2 Chronicles 28 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

2 Chronicles 28

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering,¹ according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

5 Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took 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 to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. 10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God? 11 Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.”

12 Certain chiefs also of the men 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 were coming from the war 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15 And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king² of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully³ and had been very unfaithful to the LORD. 20 So Tiglath-pileser⁴ king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21 For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the LORD and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz’s Idolatry

22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD—this same King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers. 26 Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

[1] 28:3 Hebrew made his sons pass through the fire
[2] 28:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 2 Kings 16:7); Hebrew kings
[3] 28:19 Or wildly
[4] 28:20 Hebrew Tilgath-pilneser

Commentary

v1: The new king, Ahaz, is compared unfavourably with David. David is repeatedly presented as the standard for the kings of Judah, see 17.1; 29.1; 34.1.

The previous four kings, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, had followed the Lord God, albeit inconsistently. Their reigns totalled some 130 years. Ahaz, in contrast deliberately disobeyed the Lord, and practised idolatry.

v2-4: Ahaz followed the example of pagan nations, and of the kings of Israel.

v5-8: Ahaz was defeated by both Aram and Israel. This was not because Israel was obedient, but as a punishment on Judah for her disobedience. The warnings of Deut 28.32,41 began to be fulfilled. This was something of a foretaste of the final defeat by Babylon.

Key leaders in Judah were killed, and 200,000 were taken captive, in addition to 120,000 killed. Clearly this defeat by Israel was a major reverse of Judah's fortunes. We must learn that deliberate rejection of God's ways will have its consequences, for God is not mocked, and God is no man's debtor.

v9-15: The prophet Oded brought a prophecy to Israel. He reminded Israel of her own guilt. Israel had taken many captives, as well as slaughtering large numbers. Judah's sins did not justify such cruelty by Israel. Their repentance would be evidenced by the sending back of the captives.

Some of Israel's leaders realised the truth of the prophet's words. The "fierce anger" already resting on Israel could only grow if they continued to sin. They therefore arranged to return their prisoners and their plunder. They clothed the naked, fed the hungry, and treated those who were injured.

This incident is reminiscent of Israel's capture of Aram, 2 Kings 6.18-23. By this means the enemies of Israel were humbled. It seems, however, that Ahaz did not learn the lesson.

v16-21: The increasing power of Assyria in the region. This had begun during the reign of Menaham, king of Israel (2 Kings 15.19-20). During Pekah's reign (2 Kings 15.29), they defeated large parts of Israel. Tiglath-Pileser became God's instrument of judgment on both Israel and Judah.

Judah continued to suffer at the hands of other nations, the Edomites and Philistines.

In the midst of these defeats, Ahaz failed to seek the help of the Lord God, but trusted instead in Assyria, "but gave him trouble instead of help". 2 Kings 16 records how Assyria did attack Damascus, but through the peace with Assyria, Ahaz incorporated an item of Aramean worship into the temple worship. Ahaz encouraged moral decline in Judah, and suffered military defeats as a direct consequence.

v22-23: Instead of restraining his behaviour, Ahaz actually grew worse, offering sacrifices to the gods of Aram.

Ahaz worshipped the gods of Aram, as Israel had done (Jer 11.13); his reasoning was purely pragmatic, rejecting the clear statements of the law of God.

v24-27: Ahaz promoted idolatrous worship throughout Judah, and closed the Lord's temple.