless perfection of the Lord of glory. Some say that He had a nature that could have sinned, but that He did not give into that tendency. Such teaching is false, for the basic fact is that "in Him there is no sin" (1 John 3:5). Being totally sinless, it was therefore impossible for Him to sin.
The copper sea also, that which was for the daily purification of the priests, Ahaz removed from the oxen that supported it and set it on a pavement of stones (v.17). The oxen, (animals for sacrifice) picture the fact that our own purity as priests is primarily based on the value of the sacrifice of Christ. The water in the sea speaks of the Word of God which purifies, but since we by nature are sinners, the oxen of sacrifice are basic to our purification in practical life. But the pavement of stones pictures mankind in their so-called "good works," a useless (though proud) basis that ungodly men prefer. How sadly is this type of evil repeated in our own day! Mere natural religion always substitutes human merit for Christ!
Ahaz also removed the Sabbath pavilion which had been built in the temple, and he removed the outer entrances from the house of God ("on account of the king, of Assyria" v.18). Things God had ordained were removed so as not to offend the king of Assyria. Ahaz feared the king of Assyria, but had no fear of God before his eyes. Let us be careful not to allow the opinions of men to influence us against the clear Word of God.
More of the history of Ahaz is found in 2 Chronicles 28:1, and though we are told in Kings that Ahaz was buried with his fathers, yet Chronicles tells us (v.27) that he was not brought into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah took the throne of Judah (v.20).