King Ahaz of Judah
2 Chronicles 28:1-4,16-25
Primary Purpose: To consider our motive for our prayers and worship to
God.
Background:
Ahaz took the throne at the age of 20 years old after his father Jotham
passed away. Not much is said about Jotham except that he was a good man.
He seems to have been personally faithful even though the people of Judah
were becoming more and more violent and corrupt. Ahaz’s reign causes the
people to lose all restraint and to become completely corrupt in idol worship.
Clearly, we can say that Ahaz may know about God, but he doesn’t know
him.
We need to ask 3 Important Questions about Ahaz:
1. What would cause a person to close God’s temple? Ahaz seemed to view
worship as a way of getting something you wanted. Perhaps, God failed to be
at his call? He seems to have become deceitful in his sin and hardened to the
point that he doesn’t want to worship God and doesn’t want anyone else to
either. Some people may worship for the wrong reasons: a desire for power
or to be like others. Ahaz was following the example of the pagan kings
around him instead of his father. One of the early church fathers known as
Augustine once said, “Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used,
or using anything that ought to be worshiped.”
2. What would cause this same person to put an idol on every street corner?
v.24 Perhaps some would say a longing for God or a desire for meaning in
life. For some this is true. Still others see it as a way of getting things. His
motive is clear from v.23 “I’ll sacrifice to them so that they will help me.”
We may have a hard time relating to Ahaz’s desire to worship idols,
until we realize that many things can be an idol. For Israel there was the
Baals. For us there is the gods of Sex, Shekels and Stomach or Pleasure,
Possessions or Position. For some, Football, the Firm and Family are also
good. The list can go on forever.
During this time, Judah is referred to in Isaiah 1:21-23 as a harlot;
murderer; rebellious rulers; companions of thieves; lovers of bribes; chases
rewards; doesn’t defend the cause of the defenseless.
Micah says of the people of Judah; the godly have perish from the land;
lying in wait for bloodshed; loves bribery; the best of them is like a briar and
the most upright like a thorn hedge Micah 7:2-4a
3. What would cause God to allow him to continue being king for 26 years
and to deal so differently with Uzziah? God deals differently with his
children then those of the world. His discipline is proof that we are His.
Heb 12:6-7 He severly disciplines the ones He calls His children. God was
reaching out to Ahaz in his early reign. We see that in Isaiah 7. Ahaz didn’t
know God and God treated him differently. He allowed Ahaz to have a free
will and to walk away from him.
So, what are the results of Ahaz’s actions:
1. The Lord humbles Judah v.5,19 Israel killed 120,000 soliders of Judah
because they had forsaken God v.6 The Lord handed over Ahaz to the King
of Aram. God took the protection he had been giving Judah away. Obed the
prophet in v.9 says “The Lord God of your ancestors handed Judah over to
you in his anger.”
2. The Assyrians he trusted in would turn on him. Ahaz had to bribe the king
of Assyria to help him. Now, Assyria is going to act like a parasite asking for
more and more tribute from Judah to keep from attacking them. They are
going to rob them of their wealth.
3. He brought about a lack of restraint. v.19. His unfaithfulness led to a great
moral and religious decline. There is evidence that corruption had been
taking place for years, but Ahaz acclerated it. Judah never completely
recovers from Ahaz’s reign of idolatry. Jesu warned against becoming a
stumbling block to others. Matt 18:6-7.
