2Chronicles 28

King Ahaz

28Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn't live right in the eyes of GOD; he wasn't at all like his ancestor David.H271H6242H8141H1121H4427H4427H8337H6240H8141H3389H6213H3477H5869H3068H1732H12Instead he followed in the track of Israel in the north, even casting metal figurines for worshiping the pagan Baal gods.H3212H1870H4428H3478H6213H4541H11683He participated in the outlawed burning of incense in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and—incredibly!—indulged in the outrageous practice of "passing his sons through the fire," a truly abominable thing he picked up from the pagans GOD had earlier thrown out of the country.H6999H1516H1121H2011H1197H1121H784H8441H1471H3068H3423H6440H1121H34784He also joined in the activities of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that flourished all over the place.H2076H6999H1116H1389H7488H60865GOD, fed up, handed him over to the king of Aram, who beat him badly and took many prisoners to Damascus. God also let the king of Israel loose on him and that resulted in a terrible slaughter:H3068H430H5414H3027H4428H758H5221H7617H1419H7633H935H1834H5414H3027H4428H3478H5221H1419H43476Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in one day, all of them first-class soldiers, and all because they had deserted GOD, the God of their ancestors.H6492H1121H7425H2026H3063H3967H6242H505H259H3117H2428H1121H5800H3068H430H17Furthermore, Zicri, an Ephraimite hero, killed the king's son Maaseiah, Azrikam the palace steward, and Elkanah, second in command to the king.H2147H1368H669H2026H4641H4428H1121H5840H5057H1004H511H4932H44288And that wasn't the end of it—the Israelites captured 200,000 men, women, and children, besides huge cartloads of plunder that they took to Samaria.H1121H3478H7617H251H3967H505H802H1121H1323H962H7227H7998H935H7998H81119GOD's prophet Oded was in the neighborhood. He met the army when it entered Samaria and said, "Stop right where you are and listen! GOD, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and used you to punish them; but you took things into your own hands and used your anger, uncalled for and irrational,H5030H3068H8034H5752H3318H6440H6635H935H8111H559H3068H430H1H2534H3063H5414H3027H2026H2197H5060H806410to turn your brothers and sisters from Judah and Jerusalem into slaves. Don't you see that this is a terrible sin against your GOD?H559H3533H1121H3063H3389H5650H8198H7535H819H3068H43011Careful now; do exactly what I say—return these captives, every last one of them. If you don't, you'll find out how real anger, GOD's anger, works."H8085H7725H7633H7617H251H2740H639H306812Some of their Ephraimite leaders—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—stood up against the returning armyH582H7218H1121H669H5838H1121H3076H1296H1121H4919H3169H1121H7967H6021H1121H2311H6965H935H663513and said, "Don't bring the captives here! We've already sinned against GOD; and now you are about to compound our sin and guilt. We're guilty enough as it is, enough to set off an explosion of divine anger."H559H935H7633H819H3068H559H3254H2403H819H819H7227H2740H639H347814So the soldiers turned over both the captives and the plunder to the leaders and the people.H2502H5800H7633H961H6440H8269H695115Personally designated men gathered the captives together, dressed the ones who were naked using clothing from the stores of plunder, put shoes on their feet, gave them all a square meal, provided first aid to the injured, put the weak ones on donkeys, and then escorted them to Jericho, the City of Palms, restoring them to their families. Then they went back to Samaria.H582H5344H8034H6965H2388H7633H7998H3847H4636H3847H5274H398H8248H5480H5095H3782H2543H935H3405H5892H8558H5899H681H251H7725H811116At about that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria asking for personal help.H6256H4428H271H7971H4428H804H582617The Edomites had come back and given Judah a bad beating, taking off a bunch of captives.H130H935H5221H3063H7617H762818Adding insult to injury the Philistines raided the cities in the foothills to the west and the southern desert and captured Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, along with Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages, and moved in, making themselves at home.H6430H6584H5892H8219H5045H3063H3920H1053H357H1450H7755H1323H8553H1323H1579H1323H342719Arrogant King Ahaz, acting as if he could do without God's help, had unleashed an epidemic of depravity. Judah, brought to its knees by GOD, was now reduced to begging for a handout.H3068H3665H3063H3665H271H4428H3478H6544H3063H6544H4603H4604H306820But the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, wouldn't help—he came instead and humiliated Ahaz even more by attacking and bullying him.H8407H4428H804H935H6696H238821Desperate, Ahaz ransacked The Temple of GOD, the royal palace, and every other place he could think of, scraping together everything he could, and gave it to the king of Assyria—and got nothing in return, not a bit of help.H271H2505H1004H3068H1004H4428H8269H5414H4428H804H583322But King Ahaz didn't learn his lesson—at the very time that everyone was turning against him, he continued to be against GOD!H6256H6887H4603H3254H3068H4428H27123He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. He had just been defeated by Damascus; he thought, "If I worship the gods who helped Damascus, those gods just might help me too." But things only went from bad to worse: first Ahaz in ruins and then the country.H2076H430H1834H5221H559H430H4428H758H5826H2076H5826H3782H347824He cleaned out The Temple of God of everything useful and valuable, boarded up the doors of The Temple, and then went out and set up pagan shrines for his own use all over Jerusalem.H271H622H3627H1004H430H7112H3627H1004H430H5462H1817H1004H3068H6213H4196H6438H338925And not only in Jerusalem, but all over Judah—neighborhood shrines for worshiping any and every god on sale. And was GOD ever angry!H5892H3063H6213H1116H6999H312H430H3707H3068H430H126The rest of Ahaz's infamous life, all that he did from start to finish, is written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel.H3499H1697H1870H7223H314H3789H5612H4428H3063H347827When Ahaz died, they buried him in Jerusalem, but he was not honored with a burial in the cemetery of the kings. His son Hezekiah was the next king.H271H7901H1H6912H5892H3389H935H6913H4428H3478H3169H1121H4427