16In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.H7651H6240H8141H8141H6492H1121H7425H271H1121H3147H4428H3063H44272Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn't behave in the eyes of his GOD; he wasn't at all like his ancestor David.H6242H8141H1121H271H4427H4427H8337H6240H8141H3389H6213H3477H5869H3068H430H1732H13Instead he followed in the track of the kings of Israel. He even indulged in the outrageous practice of "passing his son through the fire"—a truly abominable act he picked up from the pagans GOD had earlier thrown out of the country.H3212H1870H4428H3478H1121H5674H784H8441H1471H3068H3423H6440H1121H34784He also participated in the activities of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that flourished all over the place.H2076H6999H1116H1389H7488H60865Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel ganged up against Jerusalem, throwing a siege around the city, but they couldn't make further headway against Ahaz.H7526H4428H758H6492H1121H7425H4428H3478H5927H3389H4421H6696H271H3201H38986At about this same time and on another front, the king of Edom recovered the port of Elath and expelled the men of Judah. The Edomites occupied Elath and have been there ever since.H6256H7526H4428H758H7725H359H758H130H5394H3064H359H726H935H359H3427H31177Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria with this message: "I'm your servant and your son. Come and save me from the heavy-handed invasion of the king of Aram and the king of Israel. They're attacking me right now."H271H7971H4397H8407H4428H804H559H5650H1121H5927H3467H3709H4428H758H3709H4428H3478H69658Then Ahaz robbed the treasuries of the palace and The Temple of GOD of their gold and silver and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.H271H3947H3701H2091H4672H1004H3068H214H4428H1004H7971H7810H4428H8049The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. He deported the people to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed.H4428H804H8085H4428H804H5927H1834H8610H1540H7024H4191H752610King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing and set of blueprints of the altar.H4428H271H3212H1834H7125H8407H4428H804H7200H4196H1834H4428H271H7971H223H3548H1823H4196H8403H463911Uriah the priest built the altar to the specifications that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. By the time the king returned from Damascus, Uriah had completed the altar.H223H3548H1129H4196H4428H271H7971H1834H223H3548H6213H4428H271H935H183412The minute the king saw the altar he approached it with reverence and arranged a service of worship with a full course of offerings:H4428H935H1834H4428H7200H4196H4428H7126H4196H592713Whole-Burnt-Offerings with billows of smoke, Grain-Offerings, libations of Drink-Offerings, the sprinkling of blood from the Peace-Offerings—the works.H6999H5930H4503H5258H5262H2236H1818H8002H419614But the old bronze Altar that signaled the presence of GOD he displaced from its central place and pushed it off to the side of his new altar.H7126H5178H4196H6440H3068H6440H1004H4196H1004H3068H5414H6828H3409H419615Then King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest: "From now on offer all the sacrifices on the new altar, the great altar: morning Whole-Burnt-Offerings, evening Grain-Offerings, the king's Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, the people's Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, and also their Drink-Offerings. Splash all the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices against this altar. The old bronze Altar will be for my personal use.H4428H271H6680H223H3548H559H1419H4196H6999H1242H5930H6153H4503H4428H5930H4503H5930H5971H776H4503H5262H2236H1818H5930H1818H2077H5178H4196H123916The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz's orders to the letter.H6213H223H3548H4428H271H668017Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its bronze. He stripped the bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen that supported the huge basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement.H4428H271H7112H4526H4350H5493H3595H3381H3220H5178H1241H5414H4837H6818Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.H4329H4329H7676H1129H1004H4428H3996H2435H5437H1004H3068H6440H4428H80419The rest of the life and times of Ahaz is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H271H6213H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306320Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah became the next king.H271H7901H1H6912H1H5892H1732H2396H1121H4427
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