2 Ch. 28: No W-Ahaz It Gotten Worse?

2 Chronicles 28:23 "He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me." But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel."

Ahaz, son of Jotham was about as low as one could get, and its mainly because he sacrificed his children in the fire. That's as detestable as it gets in the scriptures at this point. He really reigned in chaos. The temple was a bank for paying tribute to other nations with the treasures. He set up altars wherever he wanted. He was attacked on all sides, seemingly simultaneously. Assyria, the Edomites, the Philistines...even eventually by Israel! 

Israel was warned not to take their own brothers as slaves, even though it would have been a huge haul. Plus, it was a long standing order since the days of Moses not to take your own countrymen as slaves.

So while all this horror is going on, Ahaz offers sacrifice to gods of Aram, figuring, "Hey, they helped them, they can help me." It makes sense in polytheism. Apparently Ahaz missed it when his dad Jotham humbled himself before God. Hindsight, though. It is easy to say, "What were you thinking?" Why didn't Ahaz humble himself? What kept him so intent on, as the Bible says, "promoting evil?" Even the hardest heart, though still punished to maintain justice, when humbled, God offers a helping of grace. We've seen it before.

In spite of his evil, Ahaz at death rests with his fathers. Apparently everyone rests with their fathers at this point.

Further reading on Ahaz: 2 Kings 16, 9/21/08 Entry

2 Ki. 16: Ahaz Does His Own Thing

2 Kings 16:11 "So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned."

Ahaz was Jotham's son. He is in the line of David, but he doesn't act like David, which is not Fark-worthy news. But he does manage to sacrifice his child, which is just about as detestable as one can get.Ahaz is known for generally doing whatever he wants in the way of religion. So he's religious, but kind of does whatever he wants, which is not what God instructed. The LORD intended his commands to be followed to the smallest detail. Ahaz is like, "Meh, whatever." For example, after paying the king of Assyria protection money from Aram and Israel with the gold and silver in the LORD's temple, he sees an altar that looks cool in Damascus.

He has this altar built by the priest, Uriah. And then he switches around the altars and basins at the temple to do whatever he wants. Forget what God said they were to be used for, Ahaz is going to do what he will.

This should end well.