Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 28:1
Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
Ch. 2Ch 28:1-4 (= 2Ki 16:1-4). Ahaz succeeds and practises Idolatry
1. Ahaz ] The full form of the name is Jehoahaz, the “Ja-u-a-zi” of an inscription of Tiglath-pileser III.
twenty years old ] As he died sixteen years later leaving a son of twenty-five (2Ch 29:1), the reading of Pesh. “twenty-five years old” is more suitable and may be right, but the coincidence would be strange if three kings in succession ascended the throne at twenty-five years of age (cp. 2Ch 27:1 and 2Ch 29:1).
he did not that which was right ] It is not said of Ahaz as of Manasseh, “he did that which was evil” (2Ch 33:2).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This chapter is supplemental in character, The writer seems to assume that the narrative of Kings (marginal reference) is known, and is mainly anxious to add points which the author of that narrative has omitted.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXVIII
Ahaz succeeds his father Jotham, and reigns wickedly for
sixteen years, 1.
He restores idolatry in its grossest forms, 2-4;
and is delivered Into the hands of the kings of Israel and
Syria, 5.
Pekah slays one hundred and twenty thousand Jews in one day,
and carries away captive two hundred thousand of the people,
whom, at the instance of Oded the prophet, they restore to
liberty, and send home, clothed and fed, 6-15.
Ahaz sends to the king of Assyria for help against the
Edomites, Philistines, c., from whom he receives no effectual
succour, 16-21.
He sins yet more, spoils and shuts up the temple of God, and
propagates idolatry throughout the land, 22-25.
A reference to has acts, his death, and burial, 26, 27.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII
Verse 1. Ahaz was twenty years old] For the difficulties in this chronology, 2Kg 16:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1-4. Ahaz was twenty years old(Seeon 2Ki 16:1-4). This prince,discarding the principles and example of his excellent father, earlybetrayed a strong bias to idolatry. He ruled with an arbitrary andabsolute authority, and not as a theocratic sovereign: he not onlyforsook the temple of God, but embraced first the symbolic worshipestablished in the sister kingdom, and afterwards the gross idolatrypractised by the Canaanites.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 1-4. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign,…. These verses are much the same with 2Ki 16:2, only in 2Ch 28:2 it is said,
he made also molten images for Baalim; the several Baals or idols of the nations round about, as well as served Jeroboam’s calves; see Jud 2:11, and he is said in 2Ch 28:3,
to burn incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom; to Molech, the god of the Ammonites, who was worshipped there.
[See comments on 2Ki 16:2] [See comments on 2Ki 16:3] [See comments on 2Ki 16:4]
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the general statements as to the king’s age, and the duration and the spirit of his reign, both accounts (2Ch 28:1-4; 2Ki 16:1-4), agree entirely, with the exception of some unessential divergences; see the commentary on 2Ki 16:1-4. From 2Ch 28:5 onwards both historians go their own ways, so that they coincide only in mentioning the most important events of the reign of this quite untheocratic king. The author of the book of Kings, in accordance with his plan, records only very briefly the advance of the allied kings Rezin and Pekah against Jerusalem, the capture of the seaport Elath by the Syrians, the recourse which the hard-pressed Ahaz had to the help of Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, whom he induced, by sending him the temple and palace treasures of gold and silver, to advance upon Damascus, to capture that city, to destroy the Syrian kingdom, to lead the inhabitants away captive to Kir, and to slay King Rezin (2Ch 28:5-9). Then he records how Ahaz, on a visit which he paid the Assyrian king in Damascus, saw an altar which so delighted him, that he sent a pattern of it to the priest Urijah, with the command to build a similar altar for the temple of the Lord, on which Ahaz on his return not only sacrificed himself, but also commanded that all the sacrifices of the congregation should be offered. And finally, he recounts how he laid violent hands on the brazen vessels of the court, and caused the outer covered sabbath way to be removed into the temple because of the king of Assyria (2Ch 28:10-18); and then the history of Ahaz is concluded by the standing formulae (2Ch 28:19, 2Ch 28:20). The author of the Chronicle, on the contrary, depicts in holy indignation against the crimes of the godless Ahaz, how God punished him for his sins. 1. He tells us how God gave Ahaz into the hand of the king of Syria, who smote him and led away many prisoners to Damascus, and into the hand of King Pekah of Israel, who inflicted on him a dreadful defeat, slew 120,000 men, together with a royal prince and two of the highest officials of the court, and carried away 200,000 prisoners-women and children-with a great booty (2Ch 28:5-8); and how the Israelites yet, at the exhortation of the prophet Oded, and of some of the heads of the people who supported the prophet, again freed the prisoners, provided them with food and clothing, and conducted them back to Jericho (2Ch 28:9-15). 2. He records that Ahaz turned to the king of Assyria for help (2Ch 28:16), but that God still further humbled Israel by an invasion of the land by the Edomites, who carried prisoners away (2Ch 28:17); by an attack of the Philistines, who deprived Judah of a great number of cities (2Ch 28:18); and finally also by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser, who, although Ahaz had sent him the gold and silver of the temple and of the palaces of the kings and princes, yet did not help him, but rather oppressed him (2Ch 28:20.). 3. Then he recounts how, notwithstanding all this, Ahaz sinned still more against Jahve by sacrificing to the idols of the Syrians, cutting up the vessels of the house of God, closing the doors of the temple, and erecting altars and high places in all corners of Jerusalem, and in all the cities of Judah, for the purpose of sacrificing to idols (2Ch 28:22-25). This whole description is planned and wrought out rhetorically; cf. C. P. Caspari, der syrisch-ephraimitische Krieg, S. 42ff. Out of the historical materials, those facts which show how Ahaz, notwithstanding the heavy blows which Jahve inflicted upon him, always sinned more deeply against the Lord his God, are chosen, and oratorically so presented as not only to bring before us the increasing obduracy of Ahaz, but also, by the representation of the conduct of the citizens and warriors of the kingdom of Israel towards the people of Judah who were prisoners, the deep fall of that kingdom.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Wickedness of Ahaz. | B. C. 738. |
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
Never surely had a man greater opportunity of doing well than Ahaz had, finding things in a good posture, the kingdom rich and strong and religion established; and yet here we have him in these few verses, 1. Wretchedly corrupted and debauched. He had had a good education given him and a good example set him: but parents cannot give grace to their children. All the instructions he had were lost upon him: He did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord (v. 1), nay, he did a great deal that was wrong, a wrong to God, to his own soul, and to his people; he walked in the way of the revolted Israelites and the devoted Canaanites, made molten images and worshipped them, contrary to the second commandment; nay, he made them for Baalim, contrary to the first commandment. He forsook the temple of the Lord and sacrificed and burnt incense on the hills, as if they would place him nearer heaven, and under every green tree, as if they would signify the protection and influence of heaven by their shade and dropping. To complete his wickedness, as one perfectly divested of all natural affection as well as religion and perfectly devoted to the service and interest of the great enemy of mankind, he burnt his children in the fire to Moloch (v. 3), not thinking it enough to dedicate them to that infernal fiend by causing them to pass through the fire. See what an absolute sway the prince of the power of the air bears among the children of disobedience. 2. Wretchedly spoiled and made a prey of. When he forsook God, and at a vast expense put himself under the protection of false gods, God, who of right was his God, delivered him into the hands of his enemies, v. 5. (1.) The Syrians insulted him and triumphed over him, beat him in the field and carried away a great many of his people into captivity. (2.) The king of Israel, though an idolater too, was made a scourge to him, and smote him with a great slaughter. The people suffered by these judgments: their blood was shed, their country wasted, their families ruined; for when they had a good king, though they did corruptly (ch. xxvii. 2), yet then his goodness sheltered them; but now that they had a bad one all the defence had departed from them and an inundation of judgments broke in upon them. Those that knew not their happiness in the foregoing reign were taught to value it by the miseries of this reign.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
See note on 2Ki 16:1
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES
IN discussing the First Book of Chronicles we called attention to the fact that according to Usshers chronology, the two Books, not reckoning the table of genealogy, covered a space of 468 years of history; the First Book only 41 of these, and this second, 427. As to the authorship of these Books, Ezra is commonly accepted.
The analysis of any book is largely the presentation of a personal view. One man divides this Second Book of Chronicles into two portions: The Reign of Solomon, chapters 1 to 9, and The Kings of Judah, chapters 10 to 36.
Scofield in his reference Bible, says of this Book: It falls into eighteen divisions, by reigns, from Solomon to the captivities; records the division of the kingdom of David under Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and is marked by an ever growing apostasy, broken temporarily by reformations under Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah.
It is our purpose to follow neither of these divisions, however natural they may be, but to discuss the volume under three heads: Solomon and the Temple; Rehoboam and the Division, and the History of Judah.
SOLOMON AND THE TEMPLE
The Book opens with a declaration concerning the new king, And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly (2Ch 1:1).
The history that follows gives occasion to say several things concerning this marvelous man of immortal reputation:
First, Solomons kingship enjoyed an auspicious beginning. The man who ascends the throne under the favor of the Lord necessarily begins a reign of promise. If, as in Solomons case, he sensibly recognizes his responsibility and seeks wisdom from the only sufficient source, he adds greater certainty to his success. When, in addition to this, his objectives are high and God-honoring, the glory of his kingdom advances accordingly. Certainly, Solomons preparation to build the temple was not only a noble objective, but one in line with his kingly fathers purpose and prayers, and the great Heavenly Fathers will for him.
The interesting history here of gathering materials and appointing men for this marvelous construction is made more interesting still by the kings personal supervision and spiritual interest. It takes some courage to conduct war, and we believe it takes almost more courage and even a clearer sense of God, to build sanctuaries, make their appointments according to the Divine pleasure, and call the people to worship within the spacious rooms of the same. Yet, when you have read but five chapters of this Book, you find such a work complete, and are not in the least amazed or even surprised to read, The glory of the Lord had filled the house of God (2Ch 5:14).
It is doubtful whether any company of men have done more for the establishment of spirituality in the earth and for the strengthening of the souls of their fellows, than have those who brought sanctuaries into existence and led congregations of people to a genuine worship of the most high God.
The on-going of this Book reveals Solomons conscious dependence. When the altar was erected he stood by it with outstretched hands (2Ch 6:12). That is the attitude of prayer and possibly of adoration. When his lips parted to speak, he says,
O Lord God of Israel, there is no God tike Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto Thy servants that walk before Thee with all their hearts:
Thou which hast kept with Thy servant David my father that which Thou hast promised him; and spakest with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thine hand, as it is this day.
Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with Thy servant David my father that which Thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in My sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in My Law, as Thou hast walked before Me (2Ch 6:14-16).
Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let Thy Word be verified, which Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant David (2Ch 6:17).
Then follows an appeal that Gods eyes should be open upon their house day and night; that His ears should hearken to the prayers made in that place, and if sin were committed, that forgiveness should be granted, and if the people fail before the face of the enemy because of sin that they also should be pardoned; that if heaven be shut up on the same ground, upon repentance the dearth should end.
Then he concludes in a more personal petition to Him:
Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all Thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
Then hear Thou from Heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive (2Ch 6:29-30).
These are only samples of the long petition that followed the dedicatory sermon. They wind up with a sentence like this: O Lord God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember the mercies of David Thy servant (2Ch 6:42). It is a model prayer; it is the petition of a sincere soul; it is the cry of one who knows that the mercy and love of God are the only grounds of hope.
The further text records Solomons fame and death. That fame was based upon Solomons wisdom, accentuated doubtless by the magnificence of the temple, but made more honorable still in the extent of his organization, the luxury of his court and the wealth of his treasury.
Evidently, among the rulers of the earth, the queen of Sheba held conspicuous place, and when the fame of Solomon reached her, she came to prove him with her questions, and impress him with her own riches and glory. The difficult questions were satisfactorily answered, the temple was adequately shown, the table of the king groaned with its good meats, the apparel of the servants was profoundly impressive, and the queen said to the king,
It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:
Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, winch stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God (2Ch 9:5-8).
The compliment to the king is followed with a statement of Solomons annual income, the magnificence of his throne, the rich appointments of the palace, the extensive commercial importance of his kingdom, and the willing tributes of the earths lesser lords.
Then, as if the task of telling all was too great, we have this record,
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the Prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead (2Ch 9:29-31).
It is a surprising end, and yet strangely true to human history. How many men spend all their days in preparing to live, and when the preparation seems almost complete, proceed to die? The last enemy is no respecter of persons. His bow is drawn against the great as well as the humble, the rich as well as the poor, the wise as well as the ignorant. Death respects neither thrones nor kings; he holds the key to the palace room, and even to the throne room. Kings may command their humbler fellows, and even counsel their equals; but where death calls, they also obey.
REHOBOAM AND THE DIVISION
The emptying of a throne is forever fraught with perils. The eternal and pertinent question is this, Who shall come after the king? The tenth chapter answered that concerning the throne of Israel. The answer was an ill omen! Rehoboams tyrannical spirit split the kingdom. When Jeroboam and all Israel came to him, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee (2Ch 10:4), they delicately referred to the increased taxation to which the luxurious court and the personal orgies of Solomon had given rise. They thought, as people commonly do, that the new rule would prove the peoples friend. Their hope was in vain.
The old men, former counselors of Solomon, advised kindness and compassion; but the young bloods, spoiled by their fellowship with royalty, counseled increased oppression; and under their influence he said,
My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions (2Ch 10:14).
It was enough. The war was on; and that war has never ended until this day, for Israel and Judah are not yet one. A man who divides brethren and sets them to battle, little understands the infinite reach of his mischief. The father of Modernism in America, when he fell asleep at a comparatively early age, little dreamed that he had set influences to work that would divide every denomination on the continent, destroy the fellowship of men who loved one another as twins are commonly supposed to love, wreck schools and churches by the thousand, and start a war that may easily exceed the famous Hundred Year War of history.
Israel and Judahblood brothersbecame the bitterest of enemies. For some reason Second Chronicles pays little attention to Israel, but proceeds to trace Judahs history to the year of Cyrus, king of Persia, or through a period of almost a half millennium. The family feud occasionally projects itself into the record, but for the most part, Israel is forgotten, and the doings of Judah are recorded in detail.
The explanation of this is found in the circumstance that Jeroboam rejected the worship of Jehovah (2Ch 11:14-15). When God is once put away, when Gods priest is disposed of, and His minister is heard no more, then degeneracy compels a declining record.
Unitarianism three quarters of a century ago denied the Lord. Its history has amounted to little; and if it were recorded, it would simply prove, as the Jeroboam movement, a breeding place of apostasy; and yet this record regards not one apostasy only, but two.
The man of many favors may forget God.
When Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the Law of the Lord, and all Israel with him (2Ch 12:1).
What a sad commentary on the uncertainty and unstability of human nature! The explanation of Rehoboams failure has fitted thousands, yea millions of cases. He did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord (2Ch 12:14). Of all disappointments, none exceed thisto begin well and end badly; to give promise and create disappointment; to be the subject of Divine favor, and become the slave of Gods adversary.
THE HISTORY OF JUDAH
Chapters 11 to 36 contain the roster of kings. The fortunes of the country answer accurately and inevitably to the characters of their rulers. On the whole, the history is a down-grade. In that respect, it runs true to form. The doctrine of evolution may find an illustration in national life if it goes from the simple to the complex, but in so far as it contends for improvement, history fails to illustrate it. Degeneracy of nations has more often taken place than has social and moral progress.
The foundations of Judah were laid under David; the kingdoms glory appeared under Solomon. From that moment until this, one word expresses Judahs coursedecline.
Africa was once an advanced nation, now a heathen one; Italy once ruled the world, now she holds an inconspicuous place; Greece once represented the climax of physical and mental accomplishment, now she boasts neither. The reasons for decline are varied, but in Judah they were one the God who had made her great was too often forgotten, too willingly offended. When the nations neglect the source of their strength, weakness naturally ensues. Judahs strength was in the Lord, and when her kings forgot Him, despised His Word, entered into unholy alliances that were followed by the people, her fame declined, and her land fainted.
The mixed social condition manifested her sinfulness. We have a phrase, Like people, like priest. We can paraphrase that, Like princes, like people. The study of these kings results in no compliment to human nature. Some of them were utterly evil; most of them were a mixture of the good and bad; two or three of them were sound. Among the utterly evil ones, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Manasseh, Amon and Jehoiakin held first place. The ones that represent a mixture of good and bad were Jeroboam, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jehoiakim; while the truly good consisted of Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah. In all probability the reign of each of these good kings was profoundly affected and made spiritually fruitful by the ministry of Isaiah, the greatest preacher among Old Testament Prophets. It is perhaps a fact of history that no rulers have ever proven faithful to God without the stimulating and salutary influence of the Gospel ministry.
The judgments and mercies of Second Chronicles alike vindicate Jehovah. In this record wickedness does not go unpunished; and yet it is a marvelous revelation of Divine mercy.
There is never the least sign of penitence on the part of the ruler and the people without an immediate and generous response from Jehovah.
When Jehoshaphat declined in his loyalty and effected a sinful coalition with Ahab, judgment fell; but instantly upon his repentance, mercy was shown. Judgment is always and everywhere Gods strange work, the work in which He takes no pleasure. As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Eze 33:11).
Mercy is His nature, His essential character, for to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Pro 28:13).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.] This chapter corresponds with 2 Kings 16, and gives chief events in same order. Narrative fuller in military affairs, yet an omission of two or three facts. Idolatry of A. and its consequences (2Ch. 28:1-8); release of captives (2Ch. 28:9-15); Assyrian help sought (2Ch. 28:16-21); continued trespass and distress (2Ch. 28:22-25); end of A. (2Ch. 28:26-27).
2Ch. 28:1-8.Idolatry of A. and its consequences. 2Ch. 28:2. Molten, i.e., representatives of different forms or characters of the chief Phnician deity. Return to superstition of Northern kingdom, from which Judah had been clear since days of Joash. 2Ch. 28:3. Burnt, restored worship of Moloch, savage god of Ammon. Heathen, Canaanites. 2Ch. 28:4. Tree, great extremes (cf. 2Ki. 16:4). 2Ch. 28:5. Two battles with Rezin and Pekah not in Kings. 2Ch. 28:7. Azrik., governor, chief officer of royal palace (cf. 1Ki. 4:6; 1Ki. 18:3; 2Ki. 18:18).
2Ch. 28:9-15.Release of captives. Oded, possibly same as Iddo. Samaria, where Elijah, Elisha, and other prophets exercised their vocation. Rage, great, violent, and displeasing to God; reacheth, where God hears. 2Ch. 28:10. Purpose, in heart. Sins, with you greater than in Judah, therefore oppress not erring brothers. 2Ch. 28:11. Deliver, send back. Fierce, law forbade Israel to make bondmen (Lev. 25:39-46). 2Ch. 28:12. Heads, patriarchal chiefs who formed kings counsel. 2Ch. 28:13. Forbade captives to be brought into Samaria. Offended, remembered, confessed their own sins, and felt ashamed. 2Ch. 28:14. Remonstrance successful. 2Ch. 28:15. Name, the four in 2Ch. 28:12, acting with general consent of whole body of princes and people. 2Ch. 28:15. Prisoners released, fed with spoil, and conveyed to Jericho on their way home. Palm (Deu. 34:3).
2Ch. 28:16-21.Assyrian help sought. Time, after disastrous war with Ephraim and Aram. Kings, more than one in succession or in conjunction; other versions give singular instead of plural. 2Ch. 28:17-18. Assign reason for seeking help. Invasion (2Ch. 28:18) and refractoriness of Judah (2Ch. 28:19). Naked, lit., had caused licentiousness in Judah. Had allowed Judah to break loose from religious restraint. 2Ch. 28:20. Distressed by heavy tribute, and no help rendered.
2Ch. 28:22-25.Continued trespass and affliction. Yet more, trespassed still more. Spoliation (2Ch. 28:21) of no avail. 2Ch. 28:23. Sacrificed, superstition led him to believe that he might receive aid from the gods of D., Hadad, Rimmon, &c. (2Ki. 16:10-16). 2Ch. 28:24. Cut, demolished; shut up, suspended worship, and made altars after models at Damascus. Several, separate.
2Ch. 28:26-27.End and burial of A. Written, &c. (2 Kings 16). 2Ch. 28:27. Brought not, buried with his fathers (2Ki. 16:20), but not in sepulchres of the kings. Not an honourable burial.
HOMILETICS
THE EVIL REIGN OF AHAZ.2Ch. 28:1-7
A. forgot principles and example of his father. Soon apparent by what unhappy influences he was surrounded, and to what degeneracy the people had fallen. Increase of worldly wealth and luxury in reigns of Azariah and Jotham introduced corruptions which, by the example of Ahaz, prevailed in idolatrous practices of every kind (2Ch. 28:24).
I. The unmitigated wickedness of Ahaz. A. one of the stupendous examples of Israel, one of the few men in history of whom not one good thing is recorded. His wickedness uniform, unmitigated and extraordinary development.
1. He patronised symbolic worship of Israel. Walked in the ways of Israel (2Ki. 16:3) at beginning of reign. All forms and practices of heathenism among Israelites he adopted.
2. He practised gross idolatry of Canaan. Not content with paganism, he imported fresh modes of worship. He restored idolatry of Moloch, and fixed it under the very walls of the city, the valley of Hinnom. He gave personal sanction to cruel rites, by causing his sons to pass through fire, to burn them to death, or purify them and dedicate them to heathen gods. A custom in Persia for the king to send his son, seated on a black horse, to ride through the flames, to prove sacredness of character and to show the people fire will not hurt. This practice forbidden by law (Lev. 18:21; Lev. 20:2; Deu. 18:10).
II. The fearful consequences of this wickedness. Having left God, God forsook him, and a series of calamities happen.
1. Deliverance unto the Syrians. This the issue of a confederate invasion. False dependence, heathen gods could not protect.
2. Fearful slaughter. Smitten by kings of Assyria and of Israel with a great slaughter, a complete panic and rout result. Defeat bereft them of defence, and they allowed themselves to be slaughtered like sheep.
3. Disgraceful captivity. A great multitude of them captives (2Ch. 28:5). Made prisoners, they were divided between allies, sent off under military escort to capitals of Syria and Israel.
4. National calamity. Persons of distinction among captured or slain (2Ch. 28:7). The kings (probably Jothams) son, governor of Royal Palace and Prime Minister. Loss of these chief officers a national calamity. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? Thus blood shed, country wasted, and families ruined through sin. A good king may shelter a corrupt people; a bad king may bring judgments like a flood. The happiness of one reign may be valued by miseries of another.
THE RELEASE OF CAPTIVES.2Ch. 28:8-15
Report of brethren led captive excited indignation in better disposed. Oded, a prophet, went out, accompanied with princes, to meet the escort and to prevent disgrace of introducing such prisoners into the city.
I. Released through stern rebuke of the prophet. O. did not applaud their valour and congratulate them on their victoryin Gods name declared their faults and warned them of judgment.
1. Rebuked pride of victory. Not by superiority in numbers, arms, and valour had they overcome; but in consequence of Divine judgments against Israel. Not for the righteousness of victors (Deu. 9:5), but for the wickedness of the vanquished; therefore boast not, be not high-minded, but fear (Rom. 11:20-21).
2. Rebuked abuse of power. Victory gave no authority for cruelty. Offensive to keep brethren as slaves in war. Might not always right. They had slain them in a rage, and they further purposed to keep them under and sell them as bondmen and bondwomen. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
3. Rebuked forgetfulness of personal guilt. Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? (2Ch. 28:10). Ten tribes not innocent, fallen away more completely, more hopelessly, than the two. Severity would add to their guilt and aggravate their punishment. Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
II. Released through the humanity of the people. Spirited remonstrance not in vainchiefs, soldiers, and people touched.
1. Displayed in the opposition of chiefs (2Ch. 28:12). Conscience-stricken when reminded of their own sins. Men of character and high position, remarkable for benevolent feeling, forbade entrance of captives into Samariatook lead in difficult task of restoring them, and gained themselves a name.
2. Displayed in compliance of soldiers. Soldiers only obeying orders, might have defended what they gained by sword; but yielded, left captives and spoil at disposal of the princes (2Ch. 28:14). Right to give up what is wrong to retainmore generous to yield to reason and religion than to stick at self-interest.
3. Displayed in the kindness of the people. Under benevolent superintendence the captives clothed and fed from the spoils; assisted in their weakness and conveyed on their way home (2Ch. 28:15). A beautiful incident, and full of interest. A proof of loyalty to law amid national decline, of generosity in scenes of cruelty, and a type of a greater deliverance in the Gospel.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch. 28:1-5. Like son, like father. In A. we haveI. A son who rebelled against the maxims of his father. Instead of carrying on improvements inaugurated by his father, we find that he initiated altogether a new state of things. II. A father who was devoid of natural affection towards his children. He burnt his children in the fire. III. The wicked sons of good fathers may sometimes be fathers themselves, and the evil they have done will be repaid to them again [Bib. Mus.].
2Ch. 28:9-11. Oded went out
1. In courageous spirit. Defying risk to meet face to face.
2. In faithfulness to God, for whom he acted, and from whom received help.
3. In benevolent design. Hear me. Here we have the picture of a good preacher. Oded teacheth, reproveth, exhorteth, turneth himself into all shapes, of spirit and of speech, that he may work upon his hearers; and he had his desire. See Timothys task (2Ti. 4:2-3) [Trapp]. Reacheth up to heaven. Sins of violence
1. Seen by God;
2. Provoke God;
3. Will be punished by God. Our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass (guiltiness) is grown up unto the heavens (Eze. 9:6).
2Ch. 28:10. Personal guilt, a sense of our own sins should check
1. In the pride of triumph.
2. In the control of passion.
3. In the neglect of charity. Know self, moderate resentment, and imitate Gods compassion. Or learn
1. Mans readiness to judge others.
2. By judging, treating others harshly, we condemn ourselves. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy [Shakes.].
2Ch. 28:15. Primitive charity. Clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, helping the weak, &c. We can scarcely find a parallel to this in the universal history of the wars which savage man has carried on against his fellows from the foundation of the world [A. Clarke]. That which happened in the time of Ahaz, was to occur again, as Isa. 43:5-6; Isa. 60:3, and other similar passages show on a much larger, more glorious scale at the time of the great redemption. We see at once from the words themselves with what pleasure the historian dwells upon this event [Keil].
HOMILETICS
APPEAL FOR ASSYRIAN HELP.2Ch. 28:16-21
Invasion of Judah by Rezin and Pekah not mere predatory expedition, but designed to reduce the country, upset the royal family, and establish another tributary prince. Extirpation of dynasties common in East. The older and more venerated the dynasty, the more needful to destroy it. The unconditional promise to David prevented change, and occasioned defeat of allies.
I. Appeal in imminent danger. Kingdom reduced to great distress
1. By Invasions of the enemy. After succession of defeats, retreated within walls of Jerusalem, and besieged. Country infested north and south, and cities captured.
2. By Providential disaster. For the Lord brought Judah low. Bereft of wealth and power, humbled and helpless for defence. As despicable as they had been formidable.
3. By Internal disorder. For he made Judah naked, caused licentiousness in Judah. Bonds of government loosened, restraints of religion thrown off, and idolatry of every degree practised.
II. Appeal which cost immense sacrifice. A. took away a portion of the house of the Lord, &c. (2Ch. 28:21).
1. Self independence. I am thy servant and thy son (2Ki. 16:7). A plain acknowledgment of his dependent position, and the submission of a vassal.
2. Enormous treasure. To procure adequate sum for protection the palace and the temple ransacked. Costly is the price of sin and departure from God.
III. Appeal which ended in disappointment. Relief only temporary. Assyria prepared for the advantage. The end worse than the beginning. The King of Assyria came unto him and distressed him, but strengthened him not. Distressed
1. By occupying the land. Hostile inroads of the enemy devasted the kingdom. Invaders, like Saxons invited by Britons against Picts and Scots, remained masters of the land.
2. By exacting heavy tribute. Payments exhausting, impoverished and weakened. The submission of Judah, proffered by Ahaz, pleasing and of utmost importance to projects of conquest. Money demanded in return for help.
3. By withholding help desired. Nothing but disappointment at last: But he helped him not (2Ch. 28:21). Ahaz not placed in a safe and independent position; an actual for a threatened subjection resulted. It led to further idolatry and risk, which provoked Gods anger and tended to ruin the nation. Sin no help nor strength, but a cause of distress. Confidence in men, the world, and false ways, create disappointment and pierce the hand like a broken reed. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Be firm in faith, or ye will not be made firm in fact [Speak. Com., Isa. 7:9].
AHAZS DEEPER SINS AND MISERIES.2Ch. 28:22-25
The infatuated king unchastened by distress, surrendered himself to slavish fear and pursued his course yet more against the Lord. Notice
I. The wilful obstinacy displayed in his evil course. He exerted royal authority to extend idolatry; suspended the worship of Jehovah in the temple; committed gross sacrilege, and superseded the altar of God by one from Damascus. He discarded the doctrine of one true God and affected polytheism. His religion was a kind of diplomacy. The Temple, the residence of Jehovah, by the help of the priesthood, was turned into a shelter for idols, and in the streets of Jerusalem were erected altars to foreign gods.
II. The fearful consequences of this obstinacy. He sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus which smote him.
1. God provoked to anger (2Ch. 28:25). The wrath of a king is as messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it, by proofs of penitence and amendment of life.
2. Ruin brought upon himself and kingdom. They were the ruin of him and of all Israel. The gods of Syria befriended him no more than the kings of Assyria. He was cut off in the midst of his days. Pernicious influence of idolatry lasted through the reforms of next reign, and only destroyed after Babylonian captivity.
III. The awful Stigma which rested upon him through this obstinate course. This is that king Ahaz. Like Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, and Judas who betrayed the Saviour, he is branded by the spirit of God. If ever a man is to be held up as a warning, this is the man. Mark him, shun his ways. Not one good thing in his life and no hope in his death!
ABUSE OF JUDGMENT.2Ch. 28:22
Trespassed more and more in utterly forsaking God and selling himself to sin.
I. Judgment abused by mistaking it. He thought because Syrian gods helped them, they would be of service to him. Jehovah had smitten him and helped his enemies, but he could or would not see it. He therefore sacrificed to idols. This a vulgar conception of God, and leads to abuse of devotion and into greater risk.
II. Judgment abused by defying it. There is still a lofty imperial spirit in Ahaz. Neither judgment nor mercy opens his eyes. When overthrown he must still fight against God, be master of his own condition and destiny. He abused the house of God, the altar of God, and the judgments of God. His heart was more fully set to do evil, and he provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF KING AHAZ
I. That a course of sin is continually downward. This is a fundamental law of character, the natural working of sin. It propagates itself, but is not self-reformatory. One kind of sin produces another kind, and the law of habit applies to physical, mental, and moral actions. Character becomes fixed. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
II. That God is faithful in checking men in this downward course. The Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, King of Israel (2Ch. 28:19). Disappointed in alliances, overcome in war, captives taken by thousands, and nothing going well. God contended with him, but was despised by him; persevered in efforts to check him, but was defied and resisted. God ever seeks by his providence and spirit to turn men from an evil course which will end in ruin. That he may withdraw man from his purpose (marg., work) and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword.
III. That if men will not be checked in a downward course they may become notable examples of punishment. This is that king Ahaz (2Ch. 28:22). The end is come, but not the end of life. Chastised, but not corrected, given to idols and let alone, he did trespass yet more. What possibilities of human guilt! What distinctions in human shame! Is not destruction to the wicked and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch. 28:16. Send in spite of promise given by Isaiah (2Ch. 7:14; 2Ch. 8:4), the one immediate and the other remote, that confederate kings should not prevail over him. This
1. A forgetfulness, wilful rejection of divine assurance. Ahaz by his unbelief had not only disestablished himself (2Ch. 28:9), he mortgaged the hope of Israel. He had a policy of his own, and was determined to pursue it. He betrayed the Messiah and deliverer of his people. The assurance of this betrayal is the sign of his obduracy, a signal and terrible proof of his irretrievable sin in calling upon the Assyrians. The king has been found wanting (cf. Smiths Bk. of Isa., p. 118).
2. An unworthy acknowledgment of human dependence. God would have been his help, but he foolishly turned to those who ruined him. This proved by Scripture and by Assyrian monuments, which record payment of tribute by tribes of Israel. His heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, in craven fear (Isa. 7:2).
2Ch. 28:19. Israel low. The influence of the ruler upon the nations welfare and condition. Nakedness or abundance, internal anarchy or prevalent order. The higher the rank the more aggravated the sin. A corrupt king a corrupt court (like that of Charles II.). Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.
2Ch. 28:21 (cf. 2Ki. 16:8). Sacrilege upon the House of God.
1. The kings self-willed assault on established institutions. II. The high priests concessions. See in this a clear picture of the lack of Christian spirit in the two highest ranks. The State desires to see everything arranged according to its whims: the Church yields for the sake of temporal advantage [Bib. Mus.].
2Ch. 28:22. This king Ahaz. The stigma fixed.
1. An expression of the writers feelings.
2. An example of the force of sin.
3. A providential warning to all. Learn wisdom by the folly of others.
2Ch. 28:23. I. The true God forsaken.
1. From wrong views of his character.
2. From false confidence in his rivals. II. The certain ruin which results from this course. The ruin of him. Ruin personal and national, physical and moral, present and future. Gods of heathen, gods of sectarianism, gods of gold, or gods of learning will bring ruin. Mistake to seek inspiration, to covet relief, and implore deliverance from wrong sources. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
2Ch. 28:26-27. Acts of Ahaz, which may be thus summed up:
1. His proud and faithless refusal of a sign by the mouth of Isaiah (2Ch. 7:10-13);
2. His discontinuance of temple worship by closing the temple itself;
3. His desecration of the sacred vessels;
4. His erection of altars to the false gods in every corner of Jerusalem, and in every several city of Judah;
5. His sacrificing to the gods of Damascus that they might help him. The first and last of these offences belonged to the early part of his reign, the others were among the latest practices, and to be reversed by his successor in the kingdom (2Ki. 18:4; 2Ch. 29:3; 2Ch. 29:19) [Speak. Com.].
I. The Character of Ahaz.
1. He was one of those whose iniquity is enhanced by the contempt of spiritual privileges;
2. His downward career was rapidly progressive;
3. He reached the lowest point of human obduracy. II. The illustration he affords of the appalling power of sin.
1. Evil habits strengthen by indulgence;
2. The world increases its power over its votaries as they advance in life;
3. Sinners in mature years lose the perception of religious truth;
4. There is a limit to divine endurance, and hardened transgressors are often left to perish in their sin [Bib. Mus.].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 28
2Ch. 28:1-5 Did not right. How many a son of godly parents is destroyed by evil communications. Companions first known at school, by near residence, or picked up casually at a friends house, often blight the most promising young life. It would be mere affectation to suppose that the history of Ahaz is unconnected with the prevalent corruption in Judah during his fathers reign. Pharaoh himself was not a more signal instance of forbearance of judgment than he. He had a godly example and godly counsel in his father. But other mercies were given to him, and though some were severe chastisements, yet were they mercies nevertheless, and should have been for his good [Ed. Walker, Ser. O.T. Subjects].
2Ch. 28:3-5. Children in fire. The king seems to have had a mania for foreign religions. The worship of Moloch was now established in the valley of Hinnom, in a spot known by the name of Tophet, close under the walls of Jerusalem. There the brazen statue of the god was erected, with the furnace within, or at its feet, into which the children were thrown. To this dreadful form of human sacrifice Ahaz gave the highest sanction by the devotion of one or more of his sons [Stanley].
2Ch. 28:9-15. Clemency. The record of this act of compassion of these Israelites towards the captives of Judah is to be noted as affording a refutation of the allegation of some modern critics that the writer of Chronicles was swayed by partiality for Judah and by prejudice against Israel [Wordsworth].
2Ch. 28:22-25. Continued sin. The way of sin is down hill, a man cannot stop where he would, and he that will be tampering with dangerous occasions in confidence of his resolution, shall often find himself carried beyond his purpose [Abp. Leighton].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
13. THE REIGN OF AHAZ (Chapter 28)
TEXT
2Ch. 28:1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, like David his father; 2. but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baalim. 3. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. 4. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5. Wherefore Jehovah his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 6. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers. 7. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the kings son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.
8. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9. But a prophet of Jehovah was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because Jehovah, the God of your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven. 10. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not even with you trespasses of your own against Jehovah your God? 11. Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, that ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of Jehovah is upon you. 12. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 13. and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for ye purpose that which will bring upon us a trespass against Jehovah, to add unto our sins and to our trespass; for Our trespass is 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 that have been mentioned by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.
16. At that time did King Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. 17. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. 18. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with the towns thereof, and Timnah with the towns thereof, Gimzo also and the towns thereof: and they dwelt there. 19. For Jehovah brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespassed sore against Jehovah. 20. And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of Jehovah, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but it helped him not.
22. And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against Jehovah, this same king Ahaz. 23. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him; and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, therefore will I 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 shut up the doors of the house of Jehovah; and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25. And in every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger Jehovah, the God of his fathers. 26. Now the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and 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, even in Jerusalem; for they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
PARAPHRASE
2Ch. 28:1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he reigned sixteen years, in Jerusalem. But he was an evil king, unlike his ancestor King David. 2. For he followed the example of the kings over in Israel and worshiped the idols of Baal. 3. He even went out to the Valley of Hinnom, and it was not just to burn incense to the idols, for he even sacrificed his own children in the fire, just like the heathen nations that were thrown out of the land by the Lord to make room for Israel. 4. Yes, he sacrificed and burned incense at the idol shrines on the hills and under every green tree.
5. That is why the Lord God allowed the king of Syria to defeat him and deport large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies from Israel also slaughtered great numbers of his troops. 6. On a single day, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 of his bravest soldiers because they had turned away from the Lord God of their fathers. 7. Then Zichri, a great Warrior from Ephraim, killed the kings son Ma-aseiah and the kings administrator Azrikam, and the kings second-in-command Elkanah.
8. The armies from Israel also captured 200,000 Judean women and children, and tremendous amounts of booty which they took to Samaria. 9. But Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there in Samaria and he went out to meet the returning army. Look! he exclaimed. The Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah and let you capture them, but you have butchered them without mercy, and all heaven is disturbed. 10. And now are you going to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem? What about your own sins against the Lord your God? 11. Listen to me and return these relatives of yours to their homes, for now the fierce anger of the Lord is upon you. 12. Some of the top leaders of Ephraim also added their opposition. These men were Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkaih the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai. 13. You must not bring the captives here! they declared. If you do, the Lord will be angry, and this sin will be added to our many others. We are in enough trouble with God as it is. 14. So the army officers turned over the captives and booty to the political leaders to decide what to do. 15. Then the four men already mentioned distributed captured stores of clothing to the women and children who needed it, and gave them shoes, food, and wine, and put those who were sick and old on donkeys, and took them back to their families in Jericho, the City of Palm Trees. Then their escorts returned to Samaria.
16. About that time King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria to be his ally in his war against the armies of Edom. For Edom was invading Judah and capturing many people as slaves. 17, 18. Meanwhile, the Philistines had invaded the lowland cities and the Negeb and had already captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their surrounding villages, and were living there. 19. For the Lord brought Judah very low on account of the evil deeds of King Ahaz of Israel, for he had destroyed the spiritual fiber of Judah and had been faithless to the Lord. 20. But when Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, arrived, he caused trouble for King Ahaz instead of helping him. 21. So even though Ahaz had given him the Temple gold and the palace treasures, it did no good.
22. In this time of deep trial, King Ahaz collapsed spiritually. 23. He sacrificed to the gods of the people of Damascus who had defeated him, for he felt that since these gods had helped the kings of Syria, they would help him too if he sacrificed to them. But instead, they were his ruin, and that of all his people. 24. The king took the gold bowls from the Temple and slashed them to pieces, and nailed the door of the Temple shut so that no one could worship there, and made altars to the heathen gods in every corner of Jerusalem. 25. And he did the same in every city of Judah, thus angering the Lord God of his fathers. 26. The other details of his life and activities are recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27. When King Ahaz died, he was buried in Jerusalem but not in the royal tombs, and his son Hezekiah became the new king.
COMMENTARY
Ahaz became king of Judah about 736 B.C. He was in office during the lifetime of Isaiah, the prophet. The great Immanuel prophecy which was so important in Isaiahs ministry (Isaiah, chapter 7). was announced first of all to Ahaz. This king may also have known Hosea and Micah, although no direct reference is made to them. Ahaz was not a good king. He never followed the ideals of David. He turned, instead, to the Baalism that in his day ruined the northern kingdom. Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had set the pattern for the kings of Israel. He did as he pleased with regard to religion and he disregarded the law of Jehovah. Jeroboam set up calf worship (molten images) at Bethel and Dan. This was repetition of what Israel had done at Sinai in Moses day. Ahab and Jezebel compounded the troubles of the northern kingdom by bringing in special kinds of Baalism from Phoenicia. There were no limits to Ahaz idolatry. The valley of Hinnom bounded Jerusalem on the west and the south. Ahaz desecrated this valley with idol worship. Burning children in the fire describes Molech worship. Solomon, at an earlier time, (1Ki. 11:7-8), had sinned in the same way by the worship of Chemosh and Molech. The god, Molech, has been described as resembling an ox with outstretched human arms and with a built-in furnace. Whether or not a child placed in the arms of this heathen god perished depended on the control of the flames by the priests of Molech. How any man could so deal with his own children or the children of other parents is beyond our understanding. This king of inhuman conduct was one of the main reasons Jehovah drove the native Canaanites from their homeland. High places were special mounds constructed as places of worship. Usually idol worship was practiced in these places. Sometime Jehovah might be worshiped at the high place. The worship of Baal was often practiced on the hills where the devotees could look out over fertile fields supposedly blessed by Baal. Certain features of the worship of Baal and the Asherah (female Baal) could most appropriately be shared under green trees. Sexual intercourse and the employment of priestesses were characteristics of Canaanite worship from earliest times. Ahaz followed his own pleasure in all of these matters.
Jehovah has always judged His own people when they have despised His Word. His judgment may be delayed or it may come quite suddenly. In Ahaz day the Syrians attacked Judah and led great number of them away captive. Damascus, the capital of Syria, was about one hundred thirty miles north northeast of Jerusalem. The Israelites of the northern kingdom under their king, Pekah, came against Judah and killed one hundred and twenty thousand people in one day. This was certainly a judgment for Judah. Judgment came even into the Kings house with the death of Maaseiah, the kings son, at the hands of the Ephraimite warrior, Zichri. Azrikam and Elkanah, both of whom were very close to king Ahaz, were killed. Ahaz should have understood that Jehovah was not pleased with him.
Not only did Pekah and Israel kill many people in the southern kingdom, they also took two hundred thousand captives. They took whatever goods were available to them and brought prisoners of war and goods back to their main city. Samaria was about thirty five miles north of Jerusalem.
Since the days of Jeroboam I there had been much bitterness between the northern and southern kingdoms of the Hebrews. They often engaged in civil war. Jehovah used Israel at this time to chastise Ahaz; however, Pekah and his people did more than Jehovah intended. The pent-up fury of many years was turned loose. Jehovah intervened in behalf of Judah by sending the prophet, Oded. The slaughter of one hundred twenty thousand of Judah was within Jehovahs will. The captivity and cruel treatment of the two hundred thousand was excessive vengeance. So Oded charged Israel with trespass and warned them that Jehovah would turn His wrath upon them. Wise princes of the tribes of Ephraim, Azariah, Berechiah, Jehizkiah, and Amasa rescued the captives from Judah. Their spoil was restored to them. Their physical needs of food and clothing were provided. Their people who were weak and sick were given attention and the entire army of captives was returned to Jericho and released. Jericho was called the city of palm trees even in Moses time (Deu. 34:3). The city was located in the Jordan valley about seven miles above the Dead Sea and about fifteen miles from Jerusalem.
Isaiah urged Ahaz to trust Jehovah (Isaiah, chapter 7). Ahaz stubbornly refused. He faced real trouble in Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria. He attempted an alliance with the Assyrians which failed miserably. Ahaz had to contend with the Edomites and the Philistines. Judahs people in the vicinity of Beersheba, Beth-shemesh, and Timnah suffered because of these enemies. Tiglath-pilneser; the Assyrian king, did not keep faith with Ahaz. He took the kings money, but he would not fight Ahazs enemies. In order to pay the heathen king, Ahaz robbed Jehovahs Temple. Ahaz was a genuine outlaw in his relationship to Jehovah. He dealt wantonly in Judah.
In the days of the Judges when Jehovahs people were terribly oppressed by their enemies because of their sins, the Hebrews finally would repent and Jehovah would send relief. As Ahaz troubles increased he compounded his sins by adding to the list of gods he served. He observed that the Syrians had been successful in their military engagements. He reasoned that if he served their gods, his luck might change.[70] He saw a heathen altar in Damascus (2Ki. 16:10). Urijah, the priest at Jehovahs Temple, was ordered to make a Damascus altar. This heathen altar replaced Jehovahs altar in the Temple. In due time Ahaz impoverished the Temple and closed the doors. Idolatrous altars in every corner of Jerusalem and high places in every city of Judah were Ahaz most notable building projects. So he lived and so he died. He never repented. He was one of Judahs most wicked kings. His history was written not to honor the king or the people, but to describe his obstinate refusal to do Jehovahs will and to detail the judgment sent by God. Even in his funeral he was given a dishonorable discharge from lifes duties. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in that plot reserved for those who had served Jehovah well. Judah needed a strong and righteous king. By Gods grace such a man was to sit in Ahaz seat.
[70] Clarke, Adam, A Commentary and Critical Notes, Vol. II, p. 688
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXVIII.
THE REIGN OF AHAZ. (Comp. 2 Kings 16)
PRELIMINARY NOTICES OF THE LENGTH AND CHARACTER OF THE REIGN (2Ch. 28:1-4).
(1) Ahaz was twenty years old.The verse is identical with 2Ki. 16:2; LXX., Syriac, and Arabic, twenty and five. (See 2Ch. 29:1.)
The Lord.Add his God. So some MSS. and Syriac; also Kings. The Assyrian monuments call Ahaz Yahuhazi, i.e., Jehoahaz, of which Ahaz may be a familiar abridgment. (Comp. Nathan, Jonathan.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 28:5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
2Ch 28:5
2Ki 16:5, “Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.”
2Ch 28:16 At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.
2Ch 28:16
Psa 146:3, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”
2Ch 28:21, “For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.”
2Ch 28:17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
2Ch 28:17
2Ch 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
2Ch 28:18
2Ch 28:20 And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
2Ch 28:20
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Ahaz Defeated by the Syrians and by Israel
v. 1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; but he did not that which was right, v. 2. For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, v. 3. Moreover, he burnt incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, v. 4. He sacrificed also and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree, v. 5. Wherefore the Lord, his God, v. 6. For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, v. 7. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king’s son, v. 8. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren v. 9. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, v. 10. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you, v. 11. Now, hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, v. 12. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, v. 13. and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither, v. 14. So the armed men, v. 15. And the men which were expressed by name,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
This chapter is paralleled by 2Ki 16:1-20. There is a great deal gained in this case by addition on the two accounts, however. Our chapter contains the wickedness by idolatry of Ahaz, the severe punishment thereof by the King of Syria, the Syrian captivity of Judah, and the release of the latter so unexpectedly (2Ch 28:1-15); other punishments by war of Ahaz, his hardened heart, greater sins, and end (2Ch 28:16-27). The united unsuccessful ‘attacks of Syria and Israel, under Rezin and Pekah respectively, on Jerusalem, and attempt at the siege of Ahaz there; the Syrian recovery of Elath, and expulsion of the Jews thence, and the Assyrian taking of Damascus (2Ki 16:5-9), are, though so full of interest, all omitted from our chapter.
2Ch 28:1
Ahaz. The signification of this word is “graspng.” Isaiah (Isa 7:1, Isa 38:8), Hosea, and Micah were contemporaries of Ahaz, whoso reign may be set down at B.C. 744-728. His name shows in the Assyrian tablets, Jahukhazi, or Jehoahaz.
2Ch 28:2
Molten images; Hebrew, . This was a characteristic sin of Israel, but Judah had not been guilty of making molten images during late reigns.
2Ch 28:3
Burnt incense Hinnom. The sin of Solomon (1Ki 11:7, 1Ki 11:8) is reproduced. For the valley of the son of Hinnom, which curved round the south-west and west of Jerusalem (Ge Ben-Hinnom), see Conder’s ‘Handbook,’ ch. 7. pp. 330-332. Burnt his children (see Le 2Ch 18:21); but there cannot be any doubt that Ahaz’s practice here stated was an incident of the Moloch-superstition and horrible cruelty (see the parallel in its 2Ch 28:3, 2Ch 28:4).
2Ch 28:5
The King of Syria. The name of this king (Rezin) does not appear in this chapter, but it does in the parallel, 2Ch 28:5, 2Ch 28:6, 2Ch 28:9. They smote him. A previous unsuccessful attempt of Rezin and Pekah is apparently passed over in our chapter (2Ki 16:5), while the contents of our present yeas must be understood to have its place just before the last clause of 2Ch 28:5 in the parallel, and to be significantly confirmed by the contents of its following verse. They smote carried away brought. These plurals strongly indicate the dialocation of sentences in compiled matter. They probably came from original sources, where the conjoined names of Rezin and Pekah had been the antecedents (see on this history, Isa 7:1-25; Isa 8:1-22; Isa 9:1-21.). Brought them to Damascus. The mode of the first introduction of the name of Ahaz in connection with Damascus in the parallel (2Ch 28:10) is a suggestive illustration of how these parallel but very various narratives proffer to piece themselves, and in a wonderful manner clear their, whole subject of any possible taint of the “cunningly devised fable.” A great multitude of Judah’s people had been carried captives and “brought to Damascus.” When the King of Assyria (parallel, 2Ch 28:9) came to the help of Ahaz, he struck a fierce and evidently decisive blow against Damascus and Rezin, and to Damascus,” to meat” Assyria’s king, Tiglath-Pileser, the very next verso tells us, Ahaz. wentlittle doubt to pay his bills, over which a decent veil of silence is thrown. He was also delivered into the hand, etc. The form of this sentence, with its “also,” and with its evidently tacked-on appearance, coupled with the conjunction “for” with which the following verso is dragged in, seems to give great probability to the idea, first, that the latter half of 2Ch 28:5 and all of 2Ch 28:6 find their real place before (say) the word “Damascus;” and secondly, that they are strictly and conterminously paralleled by the former part of 2Ch 28:5 parallel.
2Ch 28:6
(See foregoing note.) An hundred and twenty thousand. The number is large, but, the uncertainty of very many of these figures notwithstanding, it is impossible absolutely to pronounce it incredible. Because they had forsaken. The now frequent refrain of the writer.
2Ch 28:7
The king’s son. This can scarcely mean the child of Ahaz, considering Ahaz’s age; some think a brother of the present king, son of Jotham, may be intended. We have also to fall back upon the use of the phrase, “king’s son,” for some special official of the king or court (see note on 2Ch 18:25; and its parallel, 1Ki 22:26). The governor of the house; Revised Version, ruler. We have probably a sufficient clue to this designation in 1Ki 4:6; and the designation itself, 2Ch 18:3; 2Ki 18:18; 2Ch 19:11. Next to the king; Hebrew, ; literally, therefore, the next of the king, the general meaning of which expression cannot be doubtful, but the exacter scope and functions of the person under the kings of the divided kingdom thus designated is less certain. It is naturally to be supposed his place may have been king’s deputy in councils in his absence, or in and over the city itself, when he was at a distance with an army.
2Ch 28:8
To Samaria. While the Syrian king carried his captives to Damascus (2Ch 28:5), the Israel king carried his to Samaria. The numbers in this verse, with the added hundred and twenty thousand whom Pekah slew (2Ch 28:6), may be compared with the military strength of the kingdom in Uzziah’s time, as given in 2Ch 26:13.
2Ch 28:9
The very interesting contents of this and the following six verses are not found in the parallel. A prophet of the Lord Oded. We do not know any particulars of this prophet; for his name and its possible identity with the name Iddo, see notes on 2Ch 9:29; 2Ch 15:1, 2Ch 15:8. The growingly frequent references to the interposition of the prophets is much to be noticed, and their dignity, courage, fidelity, are brought into grand relief. They are very typical of the moral presence of which no national history, a.s centuries solemnly flow on, gives the slightest symptom of a slackening need. The very same may be said alike of the truth and those qualified and commissioned to bear it, of the message and the messenger. Before the host; i.e. in very face of the host, somewhat too mildly rendered “to meet” the host, in 2Ch 15:2, etc. In a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. To the wonderful life of this figure, that must strike every reader, must be added the force that comes of its moral rather than merely material suggestiona moral suggestion that reminds us of that of the sentence of far greater antiquity, and from the sacred lip of the Inspirer of all prophets, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” The rage had not been that on which the sun did not go down; it had been so fierce that upon it the sun ought never to hare been required to look. See for interesting particulars and then more general references, Jer 51:9; Ezr 9:6; Psa 38:4; Gen 18:21; Gen 28:12; Job 20:6. The expression of the text, however, “reacheth,” or “toucheth,” cannot be understood to reproduce as a perfect equivalent the older above-quoted one of “crieth.” In other words, the magnitude of the rage is the first thing set forth, and the particular language in which it is set forth well postulates the inference of its abominableness in God’s sight.
2Ch 28:10
For bondmen and bondwomen unto you. The denunciation of Deu 28:68 may be instructively compared with the emphatic prohibition of Le 25:46. The moral thread of ordinance that runs everywhere through the divinely established economy of the Old Testament Judaism should be devoutly observed. The verse, in the position of its words, furnishes an example of almost classical pattern: And now persons who are children of Judah and Jerusalem, ye are resolving within yourselves (literally, saying) to subdue into bondmen and bondwomen for yourselves.
2Ch 28:11
The fierce wrath; i.e. not unannounced, for Oded means to say, “You are doing contrary to the Law and the Prophet Moses,” as just quoted.
2Ch 28:12
Oded’s appeal, and forcible but most temperate and pertinent argument of the previous verses, was addressed to those who led the returning army, flushed with victory and haughty with their captives led in triumph, and, as 2Ch 28:15 shows, cruelly, and with every deprivation of clothes and of shoes, etc. It now, however, fortunately meets with most welcome practical support from those (certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim) who had not had a hand in what had been done, and now stood by, in some measure like umpires. They, at any rate, are convinced, partly perhaps in that their blood was not hot with the battles that had been. We do not know particulars of these four worthier men, whose names, with their fathers’, are here “expressed” (2Ch 28:15). They were evidently conscious of their past sins, had fear toward God, were not of those who, sinning, hastened to sin yet more; but they wished to flee from the wrath to come, the “fierce wrath,” already impending. Ephraim (see note on 2Ch 25:7).
2Ch 28:13
Hither. The returning army was, no doubt, on the outskirts of Samaria, though the exact site of this interesting scene is not written. For whereas we have offended against the Lord; Hebrew; . Translate, For to the just cause of offence on the part of Jehovah with us, ye propose to add to our sins, and to the offence existing already with us; for great is that offence, etc. The genius of the word here rendered” offence,” seems, from careful comparison of the eighteen times of its occurrence, to point to “guilt, sin,” or “trespass,” as the causes awakening offence in any one against these who do them. The repentant temper of these “heads of the children of Ephraim” was admirable, and indicated their distance from many, many others of their people and day, and Of Judah, who were either callous or reckless.
2Ch 28:14
Before the princes and all the congregation; i.e. the four and those who were now congregated round them.
2Ch 28:15
The men which were expressed by name; Revised Version, which have been expressed by name. This is the probable, yet hardly certain, meaning of the clause. My name should be “by names.” And the meaning may be that “the men who were now specified by names for the work rose up,” etc. Under any aspect, it was likely enough these would embrace the four who had already spoken so piously and seasonably (2Ch 31:19; 1Ch 12:31; 1Ch 16:41). The captives; Hebrew, ; literally, the captivity; i.e. of course, the body of captives (Deu 21:11; Deu 32:42). Clothed arrayed. These two renderings are both the same verb (), and even the same (hiph.) conjugation. The undisguised, apparent repetition in the Hebrew text, veiled and disguised in both the Authorized and Revised Versions, may perhaps be owing to the intentness of the narrative on saying, first, that all who were literally naked were clothed from their own captive spoil; and then, secondly, that all whosoever (dusty, dirty, tired, footsore) were clothed, in the sense of being fresh dressed. The eleven particulars of this verso are uncommonly graphic in the Hebrew text brevity of description. The verse may read thus: And the men appointed by their names rose up, and took the captives by the hand, and all of the naked of them they dressed from the very spoil, and dressed them (all), and shod them, and fed them, and gave them drink, and anointed them, and carried upon asses all the feeble ones, and brought them to Jericho, city of palms, to the very side of their brethren, and returned to Samaria. These made their own so far the blessedness of them of Mat 25:34-36. Jericho; i.e. well within their own land, to a fertile and shaded spot of it, with plenty of water, and whence probably all might most easily wend their ways to their own district and town, Jericho lay on the border of Benjamin. See Stanley’s most interesting account.
2Ch 28:16
At that time did King Ahaz kings of Assyria. The vagueness of this common formula, “at that time,” would doubtless not have been apparent in the original sources. In the present instance we may fall back on our 2Ch 28:5, 2Ch 28:6 to give it distinctness; but see 2Ch 28:5, 2Ch 28:6, 2Ch 28:7 of the parallel, which involve their own formula and the present in some little uncertainty. The kings of Assyria. The Septuagint and other versions show the singular number. Our plural may perhaps find an explanation in 2Ch 30:6; 2Ch 32:4.
2Ch 28:17
The Edomites. So the work of Amaziah (2Ch 25:11, 2Ch 25:14; 2Ki 14:7) in reducing Edom was again undone (see also 2Ki 16:7, where “Edom” should be read for “Aram”).
2Ch 28:18
The Philistines. These also had been subjugated again and again, and of late by Uzziah (2Ch 26:6, 2Ch 26:7), work that was now undone. The exultant relief to the Philistines, short-lived though it was, is referred to elsewhere, as in the Book of Isaiah (Isa 14:29, 81), the Psalms (Palm Psa 60:8). Beth-shemesh. On the border of Judah (2Ch 25:23, and our note there; 1Ch 6:44). Ajalon, This was also on the border (1Ch 6:54; 2Ch 11:10). Gederoth. This was in the Shefelah (Jos 15:41). Shocho; or, Socho, one of Rehoboam’s cities, near the Philistines, and therefore selected for fortification (2Ch 11:7). Timnah. This bordered on Dan (Jos 15:10). Gimzo. Not elsewhere mentioned, but well known in the modern village Jimzu, its site on what would have been the border of Dan. They dwelt there. This expression is, of course, designed to indicate that the Philistines obtained successfully some foothold.
2Ch 28:19
Ahaz King of Israel. So Jehoshaphat was called in 2Ch 21:2 “King of Israel.“ If these two occasions are not merely cases of the writer’s or of a copyist’s easily imaginable mistake, they must be regarded as naming the king of the chief divided kingdom by the title of the whole kingdom or people. He made Judah naked; Revised Version, had dealt wantonly in Judah; or margin, Revised Version, had cast away restraint in Judah; Hebrew, .
2Ch 28:20
Tilgath-Pilneser (see 1Ch 5:6, 1Ch 5:26; 2Ki 15:29; 2Ki 16:10, our parallel. See our notes in full on 1Ch 5:6, 1Ch 5:26). Gesenius dates his reign as King of Assyria as B.C. 753-734; others as about B.C. 747-728. Distressed him, but strengthened him not. This is in our writer’s usual deeper moral and religious vein, and was no doubt most true. For all Ahaz paid and bribed out of the sacrilegiously employed treasure of the temple, out of the depreciating and partial dismantling of “the house of the king,” and out of the begged contributions or taxes extortionately wrung “of the princes” (see the succinct account of next verse, and compare the parallel in its 2Ch 28:8, 2Ch 28:18), he bought a master for himself, servitude, tributariness, and the humiliation of disgrace itself. The temporary relief he obtained (and which the writer of Chronicles in no way means to deny) from one enemy rivetted round his neck the yoke of another and greater. And worse than this, he secured in his own heart the greatest adversary of alla restless, implacable foe, which ever goaded him on to worse folly and deeper sin.
2Ch 28:21
Add to references of last verse 2Ch 16:2; 2Ki 12:18; 2Ki 18:15. But he helped him not. See the parallel in its 2Ki 18:9 (2Ki 16:1-20.), and note on our foregoing verse.
2Ch 28:22
This is that King Ahaz. Expunge the words in italic type. Revised Version, this same King Ahaz. But the most literal rendering will be the most forcible: He, the King Ahaz.
2Ch 28:23
He sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him. The writer must be understood to speak from the point of view of Ahaz, in putting it, that it was the gods of Damascus who smote.” The formula, all Israel, is a clear instance of how the name “Israel” is used as “Judah.” The gods of Damascus were, of course, the same with those of Syria, of which Damascus was capital. Their names were Rimmon, Tabrim-men, Hadad, and some others. Perhaps no verse in Chronicles is more typical of the special moral aspects and aims of the writer.
2Ch 28:24
This verse (completed, indeed, by the verse following) heightens to its climax the description of the guilt of Ahaz, which grew to madness. 2Ch 28:17, 2Ch 28:18 of the parallel enlarge our view of what Ahaz did in the way of destruction, relating his mutilation of the bases and laver and sea, after also the displacement of the brazen altar in favour of that the pattern of which he had sent from Damascus to Urijah the priest, who must have been a consenting party to the iniquity. Our 2Ch 30:14 speaks of the time that came when these wicked steps of king and priest began to be retraced, and, with the previous verses of same chapter, are the sad but interesting reverse of the present passage. The modern Jews commemorate, by the observance of a fast, this mournful crisis of Judah’s history.
2Ch 28:26
The book of the kings of Judah and Israel. Parallel (2Ch 28:19), “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.”
2Ch 28:27
Slept with his fathers buried in the city, Jerusalem not brought into the sepulchres of the kings. Parallel (2Ch 28:20), “slept with his fathers buried with his fathers in the city of David.” See our notes on 2Ch 26:23 (parallel, 2Ki 15:7); 2Ch 24:25 (parallel, 2Ki 12:21); 2Ch 21:20 (parallel, 2Ki 8:24).
HOMILETICS
2Ch 28:1-27
This King Ahaz: the progress of a king literally devoid of religion.
In such words, the significance of which no one can mistake, is the royal person who is the chief subject of this chapter pointed to (2Ch 28:22). Ahaz is the bad son of a good father. He is a type of those who begin badly, who are untaught by experience, who grow worse by suffering and adversity, and who end by maddening themselves, to their own destruction! The career of his father Jotham is written, apparently, without a fault, and without a reflection to be cast on him; the career of this son is written, apparently, without one redeeming feature to be put to his account. The contents of this chapter look like a series of pictures, marking a royal progress in wrongness, and which, in the issue, led to a very insanity of irreligion! In this progress notice how the king
I. FORSOOK THE RIGHT MODEL. To be not “like his father David” was at once to want the stamp of a true royalty. To be “like the kings of Israel,” the schismatic line, was to be stamped with the stamp of a base and ungenuine royalty. This description (2Ch 28:2) of “the ways” in which Judah’s king “walked” was, indeed, on the other hand, a fearful characterization for that same schismatic line of Israel. For Ahaz, however, thus to be, and be described, as at the beginning of his reign, when he was already arrived at the twenty-fifth year of his age, was an evil, anyway, of that worst calamity, viz. hope for an altered future almost hopelessly shut out! The augury proved too true. Ahaz counts for nothing Moses, as well as “his father David.” He systematically “framed mischief by” his own “law,” and the law of heathendom. He flagrantly breaks, and teaches the breaking of, the first two of the ever-venerable ten commandmentsthat vital Heaven-graven foundation-code of legislation of his kingdom. Sacrilege, idolatry, and each most heathenish practice and rite of un-“natural religion” he honours and follows. He gets as far as it is possible to get from “fearing” and “loving” and “serving” the Lord God of his fathers “with all the heart, and mind, and soul, and strength.” For a young man, for any man to forsake the right model, the one Example, is to leave himself to pick among many, uncertain in every direction, except in the one certainty of all being wrong! One only safe right rule is ours to follow; “If the Lord be God, follow him” (1Ki 18:21). Examples abound, but absolute safety and rightness can be found in one only.
II. NEGLECTED WARNING. The warning which Ahaz neglected, with a long succession, to say nothing of all those who may have gone before, was not merely warning written, preached loudly and earnestly and with prophet‘s voice proclaimed, but it was that practical warning, the ultimatum of all, the warning of consequences. Defeat, and the captivity of many of his people at the hand of the King of Syria; defeat, and the captivity of many of his people at the hand of the King of Israel; the slaying of his son, of the governor of his house, and of the man that was “the second to him in the kingdom;”all these judgments, offering to bring closer and closer home to him and to his conscience the facts of the case, of his own sins, and of the consequences of those sins, he is blind to, or, not blind, he nevertheless disregards them to the very point of infatuation. But, again, not only are the practical warnings of “wrath” thus set at nought. Providences of mercy compete with those of “wrath” In one of the most remarkable and pathetic passages of all history, startling us by its lifelike and more than dramatic realitya very monograph of pathosseven verses (9-15) here record this providence. They tell us how, by the side of Judah’s king, who refuses to give ear, to repent, or to learn, “certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim in Samaria,” listen attentively to the remonstrance and teaching of the Prophet Oded, are open to the impression of the justness of what he says, see in a moment the truth of things for themselves, and reason without delay with the people, producing salutary convictions in them; and then, even with the atoning addition of all tenderest ministrations (2Ch 28:15), lead back their captives of Judah to Jericho, to the shade of that “city of palm trees,” and to the yet kinder shelter of “their brethren.” What a practical message that was for a hardened heart like that of Ahaz! What an appeal and suggestion for the better feelings, if any, of Judah’s king! But this too, this species of warning was in vain!
III. IMPROVED ADVERSITY TO THE GREATER INIQUITY, AND TO THE REAPING OF GREATER PUNISHMENT AND DEEPER DEGRADATION FOR HIMSELF AND NATION, The Edomites have successfully “smitten” him; the harrying incursions of the Philistines are ever on him; they take village after village, and also so take them, that they are safe in taking up their abode in them, for they dwelt there (2Ch 28:18), Ahaz does not repent, and does not for a moment “seek to the Lord.” The strickennees of sin is on him; the persistence in evil is his disease; the fatal aggravation of folly and infatuation of obstinacy cloud his brain, eclipse his reason, “make gross” his heart. He seeks to the King of Assyria, and bribes him with the sacred things of the house of the Lord, with the precious things of his own palace, with the robbed things of his princes. And that king takes all, but gives no help”he helped him not” (2Ch 28:21); mocks his defencelessness; makes sport of his supplications to him! To one deeper depth, in his deafened despair, he descends. Ahaz vows for his own the gods of those who “smote him” (2Ch 28:23). His logic is that the house too of “the gods of the kings of Syria” may possibly prove a house divided against itself! It was a last, cruel, hapless resort! The refuge was the refuge of ruin”the ruin of him, and of all Israel” (2Ch 28:23), He ends all by entreating for his memory loathing unqualified. He hacks to pieces the collected “vessels of the house of God;” but shuts up (by just so much too late) “the doors of the house” itself; rears every wild altar; profanes with “high places every several city of Judah” to burn there the “incense of abomination;” excludes his own bones from the sepulchres of the best of his ancestors; and leaves us one more fearful lesson, that none and nothing make so sure a mock as sin itself makes of the “fool, who makes a mock” at it!
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
2Ch 28:1-4
Spiritual rebound.
From Jotham to Ahaz, from the king who “made his ways firm before Jehovah” to the king who “made molten images for Baalim,” and “burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen,” what a terrible rebound, what a deplorable reaction! We may regard this as
I. AN EVENT WHICH FREQUENTLY OCCURS.
1. Sometimes to the nation. We have a notable instance of this in the reaction from the Puritan strictness of the Commonwealth to the unbounded licence of the Restoration.
2. Sometimes to the Church. A sudden passing from the ardour of some fervent enthusiasm to the rigour of utter indifference and inactivity.
3. Sometimes to the family. When a godly, devoted, and useful parent is succeeded by a dissolute and mischief-working son (as in the text).
4. Sometimes in the individual. A man is led to the appearance (if not the reality) of piety and zeal; he worships regularly in the house of the Lord, and takes a prominent part in the activities of the Church; then with more or less of suddenness he declines; he abandons his religious convictions and his moral principles, and stands before society as a spiritual renegade, living to injure and destroy all he had appeared to love and had busied himself to promote.
II. ITS EXPLANATION.
1. Not in any law of human change. It may be contended that there is in the mind and in the history of man a constant ebb and flow as in the tides of the sea; that when a mental or moral movement has proceeded long and far in one direction, the time has come for a counter-movement in the opposite direction. But there is no reason, in the nature of things, why we should not move steadily on in the direction of wisdom and virtue. Such a tendency as this is not properly a law; it is only a generalization from a comparatively small number of particulars. Hence we also say:
2. Not in any inherent human fickleness. Man is more or less fickle; i.e. many men are very fickle, and some men are seriously so, and others slightly so. But other men are constant, faithful, loyal to the last. Man, as man, is under no necessity to change his course, to reverse his direction, to pursue what he has shunned, to pull down what he has built up. We find the explanation we seek:
3. Partly in the unwisdom of the good. Possibly Jotham may have been an unwise father in some material respects; he may have so acted, so ruled his royal household, as to present to his son an unattractive aspect of godliness; he may have failed to distinguish between the requirements of manhood and of youth. Certainly, if he did not, very many parents do, and this their folly is the account of the departure and defection of their sons. It is clear that the unwise austerity of the Puritans had much to do with the excesses of the following generation. Very often, indeed, the intemperate heats of some body of Christian or philanthropic men account, in a large degree, for the repugnance and retrogression of the community. Unwisdom in the good may be as mischievous in its results as the very transgressions of the wicked.
4. Partly in the shallowness of the piety or morality in question. When this is nothing more than mere habit, especially when that habit is of the body rather than of the mind, is fleshly rather than spiritual, it is not to be expected that loyalty will last; it is to be expected that the first strong wind of inclination, or of worldly interest, or of social pressure, will carry such a one away and bear him whithersoever it wills. The great lesson for parents, teachers, pastors, reformers, patriots, is thisdig deep if you would have your house stand. If you would not see your sons and daughters, your fellow-members or fellow-citizens swept round with the current, facing the wrong goal, exerting their influence for evil instead of for good, then do not be content with scattering seed anyhow and anywhere. Dig the deep furrow, sow the seed well; plant living convictions in the judgment and in the conscience of men. Get the whole nature on the side of truth and righteousness. If the man himself, and not only his external habits, not only his feelings and inclinations “if he himself, through his whole spiritual nature, gives himself to the service of Christ and of man, you need not fear the coming of an adverse tide; you need not fret about the fickleness of our kind; you will witness no painful and pitiable reaction; the path of those you serve will be one of continuous ascent; it will be “the path of the just, shining brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.”C.
2Ch 28:9-15
Divine and human pity.
A very striking and a most unusual incident is here related; it has very few parallels in the page of ancient history. The hand that struck down the enemy very rarely failed to strike him when he was down. Here we have a refreshing picture of human relenting; of men who had just presented the cup of woe putting to the lips of the suffering a cup of mercy. But first we have a picture of
I. DIVINE PITY IN THE MIDST OF DIVINE PENALTY. It is clear that the people of Judah owed their defeat entirely to the fact that they had grievously sinned against the Lord (see 2Ch 28:9). But there was a point beyond which justice did not demand that penalty should go. And at that point Divine pity might appear. There it did appear, and it arrested the hand of the cruel smiter. God sends judgment, but in wrath he “remembers mercy” (Hab 3:2). He sends the serious sickness which brings pain and weakness, but at a certain point he sends the remedy and restoration. He brings down upon the guilty the strong indignation of their kind, but he raises up the compassionate and the considerate who visit the prisoner or the lonely with words of friendly sympathy and cheer. He brings the strong but rebellious kingdom to defeat and humiliation, but he causes it to grow up again to competence and power. He bruises, but he does not shatter; he lays low, but he raises up.
II. OFFICIAL FAITHFULNESS. Oded had a difficult and dangerous part to play on this occasion, but he bore himself right nobly (2Ch 28:9-11). He did not flinch from words of energetic condemnation (2Ch 28:9, 2Ch 28:10), or from words of unpalatable advice (2Ch 28:11). If God puts us into any responsible position, whether in the family, or in the Church, or in the city, or in the councils of the nation, we are most sacredly bound to play our part courageously. No man is fitted to occupy a post of trust and honour unless he is prepared, at times, to say and do that which is likely to be resented. Though we may not be called upon to face a triumphant army with words of remonstrance and command, as Oded did now, yet we are sure to be under obligation to say that which is unacceptable and to confront the dislike and disapproval of men. If we are not prepared to do that, we had better stand down at once, and take a lower place. Certainly we are not qualified to speak for God.
III. HUMAN INFLUENCE. We have two instances of human influence being exercised with remarkable success. The outspoken prophet persuades the princes, and they in their turn persuade the soldiers to release the captives and to abandon the spoil which they had taken. This was a truly remarkable success. To induce men who are flushed with victory to forego the advantages they have won with the sword is to accomplish a great feat. It shows what man can do with man; what influence a strong voice can exert upon the human heart.
1. It is always well worth while to interpose between men and the wrong they are meditating; we may save them from great guilt and others from great suffering.
2. We must be in downright earnest, and speak with entire fearlessness and frankness, as both prophet and princes did now, or we shall not succeed. We must speak as those who are perfectly convinced, as those who know what is right, and have no hesitation at all as to the course which should be taken.
IV. HUMAN PITY. Instead of slaughtering their prisoners, which in that age might have been done without pity or remorse, we have these soldiers of Israel showing all possible kindness to them (2Ch 28:15). It is a common thing now for men to show a magnanimous kindness to their fallen enemy even on the battle-field. But the teaching of the Lord of love has done its work to some considerable extent, and has mercifully modified the cruelties of war. The scene of the text was something of an anticipation of the injunction, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.“ It is for us to illustrate the spirit then shown, on every opportunity. We should spare those who are in our power; it may be in the domain of business; it may be in the social circle; it may be round the domestic table; it may be in something so simple as a debate, so common as an ordinary argument. But wherever or whatever it be, to spare our opponent when he is down, to save him from the miseries Of defeat, to put him in the way of return to self-respect and honour, to “take back our captives to Jericho,“ is to do no more than these Israelites did on this particular occasion; it is to do no less than our Master requires of us at all times and under every circumstance (Mat 5:43-48).C.
2Ch 28:17-19
Blow upon blow.
Ahaz was a very great transgressor, and he was (as we might expect he would be) a very great sufferer. He received blow upon blow from the righteous hand of that holy Ruler who by present and temporal visitations was educating his people in the ways of heavenly wisdom. First Rezin King of Syria defeated him, and carried away many captives to Damascus (2Ch 28:5). Then Pekah King of Israel slew his army with a great and pitiless slaughter (2Ch 28:6). Then the Edomites smote Judah, and went away with the usual spoil (2Ch 28:17). Then the Philistines “invaded the cities of the low country,” and took several important places (2Ch 28:18). Thus “the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz.’ One blow fell after another, until the land was thoroughly smitten and stripped, left “naked to its enemies” (2Ch 28:19). We are reminded by these successive inflictions of
I. THE ACCUMULATING PENALTY WHICH SIN ALWAYS PAYS.
1. This often comes in the form of obvious and apparent losses. The trangressor who “fears not God, neither regards man,” finds himself subjected to a series of adversities, which he regards as misfortunes, but which we recognize as penalties. He loses the confidence and esteem of his worthier neighbours; then he loses custom, trade, support, and then and thus he loses money; then he loses his substance by extravagance and, it may be, by one or more expensive vicesand vice is a very expensive thing; then he loses health and spirit and hope; then he loses the regard of his neighbours generally. So, step by step, he goes down, until “the Lord brings Judah low,” until he has “made the land naked.”
2. Or penalty may come in the way of inward and spiritual deterioration. We cannot pretend to say in what order this proceeds; it varies with individual souls; but blow upon blow descends; bruise upon bruise is suffered by the soul; one defence after another is taken away from the citadel until the land is “naked.” It may be that the fine sense of truthfulness goes first; then, perhaps, the spirit of reverence; then the loss of thorough rectitude; then the loss of purity; then may come an indifference to the judgment of the good and wise; then the decay of self-respect;and what then is left? Let the man who, like Ahaz, hardens himself against God understand this, that as he goes on his guilty way, even if outward prosperity remains to him, there is descending upon his spiritual nature, upon himself if not upon his circumstances, blow upon blow of righteous penaltyblows which are bruising and slaying him, beneath which he is surely perishing.
II. THE MULTIPLIED SORROWS WHICH RIGHTEOUSNESS SOMETIMES ENDURES. “Many are the afflictions (even) of the righteous” (Psa 34:19). To the patient Job, to the faithful Jeremiah, to the devoted Paul, they come in large number and in great strength. Even to the purest and loveliest of the sons and daughters of God there sometimes falls a sad succession of trials; it may be in the heart and on the lips of the most worthy to say, “All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” Blow upon blow descends upon their head. What does it mean? It simply means that the branch which is bearing fruit the Lord of the vineyard is pruning, “that it may bring forth more fruit;” it means that “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,” in order that he may make them to be “partakers of his holiness;’ it means that the Divine Master is refining and cultivating his servant, to prepare him for a far broader and nobler sphere and for higher and heavenlier,work hereafter; it means that affliction is working out an “exceeding weight of glory.”C.
2Ch 28:21-27
Sin in its issues.
To what will sin lead us? What, when it nears its end and when it is finished, will it bring forth? We have the answer in this portion of Ahaz’s life.
I. INFATUATION. He robbed the palace and even plundered the temple in order to bribe the King of Assyria to help him, instead of going to the house of the Lord as a servant and suppliant of Jehovah, to seek and find his help. That is to say, he committed robbery and sacrilege in order to secure the succour of a man who afterwards deceived and defrauded him (2Ch 28:21), when, by simple piety and integrity, he might have secured the aid of Omnipotence, the help of One that never fails his people. His course was one of utter infatuation. He neglected the one way that was quite open to him, and that would certainly have succeeded; he adopted a measure that was full of iniquity, and that was likely to end, as it did, in failure. He put the finishing stroke to his fatuity when he worshipped “the gods which smote him” (2Ch 28:23). Sin does lead down to infatuation, it leads men to seek their joy and their heritage in the poorest and most unsatisfying springs, to pursue wisdom and wealth in directions where emptiness and poverty are alone to be obtained; it leads men to neglect the Fountain of living waters, the Source of all truth and wisdom, of all excellency and joy. It strews the path of the guilty with melancholy failures.
II. DEFIANCE. Ahaz could hardly go further in defying the Lord God of his fathers, the Divine One whom he was taught and trained to worship, than he did by his conduct as here described (2Ch 28:24, 2Ch 28:25). It was an act of unholy hardihood, of almost desperate defiance, that could only be the outcome of a guilty obduracy of spirit. He must have resented the action of Jehovah and determined to go all possible lengths in defying his authority. Well might the spirit of Isaiah be aroused as he witnessed this profanation, this open and daring rebellion against the living God. When men have long given way to their folly and to their sinful inclinations they do sometimes go to this awful length. They defy the God that made them, in whose power they stand. They may deny his existence; they may mock at his judgments, and at his final condemnation of their course; they may speak arrogantly and impiously of his power and of his rule: “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Psa 73:11).
III. DEATH. Ahaz went down to an early and a dishonoured death (verse 27). We do not wonder that he died before he reached the age of forty. The disasters he brought upon his country, and the mental strain which he must have undergone to proceed to such lengths of impiety, are enough to account for a premature decline and death. And all the better instincts of that instructed people led them to refuse the funereal honour they usually paid to their kings. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” The issue of all sin is deathphysical, spiritual, eternal. This is its wages. Let those who are moving down its sad decline take note of the end to which they move. But let us realize that to all who will turn from its enticements and break from its evil power, to all who will accept the supreme gift of God in Jesus Christ, “eternal life” is open (Rom 6:23).C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW
2Ch 28:1-27
This is that King Ahaz.
I. A DEGENERATE SON. Aliaz, “Grasper” or “Possessor.” In the Tigiath-Plleser inscriptions, which probably confounded him with the son of Jehoram (2Ch 21:17), he is called Jehoahaz, “Whom Jehovah grasps,” though the Scripture writers may have dropped the prefix “Jeho-” on account of his wickedness.
1. He possessed his father‘s nature. Of necessity, as his father’s son (Gen 5:3). Yet he improved not upon that nature, but rather deteriorated and corrupted it. Heredity in him took a downward direction. Some knowledge of who his mother was might shed important light upon the question of how he came by his peculiarities of character and disposition,
2. He enjoyed his father‘s example. Jotham “prepared his ways before the Lord his God” (2Ch 27:6), yet his pious conduct seemingly exerted no beneficial influence upon his son. Ahaz followed not his father’s footsteps, but carved out a path of his own. Example, especially when good, may be potent, but is not omnipotent.
3. He obtained his father‘s throne. Yet he rather tarnished it than added to its lustre. New dignities do not give new hearts or new powers. At the age of twentyfive years younger than his father (2Ch 27:1), and only four years older than his grandfather (2Ch 26:1)he assumed the crown of Judah. If the reading “twenty-five “years (Vatican text of the LXX; Arabic, Syriac) be preferred (Ewald, Thenius, Bertheau, Keil, Bahr), on the ground that otherwise he must have married in his tenth or eleventh year, in order, after sixteen years, to be succeeded by a son as old as Hezekiah, who was twenty-five on ascending the throne (2Ch 29:1), he was still but a youth when crowned, which may suggest that early promotion is not the same thing as early conversion.
4. He lacked, i.e. did not possess, his father‘s goodness. Grace runs not in the blood (Joh 1:13), though corruption does (Job 14:4; Psa 51:5). A man may communicate to his son wealth, learning, fame, power; be cannot, certainly, impart either grace or goodness.
5. He attained not to his father‘s grave. When he died his people buried him in Jerusalem, but not in the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. He who in his lifetime had been no true Israelite, though he wore a crown, must not in his death be laid among the sovereigns who were Israelites indeed. Death, which destroys all time’s distinctions between man and man, nevertheless effectually distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked (Pro 14:32; Luk 16:22; Rev 14:13).
II. AN APOSTATE KING. Immediately he reached the crown, Ahaz discovered what manner of spirit he was of. With a perfect passion for idolatry”a mania for foreign religious practices” (Stanley)he soon outstripped his people, if not the heathen themselves, in his misdevotion, becoming their Coryphaeus in superstitious rites, showing himself to be the idolater par excellence in Judah, and by his regal example leading his subjects down into unknown depths of infamy (2Ch 28:19).
1. He renounced the true religion of Jehovah. Not merely as it had been practised by David (2Ch 28:1), Asa (2Ch 15:17), and Jehoshaphat (2Ch 17:3), but as it had been observed by his immediate predecessors, Jotham, Uzziah, and Amaziah. If not discontinued at once as to outward form, it was kept up for a season merely as a form; it was from the first abandoned in heart. He began his reign by practising the arts of a hypocrite.
2. He adopted the false worship of Baal, which had long held sway in the northern kingdom (2Ch 28:2). Whether he introduced the calf-worship of Jeroboam (Keil), or restricted himself to the manufacture of images of Baal (Bahr), in either case he followed in the way of the Israelitish kings (1Ki 12:28; 1Ki 16:32; 2Ki 3:2). “It is hard not to be infected by a contagious neighbourhood: whoever read that the kingdom of Israel was seasoned with the vicinity of the true religion of Judah?” (Bishop Hall).
3. He utilized all the idol-sanctuaries already existing in the land. “He sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree” (2Ch 28:4). In so doing he copied bad masters, reproducing the slate of matters which had existed in Judah under Rehoboam (1Ki 14:23), and at the moment flourished in Samaria under Hoshea (2Ki 17:10)a state of matters which from the first had prevailed among the heathen inhabitants of the land (Deu 12:2), but which they had been commanded ruthlessly to destroy. On the nature of this worship consult the Exposition.
4. He introduced the worship of Moloch, “the savage god of the Ammonites” (Stanley), as Solomon had done before him (1Ki 11:7), in open defiance of Divine Law (Le 2Ch 18:21; Deu 18:10), setting up an image of that idola human figure with a bull’s head and outstretched armsin the valley of Hinnom, a “narrow waterless ravine bounding the site of Jerusalem, and commencing on the west as a shallow dell”, and even sacrificing to it one (2Ki 16:3) or more (2Ch 28:3) of his own sons, as Manasseh afterwards did (2Ch 33:6). “The image of metal was made hot by a fire kindled within it, and the children, laid in its arms, rolled from thence into the fiery lap below. Voluntary offering on the part of the parents was essential to the success of the sacrifice. Even the firstborn, nay, the only child of the family, was given up. The parents stopped the cries of their children by fondling and kissing them, for the victim ought not to weep, and the sound of complaint was drowned in the din of flutes and kettledrums”. That the children were not merely passed through the fire as an act of purgation, but actually burned, seems indisputable; it is not certain that the children were thrown alive into the idol’s glowing arms, the opinion that they were first slain (Keil, Bahr, Schurer) appearing to be warranted by certain passages in Scripture (Eze 16:20, Eze 16:21; Eze 23:39; Isa 57:5; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; cf. 2Ki 3:27).
5. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus.
(1) He did this when the Syrians were inflicting on him military reverses, i.e. in the time of his distress (Keil), not after it (Bertheau). Strange that just then, when men most need the help of God, in the hour of affliction and season of calamity, they usually manifest a tendency to run from him, looking for assistance from every quarter blot the right one (Jer 3:23)exemplified in Ahaziah (2Ki 1:2, 2Ki 1:3).
(2) The reason of his doing this was that he imagined his ill success upon the field of battle had been due, not at all to the hand of God who thereby punished his wickedness, but to the assistance derived by the Syrians from their divinities (verse 23), and conceived that, by paying them respect in sacrificing to them, he would win their favour to himself instead of them (2Ch 25:14). Wicked men seldom ascribe their misfortunes or adversities to the right cause, their own ill deserts and God’s hand in punishing the same, but mostly attribute them to the “scientific idols,” called “chance,” “circumstances,” “ill luck,” etc; which deities they hope to propitiate in a manner hardly less foolish than that of Ahaz, by sacrificing at their unhallowed shrines.
(3) The specific mode in which he served the Syrian gods is not stated, as the divinities themselves are not named, and indeed in Scripture never are (Jdg 10:6). The incident of the altar seen by Ahaz at Damascus, and reproduced in Jerusalem (2Ki 16:10-16), is not referred to by the Chronicler. The altar incident occurred when Ahaz was attending Tiglath-Pileser’s durbar at Damascus; “the sacrifices” were performed while Ahaz was fighting with the Syrians.
(4) The result of his appeal to the gods of Syria was ruin to himself and to all Israel. So all that forsake God shall be ashamed (Jer 17:13), while “their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after other gods” (Psa 16:4), and “they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercies” (Jonah if. 8); for “idolaters shall have their part in the lake,” etc. (Rev 21:8).
6. He shut up the doors of the house of the Lord. (Verse 24.) It was high time. The man who could displace the brazen altar made by Solomon after patterns furnished by Jehovah (Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Exo 27:1; 1Ch 28:19), to make room for a new shrine, no matter of what costly material, copied from a heathen temple at Damascus, and fashioned by a servile priest in Jerusalem; the monster who could erect an image of Moloch in his capital and sacrifice to it his own child; the devotee who was so mad upon foreign gods, that the very sight of a heathen temple, altar, or idol caused him to fall a-worshipping;had obviously no excuse for longer affecting to be a worshipper of Jehovah. Accordingly, he smashed up the vessels and closed the doors of the temple. There should be no more worshipping of Jehovah, if he could help it. It was horrible sacrilege, but it was at least honest.
7. He did his utmost to provoke Jehovah to anger. Building altars in every corner of Jerusalem, till, like Athens in the days of Paul, it was wholly given to idolatry, literally stuffed full of idols (Act 17:16), and erecting besides in every city of Judah high places to burn incense unto other gods (verses 24, 25); he did his best to pour contempt upon the God of his fathers; in his outrageous, fanatical, and senseless idolatry eclipsing all his predecessors, leaving behind him in the race to perdition experts in heathen worship like Rehoboam and Jehoram in Judah, like Jeroboam and Ahab in Israel. It was no wonder that Jehovah at length bestirred himself to take vengeance on this nonpareil idolater.
III. AN UNSUCCESSFUL WARNING. For the wickedness of himself and people, he and they were “brought low,” diminished in numbers, weakened in power, humbled in spirit, by Jehovah, who raised up against them three foreign foes.
1. The Syrians and Israelites. (Verses 5-7.)
(1) The leaders of the allied forces wereof the Syrians, Rezin, or Rezonin the inscriptions, Razinu, King of Syria, whose capital was Damascus; of the Israelites, Pekah, the son of Remaliahin the inscriptions, Pakaha, a usurper; whose metropolis was Samaria (‘Records,’ etc; 5:48-52).
(2) The time selected for their assault upon Judah was the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, although for some years previous to Jotham’s death similar attacks had not been wanting (2Ki 15:37).
(3) The object contemplated by the expedition was to overturn the Davidie dynasty, and place upon the throne of Judah “a vassal king, whose father’s name, Tabeel, shows that he must have been a Syrian” (Sayce); the Hauran inscriptions exhibiting several names, like Tab’el, compounded with el, and the Syrian Tab‘–rimmon forming an exact parallel (Delitzsch, on Isa 7:6). It is supposed that a party in Jerusalem favoured the contemplated revolution (Isa 8:6).
(4) The plan of campaign appears to have been that Rezin should invade Judah from the south, capturing Eloth on the Red Sea, which Uzziah had restored to Judah (2Ch 26:2), that Pekah should send a force directly from the north across the borders of the southern kingdom, and that both armies should meet in front of Jerusalem, to reduce it, if possible, by a siege.
(5) The result of the invasion, so far as Ahaz and his people were concerned, was disastrous in the extreme. The capital, as Isaiah had predicted, was not taken. It may be questioned if the programme was carried out to the extent of besieging the city. There is ground for thinking this was prevented by the appearance upon the scene of Tiglath-Pileser II. of Assyria (verse 16; 2Ki 16:7). But
(a) Rezin of Damascus, besides recovering Eloth (2Ki 16:6), defeated Ahaz m a pitched battle, and carried away a multitude of his subjects captive to Damascus.
(b) Pekah also routed him with great slaughter in one day’s fight, slaying a hundred and twenty thousand of his veteran troops. In particular, Zichri, an Ephraimite hero, struck down three warriors closely related to AhazMaaseiah the king’s son, i.e. cousin or uncle, as in 2Ch 18:25 and 2Ch 22:11, since Ahaz could hardly at the commencement of his reign have had a son capable of bearing arms; Azrikam, the ruler of the house, not of the temple (2Ch 31:13; 1Ch 9:11), but of the palace, hence a high official in the royal household; and Elkanah, that was next or second to the king, i.e. his prime minister. In addition, two hundred thousand women, sons and daughters, with much spoil, were carried captive to Samaria. The great number of the slain and of the captives may be accounted for by remembering that it was practically a war for the existence of the southern kingdom, which would require Ahaz to call out all his able- bodied population; that the Israelites were accustomed to act with great cruelty in war (2Ki 15:16), and probably did so on this occasion (2Ch 22:9); and that Jehovah had delivered Ahaz and his people into the hands of their enemies on account of their apostasy, as by the lips of Moses (Le 2Ch 26:17, 37) he had threatened he would in such cases do.
2. The Edomites. These, whom Uzziah had reduced to subjection (2Ch 26:2), were probably emboldened by Rezin’s successful attack upon Eloth (2Ki 16:6) to throw off the yoke of Judah, and even attempt reprisals in the shape of an invasion of Judaean territory. This they executed with such military skill, that they carried off, as the Syrians and Israelites had done, a number of prisoners.
3. The Philistines. During the previous reign these also had been conquered, and their country occupied by garrisons of Judaean soldiers (2Ch 26:6); but, embracing the opportunity afforded by the simultaneous attacks directed upon their ancient enemy and present suzerain, they asserted their independence, made an irruption into the low land and south country of Judah, captured and occupied a number of cities, with their dependent villages: Beth-shemesh (see on 2Ch 25:21); Ajalon, the modem Jalo (2Ch 11:10); Gederoth, in the hill country of Judah (Jos 15:36); “the Gedor of the ‘Onomasticon,’ ten miles from Eleutheropolis, on the road to Diospolis, now the ruin Jedireh“; Shocho (2Ch 11:7), the Shuweike of to-day; Timnah, the present Tibneh, on the frontier of Judah three quarters of an hour from Ain-shems; Gimzo, now Jimsu, a large village between Lydda and Jerusalem.
LESSONS.
1. The degeneracy of human naturea good Jotham begets a wicked Ahaz.
2. The madness of idolatry, exemplified in the career of Ahaz.
3. The certainty of retribution, illustrated by the “bringing low” of Judah.W.
2Ch 28:8-15
The sending back of the captives-an incident of the Israelitish war.
I. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH. (2Ch 28:8.)
1. The number of the captives. Two hundred thousand persons.
(1) This, following upon a slaughter of one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, showed the crushing nature of the blow which had fallen upon Judah.
(2) It exemplified the horrors of war, especially amongst ancient peoples, with whom the deportation of vast hordes of a country’s population was a familiar phenomenon. Cf. among the Jews the twenty thousand footmen taken by David from Hadadezer of Zobah (2Sa 8:4; 1Ch 18:4), and the ten thousand Edomites captured by Amaziah (2Ch 25:12); amongst the Assyrians the carrying away of the inhabitants of Samaria to Assyria by Tiglath-Pileser II. (2Ki 15:29; cf. ‘Records,’ etc; 5.52)”the population, the goods of its people (and the furniture)to the land of Assyria I sent,” and the removal by Sargon II. of 27,280 of the leading inhabitants of Samaria to Gozan and Media (‘Records,’ etc; 7.28); and amongst the Egyptians the number of foreign peoples transported to the Nile valley as the result of successful campaigns, a number so great as with their descendants to compose in the time of Rameses Sesostris “a third, aud probably still more, of all the families of Egypt” (Brugsch, ‘ Egypt under the Pharaohs,’ 2.104).
(3) It illustrated the ease with which, when God willed it, a nation could be “minished and brought low” (Job 12:23; Psa 107:39).
(4) It attested the certainty and severity of God’s judgments on account of sin, whether upon nations or individuals (Le 2Ch 26:17; Deu 32:30; 2Ch 15:6).
2. The persons of the captives.
(1) The brethren of the Israelites, i.e. their kinsmen; hence the wickedness of their conduct in enslaving not merely human beings, which was bad, but their own flesh and blood, which was worse, yea, was unnatural; and
(2) of these, not the men who had fought against them, which might have been in some sort excusable, but, which was wholly indefensible, the women, with their sons and daughters, who were all alike innocent of offence in either causing or sustaining the war, and therefore should have been exempted from experiencing its miseries.
3. The destination of the captives. Samaria, in the Assyrian monuments Sa-mir-i-na, the capital of the northern kingdom, built by Omri (1Ki 16:24).
II. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE PROPHET OF JEHOVAH. (2Ch 28:9-11.)
1. The prophet‘s name. Oded, “Setting up.” The name of the father of Azariah who went out to meet Asa (2Ch 15:2).
2. The prophet‘s designation. A prophet of Jehovah, not of the false Jehovah worshipped in Samaria under the image of a calf (Hos 8:5, Hos 8:6), but of the true Jehovah, which shows that, apostate as the northern kingdom had become, it was not entirely destitute of true religion-even there Jehovah having at least prophets who witnessed for him, like Hosea (Hos 1:1) and Oded, if not also adherents who worshipped him.
3. The prophet‘s courage. He went out to meet the hosts of Israel as they returned from their successful campaign, and warned them of the wickedness of which they had been guilty; as Jehu, the son of Hanani, had met Jehoshaphat returning from Ramoth-Gilead (2Ch 19:2), and a prophet of Jehovah had confronted Amaziah coming from the slaughter of the Edomites (2Ch 25:15).
4. The prophet‘s address.
(1) A reminder that the victory they had obtained had been due not so much (if at all) to their superior military skill or bravery, as to the fact that Jehovah had been angry with Judah, and had delivered her armies into their hands (verse 9; of. Neh 9:27).
(2) A rebuke for the want of pity they had shown towards their brethren upon whom the anger of God had fallena circumstance which should have moved their hearts to clemency (Job 19:21), but which had rather lent intensity to their rage.
(3) An accusation that they purposed to make bondmen and bondwomen of the sons and daughters of Judah and Jerusalemwhich, besides being an act of cruelty, was likewise an act of folly, since it could not be supposed Jehovah’s favour was finally withdrawn from Judah; and an act of presumption, inasmuch as they themselves had not been blameless in the matter of apostatizing from Jehovah, and, if the truth were told, were as much deserving to be punished as their southern brethren and sisters.
(4) An appeal to their conscience to say whether what he now affirmed was not correct: “Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?” Their idolatry was as great as that of Judah had been. Their pitiless butchery of their brethren was crying up against them to heaven. Their bringing away of these innocent women and children was an iniquity which filled up the measure of their guilt (verse 10).
(5) An exhortation to desist from their criminal intention to enslave their brethren, and to send back the captives they had brought, with all convenient speed and with due expressions of reset (verse 11).
(6) An argument to quicken their movements in the path of duty; if they did not, the fierce wrath of Jehovah, which was already on them, would engulf them. The speech, which was a model in respect of compact brevity, lofty eloquence, clear statement, pathetic appeal, resistless logic, and which must have been delivered with combined boldness and persuasiveness, made a deep impression.
III. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE PRINCES OF EPHRAIM, (Verses 12-14.)
1. The names of the princes. Azariah (2Ch 15:2; 2Ch 22:6), the son of Johanan, “Jehovah is gracious;” Berechiah, “Whom Jehovah hath blessed” (1Ch 6:39), son of Meshillemoth, “Retribution;” Jehizkiah, the same as Hezekiah, “The might of Jehovah,” son of Shallum, “Retribution” (2Ki 15:10); and Amasa, “Burden,” the name of one of Absalom’s captains (2Sa 17:25), the son of Hadlai, “Rest.” These princes were obviously at the head of the Israelitish congregation (verse 14).
2. The action of the princes. They joined the Prophet Oded in resisting the introduction by the soldiers of the captives into the city. That people is fortunate whose leaders are courageous to oppose them in evil-doing, and to point out to them the path of duty.
3. The speech of the princes.
(1) A refusal to admit the captives into the city (verse 13);
(2) a confession that already they, as a people, had transgressed against Jehovah, and incurred his wrath; and
(3) an intimation that the course the soldiers were pursuing was such as would increase their sin and trespass, and expose them to a heavier charge of guilt.
4. The success of the princes. “The armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation” (verse 14). Happy is that community in which the wise and good counsels of its leaders prevail.
IV. THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL AND THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH. (Verse 15.)
1. The kindness of the princes. The above-named (verse 12), with other famous and distinguished leaders, to whom a similar designation was customarily applied (1Ch 12:31; 1Ch 16:41; 2Ch 31:19), rose up from their seats of honour in the midst of the assembly, stood forth as the representatives of the people and received at the hands of the soldiers the crowd of captives; out of the spoil, which, as usual, consisted in garments, flocks, and herds, with other articles of value (2Ch 15:14, 2Ch 15:15; 2Ch 20:25), clothed and shod all amongst them who were naked, giving them to eat and drink (2Ki 6:22, 2Ki 6:23); anointed with oil such of them as had wounds (Luk 10:34); set the feeble upon asses, of which animals there was a plentiful supply (1Ch 27:30; Ezr 2:67)a lively picture of the pity and compassion which should ever be shown towards the unfortunate, suffering, and miserable, especially by the people of God (Isa 58:6, Isa 58:7; Job 30:25; Luk 10:37; Luk 14:12; 1Ti 5:10; 1Jn 3:17).
2. The return of the captives. Thus generously treated by the princes, they were sent back, those able to travel by themselves, those requiring to ride accompanied by conductors, who journeyed with them as far as Jericho, the city of palm trees (Jdg 3:13), distant from Jerusalem about five and a half hours walk, situated in the tribe of Benjamin, and belonging to the kingdom of Judah. Arrived thither, they were handed over to their brethren, after which their conductors returned to Samaria.
LESSONS.
1. The sin of slavery.
2. The function of prophecy.
3. The beauty of charity.W.
2Ch 28:16, 2Ch 28:20, 2Ch 28:21
An unfortunate embassy.
I. THE PERSON APPROACHED. Tiglath-Pilneser (2Ch 28:20), Tiglath-Pileser (2Ki 16:7); in Assyrian, Takul-u-(Tukeal)-habal-i-sar-ra, meaning “He who puts his trust in Adar,” or, “Adar is my confidence;” in the LXX. –; the same person as Pal King of Assyria, to whom Menahem of Israel gave a thousand talents of silver as a bribe for aid to keep the throne he had usurped (2Ki 15:17). Originally a gardener (according to Greek tradition), Pal rose to eminence as a soldier, and eventually seized the crown of Assyria in B.C. 745, as Tiglath-Pileser II.
II. THE INVITATION GIVEN. To assist Ahaz against Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel. Already the power of Tiglath-Pileser II. had been felt in numerous expeditions towards the West. Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia had each resounded at the tread of his conquering legions. In particular, Rezin (‘Records,’ etc; 5:48), and Menahem, one of Pekah’s predecessors on the throne of Israel, had acknowledged his supremacy by paying him tribute (2Ki 15:29; ‘Records,’ etc; 5:48). Accordingly, Ahaz had no doubt that the mighty Assyrian could by a word call off the two royal bandits that, like terriers, had sprung at his throat. Despatching ambassadors to Tiglath-Pileser, he requested aid against his foes from the north and east. To render his application successful, he sent with his plenipotentiaries a heavy largess, in the shape of presents of gold and silver taken from the temple, the palace, and the princes’ mansions (2Ki 16:7, 2Ki 16:8). An inscription, composed in the last or year before last year of Tiglath-Pileser’s reign, speaks of the Assyrian monarch as having received tribute from Mitinti of Askalon, Joachaz of Juda, and Kosmalak of Edom. Though this tribute was probably that which Ahaz paid on visiting Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus (2Ki 16:10), it will serve to illustrate and confirm the fact here mentioned, that Ahaz sent a present with his plenipotentiaries when they went to solicit Tiglath-Pileser’s assistance.
III. THE ANSWER RETURNED. Tiglath-Pileser came unto him.
1. He marched against Rezin. (2Ki 16:9.) The King of Syria was defeated in a pitched battle, and retreated to his capital. “He, to save his life, fled away alone and like a deer, and into the great gate of his city he entered. His generals alive in hand I captured, and on crosses I raised them. His country I subdued” (Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser, No. 10). “Damascus was closely invested; the trees in its neighbourhood were cut down; the districts dependent on it were ravaged, and forces were despatched to punish the Israelites, Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines, who had been the allies of Resort. At last, in B.C. 732, after a siege of two years, Damascus was forced by famine to surrender. Reson was slain, Damascus given over to plunder and ruin, and its inhabitants transported to Kip”.
2. He turned upon Israel. (2Ki 15:29.) As above stated, this occurred while the siege of Damascus was being pressed forward. The towns of Ijon, Abel-beth-maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazer, with the districts of Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, were captured, and their populations carried away to Syria, while Pekah, their sovereign, perished at the hands of a conspirator, Hoshea, who forthwith seized upon the throne. These details likewise receive confirmation from the monuments. Frame, sent No. 2 of Tiglath-Pileser’s inscription, narrating his war in Palestine, mentions “the city Gaul [probably Gilead] and Abil [Abel-beth-maachah] with the land of Humri throughout its whole extent as having been joined to the borders of Assyria; the entire population of the district as having been sent to Assyria, and their king, Pakaha, as having been slain”.
3. He subjected Judah. This the obvious meaning of the Chronicler’s statement, that Tiglath-Pileser “distressed Ahaz, but strengthened him not.” Instead of helping him to become an independent sovereign, Tiglath-Pileser made him a tributary to the Assyrian crown; and exactly in harmony with this, Joachaz of Juda appears, along with Mitinti of Askalon, Kosmalak of Edom, and Hanno of Gasa, among the tributary princes who, in the seventeenth or eighteenth year of his reign, did homage to the great king (see above).W.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
2Ch 28:1. Ahaz was twenty years old Twenty-five years old. Houbigant. See 2Ki 18:2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
h. Joash: the Prophet Zechariah Son of Jehoiada.Ch. 24
. Reign of Joash under the Guidance of Jehoiada: Repair of the Temple: 2Ch 24:1-14
2Ch 24:1.Joash was seven years old when he became king; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mothers name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of 3Jehoiada the priest. And Jehoiada chose for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.
4And it came to pass after this that it was in the heart of Joash to renew the house of the Lord. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out into the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and hasten ye the matter: but the Levites hastened it not. 6And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the 7congregation of Israel, for the tent of witness? For Athaliah the wicked doer [ and] her sons1 have broken up the house of God, and bestowed all the 8consecrated things of the house of the Lord upon Baalim. And the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the 9house of the Lord. And they proclaimed in Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the Lord the tax of Moses the servant of God upon Israel in the wilder ness. 10And all the princes and all the people were glad, and they brought 11and cast into the chest, till it was full. And at the time when the chest was brought to the survey of the king by the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, then went the kings scribe and the officer of the head priest and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again: thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to the work-master of the service of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to renew the house of the Lord, and also smiths in iron and brass to repair the house of the Lord. 13And the workmen wrought, and furtherance was given to the work by their hand: and they set the house of God in its form, and strengthened it. 14And when they had finished, they brought before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and they made of it vessels for the house of the lord, vessels for ministering and offering, and cups, and vessels of gold and silver: and they offered burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.
. Death of Jehoiada: Stoning of his Son, the Prophet Zechariah: 2Ch 24:15-22
15And Jehoiada was old and full of days, and he died; he was a hundred and thirty years old when he died. 16And they buried him in the city of David with the kings; for he had done good in Israel, and for God and His 17house. And after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and bowed down before the king: then the king hearkened unto them. 18And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their 19trespass. And he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, and they did not give ear. 20And the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest2; and he stood up before the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, and do not prosper? for ye have forsaken the Lord, and He has forsaken you. 21And they conspired against him, and stoned him by command of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. 22And Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada had done to him, and slew his son: and when he died, he said, The Lord shall see and require.
. Distress of Joash by the Syrians, and his End: 2Ch 24:23-27
23And it came to pass in the course of a year, that the host of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people out of the people,3 and sent all the spoil of them 24unto the king to Damascus.4 For the host of Syria came with few men; and the Lord gave into their hand a very great host, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers: and they executed judgments upon Joash. 25And when they went from him, for they left him with many wounds, his servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons5 of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the 26city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings. And these were the conspirators against him: Zabad son of Shimath the Ammonitess, 27and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess. And his sons, and the greatness6 of the burden upon him, and the building of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the Kings: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
i. Amaziah.Ch. 25
. Duration of his Reign, and its Spirit: 2Ch 25:1-4
2Ch 25:1.Amaziah became king when twenty and five years old; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mothers name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but 3not with undivided heart. And it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants who smote the king his father. 4But he put not their sons to death, but as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the sons, nor shall the sons die for the fathers; but every one shall die for his own sin.
. The Conquest of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt: 2Ch 25:5-13
5And Amaziah gathered Judah, and arranged them by father-houses, by captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, for all Judah and Benjamin: and he mustered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, going out to war, holding spear and 6shield. And he hired out of Israel a hundred thousand mighty men of valour 7for a hundred talents of silver. And a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with 8Israel, with all the sons of Ephraim. But go thou; do, be strong for the battle; [ otherwise7] God shall make thee fall before the enemy; for with God is power to help and to cast down. 9And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred8 talents which I have given to the host of Israel? And the man of God said, It rests with the Lord to give 10thee much more than this. And Amaziah separated them, to wit, the host that was come to him from Ephraim, to go to their place: and their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned to their place in hot 11anger. And Amaziah took courage, and led forth his people, and went to 12the valley of Salt, and smote of the sons of Seir ten thousand. And the sons of Judah took ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, and all of them 13were broken in pieces. And the men of the host which Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth-horon, and smote of them three thousand, and took much spoil.
. Amaziahs Idolatry, War with Joash of Israel, and End: 2Ch 25:14-28
14And it came to pass, after Amaziah was come from smiting the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up for him as gods, 15and bowed down before them, and burnt incense to them. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and He sent unto him a prophet, who said to him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, who did not deliver their own people out of thy hand? 16And it came to pass as he talked with him, that he said unto him, Have we made thee councillor to the king? Forbear; why should they smite thee? And the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath resolved to destroy thee, because thou hast 17done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel. And Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and sent to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, Come,9 let us look one another in the face. 18And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife; and a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled on the thorn. 19Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten Edom; and thy heart hath lifted thee up to boast: now abide at home; why provokest thou evil, that thou mayest fall, and Judah with thee?
20And Amaziah hearkened not; for it was of God that they might be given 21up, because they sought after the gods of Edom. And Joash king of Israel went up, and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which is of Judah. 22And Judah was smitten before 23Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. And Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the 24gate of Ephraim to the corner gate,10 four hundred cubits. And all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the kings house, and the hostages; and he 25returned to Samaria. And Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived after 26the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the 27book of the kings of Judah and Israel? And from the time that Amaziah turned away from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: and they sent after him to Lachish, and there put him to death. 28And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.11
k. Uzziah.Ch. 26
. His early Theocratic Inclination and Prosperous Reign: 2Ch 26:1-15
2Ch 26:1.And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, when sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after the king had slept with his fathers. 3Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he became king; and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem: and his mothers name was Jechiliah12 of Jerusalem. 4And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that 5Amaziah his father had done. And he continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who understood the visions13 of God: and so long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6And he went out and fought with the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gur-baal,14 and against the Meunites. 8And the Ammonites15 gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name 9went even to Egypt; for he became very mighty. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, at the corner gate and at the valley-gate, and at the corner, and 10fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many wells; for he had much cattle in the lowland and in the plain; husbandmen and vine-dressers in the mountains and in Carmel; for he was a lover of land. 11And Uzziah had a host of fighting men, that went out to war in troops, by the number of their muster at the hand of Jeuel16 the scribe, and Maaseiah the officer, at the hand of Hananiah, one of the captains of the king. 12The whole number of the chiefs of the fathers for the mighty men of valour 13was two thousand and six hundred. And at their hand was an army of three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred fighting men in full strength, to help the king against the foe. 14And Uzziah prepared for them, for the whole army, shields and spears, and helmets and coats of mail, and 15bows and sling-stones. And at Jerusalem he made engines, the invention of craftsmen, to be on the towers and battlements, to shoot arrows and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad; for he was marvellously helped till he was strong.
. His Boasting, and Divine Chastisement by Leprosy: his End: 2Ch 26:16-23
16And when he became strong, his heart was lifted up to do corruptly, and he transgressed against the Lord his God; and he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 17And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, men of valour. 18And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It pertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast transgressed; and it shall not be for thine honour from the Lord 19God. And Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy burst forth on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord from beside the incensealtar. 20And Azariah the head priest and all the priests looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they drove him out thence; and even he himself hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. 21And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a sick-house as a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the kings house, judging the people of the land.
22And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah son of Amos the 23prophet wrote. And Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field of the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
l. Jotham.Ch. 27
Chap 2Ch 27:1.Jotham was twenty and five years old when he became king; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mothers name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok. 2And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did; only he entered not into the temple of the Lord: and the people did yet corruptly. 3He built the high gate of the house of the Lord; and on the wall of Ophel he built 4much. And he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he 5built castles and towers. And he fought with the king of the sons of Ammon, and prevailed over them: and the sons of Ammon gave him in that year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley: this the sons of Ammon paid him also in the second and third 6year. And Jotham strengthened himself; for he established his ways before the Lord his God.
7And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, lo, 8they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was twenty and five years old when he became king; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9And Jotham slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
m. Ahaz: The Prophet Oded.Ch. 28
. Idolatry of Ahaz: his Defeat by the Syrians and Ephraimites: 2Ch 28:1-8
2Ch 28:1.Ahaz was twenty17 years old when he became king; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in 2the eyes of the Lord, like David his father. And he walked in the ways of 3the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. And he burnt incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom, and burnt his sons in the fire, after the abominations of the nations, whom the Lord had cast out before 4the sons of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, 5and on the hills, and under every green tree. And the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and took from him a great many captives, and brought them to Damascus:18 and he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he inflicted on him a great 6blow. And Pekah son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all sons of valour, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. 7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the kings son, and Azrikam, the governor of the house, and Elkanah the 8vicegerent of the king. And the sons of Israel took captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and stripped them of great spoil, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
. Oded the Prophet procures the Release of the Captives: 2Ch 28:9-15
9And a prophet of the Lord was there, of the name of Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, in the wrath of the Lord God of your fathers against Judah He hath given them into your hand; and ye slew of them with a rage that reacheth unto heaven. 10And now ye purpose to subject the sons of Judah and Jerusalem for bondsmen and bondsmaids to you: are there not even with you yourselves trespasses against the Lord your God? And 11now hear me, and release the captives which ye have taken of your brethren; for the hot anger of the Lord 12is upon you. Then arose men of the chiefs of the sons of Ephraim, Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, against those who came from the war, 13And said unto them, Ye shall not bring the captives hither; for with the trespass of the Lord upon us ye intend to add to our sins and to our trespass: for great 14is our trespass, and there is hot anger against Israel. And the armed host left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. 15Then there rose up the men who were expressed by name, and took the captives, and clothed all that were naked of them from the spoil, and gave them clothes, and shoes, and food, and drink, and anointed them, and carried them on asses, all the weary, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palms, beside their brethren: and they returned to Samaria.
. Further Visitations of Ahaz on account of his Idolatry: his End: 2Ch 28:16-27
16At that time King Ahaz sent unto the kings of Assyria to help him. 17, 18And again the Edomites came and smote Judah, and took captives. And the Philistines invaded the cities of the lowland and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Socho with her daughters, and Timnah with her daughters, and Gimzo with her daughters: and they 19dwelt there. For the Lord humbled Judah on account of Ahaz king of Israel, because he had revolted in Judah, and transgressed greatly against the 20Lord. And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him, and distressed 21him, and strengthened him not. For Ahaz had plundered the house of the Lord, and the house of the king and the princes, and given it to the king of Assyria; and it was not a help to him. 22And in the time of his distress he 23transgressed yet more against the Lord, this king Ahaz. And sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that smote him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria, they help them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me: and they were the downfall of him and of all Israel. 24And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God, and cut up the vessels of the house of God, and shut the doors of the house of the Lord; and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
26And the rest of his acts and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city in Jerusalem: for they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
EXEGETICAL
We take together the reports, contained in 2 Chronicles 24-28, of the five reigns from Joash to Ahaz, partly on account of their general similarity, partly because in 2 Kings 12, 14-16, we have pretty full and nearly literal parallels to them.
1.Reign of Joash under the Guidance of Jehoiada: Repair of the Temple: 2Ch 24:1-14The parallel account in 2Ki 12:1-17 is more detailed in the statement of several circumstances, especially with regard to the repair of the temple, but yet receives many important supplements from the present narrative, which is derived from the same sources, but constructed on different views and principles.
2Ch 24:2. All the days of Jehoiada the priest. Somewhat different in 2 Kings: during all his days, while Jehoiada instructed him.
2Ch 24:3. And Jehoiada chose for him two wives. here obviously expresses this sense, not as in 2Ch 13:21 : took to himself; for it refers to this, that the young king soon married and begat an heir to the throne.
2Ch 24:4-14. The Repair of the Temple; comp. Bhrs exposition of 2Ki 12:5-17.To renew the house of the Lord; comp. 2Ch 15:8, and the synonym to repair (properly, strengthen, make strong again) in 2Ch 24:5; 2Ki 12:6.And hasten ye the matter, properly, with respect to the matter. On the relation of the following statement, according to which the Levites hastened not, to the apparently different narrative in 2 Kings, comp. Bhr.
2Ch 24:6. And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, namely, of the priesthood, by which, however, is not necessarily meant the high priest; the phrase , head-priest, supreme priest, may (as, for example, above 2Ch 19:11 of Amariah, or beneath 2Ch 26:20 of Azariah, under King Uzziah) denote the legal high priest, but has not necessarily this meaning; comp. on 23.8.Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in, literally, asked of the Levites, etc. (comp. Job 5:8; Psa 142:3) ? The tax or assessment of Moses (, as 2Ch 24:9; comp. Eze 20:40) is that of the sanctuary (heaveoffering) imposed, Exo 30:12-16; Exo 38:25, by Moses, and willingly paid by the community of Israel, of half a shekel a head.
2Ch 24:7. For Athaliah . . . (and) her sons. By these sons of Athaliah are scarcely meant the priests of Baal (Jerome) or certain bastard sons of the queen (Ewald, Gesch. iii. 1, 290), but probably Ahaziah with his brothers and brothers sons (comp. 2Ch 21:17, 2Ch 22:3 f.), that might have shown their zeal for idolatry at a very early age (comp. Berth., also Hitz. Gesch. p. 203).Broken up the house of God; , as 1Ch 13:11; Job 30:14; Ecc 10:8.All the consecrated things of the house of the Lord; all the gold and silver vessels, weapons, etc., preserved there as gifts. Of such profanation of the temple treasures by the idolatrous sons of Athaliah, moreover, the Chronist only reports, who here supplements the statements of 2 Kings.
2Ch 24:10. Cast into the chest till it was full. , as 2Ch 21:1 (comp. also , 2Ki 13:17; 2Ki 13:19); literally, even to making full, whereby may be meant either the fulness of the number of givers, or even the fulness of the chest that received the gifts. The latter sense, which the Sept and Vulg. express, commends itself most, as 2Ch 24:11 shows, and should not therefore have been questioned by Berth., Kamph., etc.
2Ch 24:11. And at the time, etc., literally, and it came to pass at the time when one brought the chest to the survey of the king, that is, for the royal surveillance or keeping (, as in 2Ch 23:18).And when they saw that there was much money, properly, and on their seeing, etc.Thus they did day by day, literally, to day by day (comp. 1Ch 12:22), that is, every day when it was necessary, every time that the chest was full.
2Ch 24:12. And the king . . . gave it to the work-master of the service of the house of the Lord. here, not service in the house of the Lord, as 1Ch 23:24, but labour, repair of the house of the Lord.And they hired, literally, and they were hiring, continually from day to day; comp. Mat 20:1 ff. Masons and carpenters; so in 1Ch 22:14; comp. Ezr 3:7.
2Ch 24:13. And furtherance was given to the work by their hand, literally, there went up (was laid, Jer 8:22) binding on the work; on , binding, healing, comp. Neh 6:1; Jer 30:17.And they set the house of God in its form; literally, on its measure (Exo 30:32), that is, in the original proportions.
2Ch 24:14. And they made of it vessels, literally, made it vessels (into vessels); comp. Ezr 1:7.Vessels for ministering and offering, altar vessels (comp. Num 4:12), from which cups (Exo 25:29) and other gold and silver vessels are there distinguished.And they offered burnt-offerings . . . all the days of Jehoiada: as long as he had the direction of the temple worship, it was conducted in a regular and legal way; that it had quite ceased after Jehoiadas death, neither the present phrase nor the subsequent narrative affirms.
2. Death of Jehoiada: Stoning of his Son: the Prophet Zechariah: 2Ch 24:15-22. There is no parallel to this section in 2 Kings 12; but it is of no less importance for the pragmatic understanding of that which is related underneath, 2Ch 24:23 ff., concerning the last events in the life of Joash.And Jehoiada was old and full of days. as otherwise only of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, of David (1Ch 24:1; comp. 2Ch 29:28), and of Job (Job 42:17), so in general is it used only of five men of God in the Old Testament; comp. Achelis, Das Zeitalter der Patriarchen, a contribution to the understanding of Scripture (Barm. 1871), p. 46. From the following statement of his age as 130 years at his death, it follows that he must have been about 100 years old when he helped his nephew by a successful revolution to the throne (877 b.C. by the common chronology); for the repair of the temple carried on by Joash and him (which he survived for a time, according to 2Ch 24:14 of our chapter), fell, according to 2Ki 12:7, in the twenty-third year of that king.
2Ch 24:16. And they buried him . . . with the kings. With this honourable distinction bestowed upon him at his death, the directly following record of the slaughter of his like-minded son stands in the same contrast as that presented by Christ, Mat 23:29 ff., over against the Pharisees.
2Ch 24:17. Bowed down before the king, earnestly entreating; for what? The following words show that it was for permission to worship strange gods along with the Lord. That Joash himself forthwith took part in this worship of idols is not affirmed, but that he bore the full responsibility of it, and afterwards took a direct part in the impiety, is plain from 2Ch 24:21 f.; comp. 2Ch 24:25.
2Ch 24:18. Served the Asherim, etc.; comp. on 2Ch 16:2. For the flame of wrath () which this enkindled, comp. 2Ch 19:2; 2Ch 19:10, 2Ch 29:8.
2Ch 24:19. Testified against them, by way of warning, pointing to the inevitable consequences of their apostasy; comp. 2Ki 17:13; Psa 50:7; Neh 9:26; Neh 9:29. Was Joel also among these prophetic monitors? As we may conjecture from his book that his age nearly coincided with the reign of Joash, it is not improbable; comp. Wnsche, Die Weissagung des Proph. Joel, Introd. p. 13 ff.; also Keil, Introd. to the O. T. p. 322 f.
2Ch 24:20. And the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. On , clothe, comp. 1Ch 12:18. The identity with the Zechariah mentioned by Christ, Mat 23:35, Luk 11:51, as slain between the temple and the altar, who is called in the former passage the son of Barachias, is to be assumed the more certainly, as1. The place of his death quite agrees there and here (the is the altar of burnt-offering, which stood in the court; comp. 2Ch 24:21); 2. An allusion is made in the speech of Christ to our passage before mentioning the martyrdom of Zechariah; see above on 2Ch 24:16; 2 Chronicles , 3. The Barachias named in Mat 23:35 as the father of Zechariah may have been the son of Jehoiada, and Zechariah his grandson, which is highly probable, from the great age to which Jehoiada attained.Stood up before the people, properly, above the people ( , as in 2Ch 13:4); the inner court, from which he spoke, and where he was afterwards slain, was higher than the outer, where the people stood.And do not prosper, or: and will be unfortunate, will have no success. The two things are, in a theocratico-prophetical point of view, inseparably connected: the forsaking of the Lord (comp. 2Ch 12:5, 2Ch 15:2, etc.), and becoming unfortunate; comp. 2Ch 26:5 (Uzziah).
2Ch 24:21. And they conspired against him; comp. 2Ch 24:25; 1Ki 15:27, and also 2Ch 23:13. The true witness of God is slain by stoning, the very penalty which is in the law (Lev 20:2; Lev 24:23) imposed on idolaters, to which therefore his murderers were doomed.
2Ch 24:22. And Joash . . . remembered not the kindness; , as in Mic 6:8. Joash appears here designated as the murderer of the son (or grandson) of Jehoiada, certainly not for mere silent connivance at the wicked deed, but for positive and direct participation in it; comp. 2Ch 24:21.The Lord shall see and require, or will see (comp. Psa 84:10) and require (, here seek revenge, punish; comp. Psa 9:13; 1Sa 20:16).
3. Distress of Joash by the Syrians, and his End: 2Ch 24:23-27. Here again 2Ki 12:18-21 affords a parallel, where that which relates to the invasion of the Syrians is narrated more particularly, and their king, Hazael (Haza-ilu of the Assyrian inscriptions), is named as executor of this judgment on Joash.And it came to pass in the course of a year, in the circuit of a year, the year beginning with the death of the prophet Zechariah.That the host of Syria, as in 2Ch 24:24.And destroyed all the princes of the people out of the people, out of the mass of the people (comp. Psa 89:20), so that these were spared, but their chiefs, who were the authors of the religious and moral evil (2Ch 24:17 f.), were overtaken by the doom of extermination. On the variants in the old versions with respect to out of the people, see Crit. Note.With few men, literally, with smallness of men; comp. Job 8:7.And they executed judgments upon Joash. , as in Exo 12:12; Num 33:4; Eze 5:10; Eze 5:15; elsewhere with , here with (comp. , 1Sa 24:19).The judgment upon Joash refers especially to the mortal wound which he received.
2Ch 24:25. For they left him with many wounds. , less suitably translated diseases by Luther, occurs only here; but comp. the similar 21:19 With respect to the somewhat surprising sons of Jehoiada (instead of son), see Crit. Note.And slew him on his bed; narrated more particularly 2Ki 12:21. The burial was not in the tombs of the kings, but in another place, as in the case of Joram; see 2Ch 21:20.
2Ch 24:26. On the names of the conspirators, of which one is different in 2 Kings 12 (Jozachar for Zabad), see Bhr on this passage.
2Ch 24:27. And his sons, and the greatness of the burden upon him, the greatness of the treasure which he had to send as tribute to Hazael in Syria; comp. 2Ki 12:19. So it is perhaps to be explained (with Then. and Kamph.) on the basis of the Kethib . Possible also is the interpretation adopted by Cleric., Keil, and others: and the multitude of prophetic oracles concerning him (comp. 2Ch 24:19), though in this case the singular is somewhat strange. On the contrary, the reference, attempted by the Vulg., Luther, and others, of the to the temple tribute (2Ch 24:6; 2Ch 24:9) imposed by Joash would require a change into , and the would not suit this view (for which we should rather expect . The Keri gives rise to the sense: and with regard to his sons the oracle (that of the dying Zechariah, 2Ch 24:22 b) multiplied itself in them, which is obviously much too obscure, and could scarcely be intended by the Masoretes themselves. The Sept. alters the text quite arbitrarily, ( for ), and so the Syriac.Behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of Kings, the elaboration of this book; comp. on 2Ch 13:12, and Introd. 5, ii.
4. Amaziah: a. Duration of his Reign, and its Spirit: 2Ch 25:1-4; comp. the essentially parallel verses, 2Ki 14:1-6.
2Ch 25:2. And he did. . . but not with undivided heart. For this is in 2 Kings: yet not like David his father, he did according to all that his father Joash did. This more particular statement our author avoided, perhaps, on account of the less favourable light in which he had exhibited Joash. The following also: only the high places were not removed, etc., he omits; perhaps he intended sufficiently to indicate this partial continuance of idolatry by his not with undivided heart (comp. 2Ch 16:9).
2Ch 25:4. Put not their sons to death, according to the law, Deu 24:16; comp. Bhr on 2Ki 14:6.
5. Continuation: b. The Conquest of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt: 2Ch 25:5-13. Again a section peculiar to the Chronist, for which nothing is found in 2Ki 14:7 but the brief notice that Amaziah smote the Edomites in the valley of Salt, took their city Sela, and gave it the name Joktheel.And he mustered them (comp. Num 1:3) and found them 300,000 choice men; thus almost a million less than the force of Judah and Benjamin under Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 17, and, if the numbers there are to be considered incorrect, even much less than the sum total of the troops of the south kingdom given in 2Ch 14:7 for the time of Asa. But it is obvious that the number of troops must be shown to be much diminished by defeats sustained during the last reigns and other calamities, and therefore in need of being strengthened by foreign mercenary soldiers, as the following verse clearly proves.Going out to war (comp. 1Ch 5:18), holding spear and shield; comp. 1Ch 13:9; Jer 46:9.
2Ch 25:7. With all the sons of Ephraim. This is a more definite addition to Israel (comp. Isa 17:3; Isa 28:1) that appears not unnecessary, because the author often designates the kingdom or people of Judah also as Israel (comp. on 2Ch 12:1).
2Ch 25:8. But go thou alone, do, or execute it; comp. 1Ch 22:16; Ezr 10:4.Be strong for the battle, (otherwise) God shall make thee fall before the enemy. The sense is obvious; be strong, then will God not let thee fall. Before is to be supplied , with Ew., Berth., Keil, Kamph., etc.; for the can neither be taken (with Cleric.) = sin minus, nor (with Seb. Schmidt, Ramb., etc.) = alioquin. That the text certainly needs emendation is manifest from the arbitrary and diverse interpretations presented by the old translators; for example, the Sept. ; Vulg. quod si vultis in robore exercitus bella consistere; Luther, For so thou comest as to show a boldness in fight, God will let thee fall before thy enemies.For with God is power to help and to cast down, literally, present is might in God, etc. For the sentence, comp. 1Ch 29:12; 2Ch 20:6; also the well-known verse of G. Neumark, He is the only wonder-man, who now lift up, now cast down can.
2Ch 25:9. What shall we do for the 100 talents? In the mouth of a prudent ruler, who counts the cost in all his steps, certainly a very pardonable question, even as the answer given to it is highly worthy of a trustful man of God. , troop, that is, a body of mercenaries; comp. 2Ch 22:1; 2Ki 13:20 f.
2Ch 25:10. To wit, the host, etc. before is the defining =namely (comp. 2Ch 25:5 a); the whole is in apposition to the suffix in And they returned to their place in hot anger, literally, in the glow of anger (comp. Exo 11:8), enraged at the bad usage they had received, and at the prospect of booty being first held out to them and then withdrawn (comp. Act 16:9).
2Ch 25:11. And Amaziah took courage., as in 2Ch 15:8; comp. also the of the prophet in 2Ch 25:8. On the situation of the valley of Salt (south-east of the Dead Sea), see Bahr on 2Ki 14:7.
2Ch 25:12. And brought them to the top of the rock ( ), probably the rock on or at which the Edomite capital Sela lay, so that the rendering on the top of Sela (Kamph., etc.) is admissible. The passage in 2Ki 14:7, where the taking of Sela after the victory in the valley of Salt is recorded, and the present one thus complete one another. That the present report of the Chronist is merely derived from a misunderstanding of the text of the old source, somehow become illegible (Then, on 2Ki 14:7), appears an inadmissible assumption on this account, that our writer would not have imputed so frightful and barbarous a proceeding as the throwing of thousands of captive Edomites down a precipice (comp. for the matter of fact, Psa 137:9; Luk 4:29), on light grounds or on a mere misunderstanding, to a king like Amaziah (comp. on 1Ch 18:2; 1Ch 20:3). Besides, the number 10,000 here, as in the previous verse, is a round number, and not to be pressed in its literal sense.
2Ch 25:13. And the men of the host (literally, sons of the host, that is, the troops belonging to it) fell upon the cities of Judah; comp. for construction, Gen 22:24. This pillaging raid of the mercenaries is to be regarded as simultaneous with the absence of Amaziah in Idumea, and favoured thereby; comp. the similar events in the thirty years and the seven years wars; also the invasion of Switzerland by the Armagnacs, and of Elsass under the Emperor Frederic III. (1444), etc.From Samaria even to Beth-horon, that is, with Samaria as starting-point, and Beth-horon (see for its site on 1Ch 7:24) as the termination of their raid, so that all the towns between these two, so far as they belonged to Judah, were exposed to pillage.
6. Close: c. Amaziahs Idolatry, War with Joash of Israel, and End: 2Ch 25:14-28. The second book of Kings presents no parallel to the statements regarding the desertion of Amaziah to the gods of the conquered Edomites, 2Ch 25:14-16. On the contrary, the report of the war with Joash of Israel (2Ch 25:17-24) agrees almost literally with 2Ki 14:8-14, as also the following 2Ch 25:25-28 with the closing remarks there, 2Ch 25:17-20After Amaziah was come from smiting the Edomites; comp. 2Sa 1:1.The gods of the children of Seir are naturally their idols (otherwise or ); and the conquered Edomites are here called children of Seir, not because they were identical with the tribe of Seirites or Meunites (2Ch 20:1; 2Ch 20:10; 2Ch 20:22) who dwelt with them, but because here, where the peculiarity of their gods as hill-gods came into view (comp. 1Ki 20:23), it was very natural to designate them according to the hill-country in which they dwelt.
2Ch 25:16. Have we made thee counsellor to the king? properly, given; the plural is of communicative import, spoken from the position of the king and his council. With the question: Why should they smite thee? comp. the similar one: Why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Eze 33:11.)I know (have now observed) that God hath resolved to destroy thee; comp. 1Sa 2:25 (Eli); and Exo 6:1; Exo 10:1; Exo 10:11 :I, etc. (Pharaoh).Because thou hast done this (worshipped the gods of Edom), and hast not hearkened to my counsel. Thus the prophet declares himself authorized to give counsel to the king, however scornfully the latter may have deprecated this as an assumption on his part.
2Ch 25:17 ff.; comp. Bhr on 2Ki 14:8 ff.Took counsel, namely, with his counsellors and courtiers; comp. 2Ch 10:6; 1Ch 13:1 Luthers rendering is also possible: resolved, came to the decision after counsel taken.Come ( = , come on; comp. Num 23:13; Jdg 19:13), let us look one another in the face, measure, have a passage at arms with one another.
2Ch 25:19. Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten Edom, or if thou hast smitten. It is, moreover, of the same import if we render (with Luther, Kamph., etc.) I have smitten.And thy heart hath lifted thee up (or carried, urged thee; comp. Exo 35:21; Exo 35:26) to boast, properly, to make heavy; comp. Isa. 8:23. It is considerably different in 2Ki 14:10; see Bhr on the passage.
2Ch 25:20. For it was of God that they should be given up, literally, that they might be given into the hand (of the enemy); comp. Deu 1:27; 1Ki 20:42, etc.
2Ch 25:22. And they fled every man to his tent, to his house; comp. 2Ch 10:16; 1Ki 8:66.
2Ch 25:23. From the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate; so according to the emendation for , which latter reading gives no rational sense, as the direction in which the gate in question turns itself must have been stated if meant the gate turning itself (comp. Eze 8:3).
2Ch 25:24. And all the gold, namely, he took, a verb () which is to be supplied from 2Ki 14:14
2Ch 25:25-28. Comp. Bhr on the parallel 2Ki 14:17-20; and with regard to the book of the kings of Judah and Israel (2Ch 25:26), Introd. 5, ii.
2Ch 25:28. In the city of Judah appears to be an error in copying for in the city of David, occasioned by the following (2Ch 26:1); comp. Crit. Note. If the Masoretic reading is to be retained, we might be tempted to think of the designation , occurring Luk 1:39, which, however, can scarcely be supposed to refer to Jerusalem (see Van Oosterzee on this passage).
7. Uzziah: a. His early Theocratic Inclination and Prosperous Reign: 2Ch 26:1-15; comp. the very brief parallel, 2Ki 14:21-22; 2Ki 15:1-2, where the present (2Ch 26:6-15) report of the successful wars of Uzziah, his buildings, and his strong military force, is wanting. There, moreover, this king, along with the present name (, might of Jehovah), bears also the name Azariah ( or whom Jehovah helps). Comp. 2Ki 14:21; 2Ki 15:1; 2Ki 15:6; 2Ki 15:8; 2Ki 15:23; 2Ki 15:27, where the latter form is used, with 2Ki 15:13; 2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 15:32; 2Ki 15:34, where Uzziah stands, the form which the Chronist, irrespective of 1Ch 3:12, always uses, and which is also found in the superscriptions of the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah, as in Isa 6:1; Isa 7:1. The Assyrian cuneate inscriptions (the tablets of Tiglath-pileser; see Schrader, p. 114) present exclusively the form Azariah (Az-ri-ya-hu), whereby the opinion of those who regard this form as the later, or as the result of a mere error of writing, is refuted (so, for example, Gesen.-Dietrich in Lexicon). But Hitzigs hypothesis also (Gesch. p. 209), that the name Azariah was transformed from that of the high priest contemporary with him (2Ch 26:17) to the king, is refuted by this evidence of Assyrian inscriptions. Much rather the only assumption that remains warranted is: that the similar names of almost equal import were used simultaneously (Berth.); as was the case, for example, with Uzziel and Azarel, a descendant of Heman (1Ch 25:4; 1Ch 25:18). Not even the conjecture expressed by Bhr on 2Ki 14:21 : that the name Uzziah appears to have come into more general use after he ascended the throne, will harmonize with the fact that the Assyrian kings know only the name Azariah.
2Ch 26:2. He built Eloth. On the emphatic prefixing of this notice, even before the chronological dates of the following verse, see Bhr on the passage.
2Ch 26:3. Reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem, 810759 b.C., according to the usual chronology, though, according to the Assyrian monuments, considerably later(according to Neteler, p. 225 ff., 786735). On the name of the queen-mother Jechiliah (in 2 Kings Jecholiah, not Jechaliah, as Luther writes), see the Crit. Note.
2Ch 26:5. And he continued to seek God, literally, and he was to seek God, was out to seek Him; comp. 2Ch 31:21; Ezr 3:12.In the days of Zechariah, who understood the visions of God. Accordingly this Zechariah, who is otherwise unknown (for he cannot be identified with the Zechariah son of Jeberechiah mentioned Isa 8:2, as he was at least a generation older), must be considered a prophet, and must be regarded as a chosen periphrasis for , the seer (comp. Dan 1:17). But as the vision of God cannot be taken as a work of human activity, the reading of the Sept. and other old witnesses (see Crit. Note) commends itself more, which gives the sense expert in the fear of God, or even teacher of the fear of God (comp. Neh 8:9). Zechariah remains a prophetic teacher and counsellor of King Uzziah even with this reading (for his possible priestly character would have been marked by a ); but that he was a master in divine visions is not to be read from it; and still less is it to be inferred that he and no other was the author of the oracles of Balaam (as is asserted in an arbitrary way by Frst, Gesch. der bibl. Literatur. ii. pp. 231, 359).
2Ch 26:6-15. Uzziahs Successful Wars, Building of Cities, etc. (without parallel in 2 Kings).And he . . . fought with the Philistines, to punish their pillaging inroad under Joram (2Ch 21:16 f.). This punishment must have been inflicted by him in very full measure, probably by the subjection of their whole territory; for the cities said to have been destroyed by him, Gath (see on 2Ch 9:8), Jabneh (=Jabneel, Jos 15:11, later=Jamnia in the Maccab. and in Josephus), and Ashdod (now Esdud, comp. on Jos 13:3), were at that time the chief places of the Philistines.
2Ch 26:7. And God helped him.. . against the Arabs, who are named also, 2Ch 17:11, with the Philistines. Where Gurbaal was is uncertain; it is by no means to be identified (after the Sept., see Crit. Note) with the Edomite Petra; rather with Gerar (Gen 20:1), of which the Targ. thinks. Concerning the Meunites, see on 1Ch 4:41; 2Ch 20:1.
Ver, 8. And his name went even to Egypt, literally, even to the entrance of Egypt. But by the name of Uzziah is scarcely meant merely his fame (Luther), but also his active influence, his power.For he became very mighty, literally, showed himself mighty (Dan 11:7) unto the height (comp. 1Ch 14:2; 1Ch 29:25).
2Ch 26:9. And Uzziah built towers . . . at the corner gate. The corner gate (comp. 2Ch 25:23) lay at the north-west end of the city; the valley gate on the west side, where the Jaffa gate is now. On the east, over against these two points belonging to the west side where defence was most needed, is , the corner, to be soughtnamely, a bend of the eastern wall near the horse gate; comp. Neh 3:19-20; Neh 3:24-25.
2Ch 26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, in the wilderness of Judah, to protect the herds grazing there; comp. 1Ch 27:25; Mic 4:8; Isa 5:2; in which latter place mention is made of the digging of a well along with the tower building.For he had much cattle in the lowland, etc., properly, and in the lowland and in the plain, etc. It appears, therefore, as if three regions were here distinguished1. The wilderness (of Judah) west of the Dead Sea; 2. The lowlands at the Mediterranean (comp. 1Ch 27:28); 3. The plain (), perhaps the plain beyond the Jordan, the territory of the Reubenites, a region specially adapted for grazing, which Uzziah was under the necessity of taking from the Ammonites (2Ch 26:8).Husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains. Kamph. connects against the accents, in the plain, husbandmen. He will also explain neither of the Mount Carmel (Jos 19:26; Son 7:6), nor of Carmel in the south of Judah (1Sa 15:12), but renders in the fruitful field (comp. Isa 29:17), for which there is no constraining necessity.
2Ch 26:11. And Uzziah had a host of fighting men, literally, a host (comp. 2Ch 14:7) maker of war (comp. 2Ch 26:13; 2Ch 11:1), that went out to war (comp. 1Ch 5:8) in troops (in a marshalled host).By the number of their muster at the hand of Jeuel., as afterwards, under the guidance of Hananiah, is expressed by at the hand ( as 1Ch 25:6). The captain Hananiah appears therefore is superintendent, Jeuel and Maaseiah as subordinate executive officers in the business of the muster.
2Ch 26:13. And at their hand ( , as in the previous verse) an army of 307,500 fighting men. Thus each of the 2600 father-houses constituted a corps under the command of the bravest among them. The total number of 307,500 warriors agrees in the main with the above statement of the strength of the army under Amaziah, 2Ch 25:5, and presupposes the more certainly an actual numeration for its basis, as it is not a round number.
2Ch 26:14. And Uzziah prepared for them; comp. 1Ch 15:1; 1Ch 22:5,
2Ch 26:15. He made engines, the invention of craftsmen, literally, devices (, excogitata), the device of the deviser ( ), skilfully contrived engines of war, as the following words showa kind of catapults or balisters, for assaulting besieging troops from the walls and towers of defence.And his name went forth, etc.; comp. above, 2Ch 26:8.
8. Uzziah: b. His Boasting and Divine Punishment by Leprosy; his End: 2Ch 26:16-23. Comp. 2Ki 15:5-7, where, however, the mere fact of the kings becoming leprous is mentioned, without particularizing the cause, so that in fact the three verses correspond only to our 2Ch 26:21-23.And when he became strong,, as in 2Ch 12:1. For the following: to do corruptly (), comp. 2Ch 27:2.Went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense, which, according to Exo 30:7; Exo 30:27, Num 18:1-7, only priests were to do. Uzziah wished to exercise regal and sacerdotal functions at the same time (as the Egyptian kings, and afterwards the Roman emperors). He fell into the same sin as Saul before him (1Sa 13:9 f.). It was not the restitution of a formerly legitimate union of regal and sacerdotal power, as it was nominally possessed by David and Solomon (Thenius, Ewald), which was his aim; for only occasionally, and in certain religious solemnities of an extraordinary kind, had those kings exercised several priestly functions, with the permission of the lawful priests (so correctly Bertheau, Keil, etc.).
2Ch 26:17. And Azariah the priest. Whether he was actually high priest is not determined with perfect certainty from his subsequent designation as (as in the case of Jehoiada; see on 2Ch 23:8); yet it is most probable that the head priest, who was accompanied with eighty priests, was the actual legitimate holder of high-priestly office. But very improbable is the identity asserted by Keil of this Azariah with the Azariah named in the list of high priests. 1 Chron. 5:36, 37, as the father of Amariah, who belongs certainly to a considerably earlier time (see on this passage). On the predicate men of valour, , comp. 1Ch 5:18.
2Ch 26:18. And they withstood Uzziah, stood against him; comp. Dan 11:14.And it shall not be for thine honour from the Lord God, that is, thy offering incense serves not, as thou fanciest, to increase thy honour and glory before God, but rather brings thee shame, because thou thereby showest thyself to be disobedient and apostate.
2Ch 26:19. And while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy burst forth on his forehead, in punishment of his impious attempt. The punishment is the same that Miriam endured on account of her rebellion against Moses (Num 12:10), and with which Elishas servant Gehazi was visited for his covetousness (2Ki 5:27). In a physical and pathological sense, also, the malady may have been brought on in all these cases in essentially the same way,by a strong physical excitement, which brought the leprosy, already existing as a tendency in the system, suddenly to a visible eruption (Friedreich, Zur Bibel, etc., pp. 228, 230). Wedel (Exercitationes medico-philologic, ii. 4. 9) quite arbitrarily asserts that Uzziahs malady was not leprosy, but syphilis. Not less arbitrary and contrary to the text is the attempt of K. Ad. Menzel to reduce the whole malady to a bold and sly mystification of the high priest Azariah, who suddenly cried out that he saw the sign of leprosy on the forehead of the king, and by this application of his medical authority so far robbed him of his self-command that he allowed himself to be arrested and put in a place of confinement (Religion und Staatsidee, p. 89; comp. on 2Ch 16:13). A special contrast to this crude attempt at a natural explanation by a miracle-rejecting rationalism is presented by the Jewish legend in Josephus, Antiq.ix. 10. 4, which makes Uzziah be punished not merely by becoming leprous (supposed to be produced by a sunstroke which fell through the split roof of the temple on his face), but also by a simultaneous violent earthquake, the same which is mentioned Amo 1:1, by which that splitting of the temple roof was effected.
2Ch 26:21. And dwelt in a sick-house, properly, a house of separation; see Bhr on 2Ki 15:5, where also all that is necessary is remarked on the probable (amounting only to a few years) duration of Uzziahs illness and of Jothams regency.
2Ch 26:23. And they buried him with his fathers in the burial-field of the kings; for they said, He is a leper. They wished not to defile the proper tombs of the kings by burying his body in them, and therefore buried it in the field adjoining these tombs. In the parallel 2Ki 15:7 f. this important detail is wanting.
9. Jotham: 2 Chronicles 27; comp. 2Ki 15:32-38, and Bhr on this passage.
2Ch 27:2. Only he entered not into the temple of the Lord; he abstained from such an impious undertaking as that of his father, 2Ch 26:16 ff. This remark is wanting in 2 Kings. On the contrary, instead of the rather indefinite: and the people did yet corruptly (comp. on 2Ch 26:16 ff.), we find there the more special statement: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.
2Ch 27:3. And on the wall of Ophel he built much; fortified thus the southern slope of the temple mountain, which is called Ophel (; comp. 2Ch 33:14; Neh 3:26-27), and therein continued the fortifications of his father Uzziah, which had applied more to the west and east sides of the city wall. In 2 Kings this is wanting, as also the notice in the following verse of the towns and castles built by Jotham (for , castles, forts, see on 2Ch 17:12), while the previous notice regarding the building (anew) of the upper temple gate, the north gate in the inner court of the temple, is also found there.
2Ch 27:5.And he fought with the king of the sons of Ammon. Of this victorious war with the Ammonites, also, nothing is found in 2 Kings. This war, like the buildings, appears to be a continuation of that waged by Uzziah; for, according to 2Ch 26:8, the Ammonites had also to pay tribute to that king. It was therefore an attempt at revolt, for which they were now punished by Jotham with the imposition of a new and heavier tribute (100 talents of silver, with 10,000 cors of barley and wheat yearly, is pretty well for a not very numerous people).This the sons of Ammon paid him also in the second and the third year, but no longer than during these three years; perhaps on account of the war of Syria and Ephraim with Judah, which took its rise under Jotham, 2Ki 15:37, and procured for the Ammonites their former independence.
2Ch 27:6. And Jotham strengthened himself, namely, in his kingdom; comp. 2Ch 13:21, and the following: he established his ways, Pro 21:29.
2Ch 27:7. And all his wars. That these wars of Jotham, of which only one is here mentioned, were uniformly successful is not stated in the text; and therefore the war commenced with Syria and Ephraim, in which Jotham suffered some very severe defeats, may be here included (against Keil). In other respects the closing notices, 2Ch 27:7-9, agree essentially with 2Ki 15:36; 2Ki 15:38.
10. Ahaz: a. His Idolatry, and Defeat by the Syrians and Ephraimites: 2Ch 28:1-8; comp. 2Ki 16:1 ff., where the first four verses, relating to the idolatry of Ahaz, agree tolerably well with 2Ch 28:1-4 of our text; while the report of the war given in 2Ch 28:5-18 presents considerable deviations from the narrative in our ch., 2Ch 28:5 ff., 2Ch 28:9, and 2Ch 28:16 ff. Comp. on these differences, as well as on the whole report of the war, C. P. Caspari, Der syrisch-ephraimitische Krieg unter Jotham und Ahas, Christiania 1849.Ahaz was twenty years old. Thus also 2Ki 16:2; but on account of the age of his son and successor,Hezekiah being already twenty-five at the death of Ahaz,it is more probable that the reading of the Sept., Syr., and Arab, is to be preferred, and the age of Ahaz at his accession set down at twenty-five (not, however, at thirty, as Hitzig, Gesch. Isr. p. 214, will have it). Moreover, the name Ahaz () is on the Assyrian monuments Jahu–kha–zi, which is elsewhere = the Hebr. Jehoahaz (); see Schrader, pp. 25, 147, 151 ff. This difference is either to be referred to this, that the later Jews in the Old Testament changed the actual name of the king, namely Jehoahaz, in consequence of his idolatrous propensity, into Ahaz, by the omission of the divine name, or to this, that the Assyrians falsely transferred to Ahaz the like-sounding name of an earlier king (Jehoahaz), as they made Jehu a son instead of a successor of Omri (Schrader, p. 152). If the first of these two conjectures, according to which Ahaz is a curtailed name, be correct, we may compare the change of such names as Jerubbaal (into Jerubbesheth) or Mephibaal (into Mephibosheth), and also the legend of the medival sects, as the Euchites, Bogomiles, etc., that Satan was originally called Satanael, and after his fall his name was deprived of the last syllable. Comp., moreover, on 2Ch 28:21.
2Ch 28:2 f. And made also molten images for Baalim; comp. Psa 106:19; Jdg 17:3, etc. Both these words and the following: and he burnt incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom, are wanting in 2 Kings; but they have there fallen out by an oversight (occasioned by a twofold ); comp. Bhr on the passage.And burned his sons in the fire, or made his sons pass through the fire. According to 2 Kings, he performed this barbarous human sacrifice only in the case of one son, which is intrinsically the more probable (comp. 2 Kings 30:27; 21:6); the plur. of our passage is thus, as in 2Ch 33:6, merely a rhetorical generalization (Casp., Keil, Bhr, etc.). On 2Ch 28:3 b and 4, comp. Bhrs exposition of the parallel text.
2Ch 28:5. The Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria. These introductory words of the following report of the war, compared with 2Ki 16:6 ff., demonstrate that our writer proposes to give rather a rhetorically conceived than a strictly historical description of the chastisements inflicted on Ahaz by the Syrians and Ephraimites. Comp. Caspari as quoted, p. 42 ff., and Keil, p. 325 f.: The facts, which show how Ahaz, notwithstanding the grievous blows which fell on him and Judah, sinned yet more grievously against the Lord his God, are brought out of the historical material into relief, and oratorically represented, so that they display not only the increasing obstinacy of Ahaz, but also, by adducing the conduct of the citizens and warriors of the kingdom of Israel, the depth to which Judah had fallen.And they smote him, literally, on him, that is, they in flicted a defeat on his army.And took from him a great many captives, led captive from him a great leading of captives (, as in 2Ch 28:11; Neh. 3:36).
2Ch 28:6. And Pekah, son of Remaliah, slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, that is, in a great battle, with the pursuit and plundering that followed. Against the suspicion cast on this number by de Wette Gesenius, Winer, and others, as exaggerated, see Caspari, p. 37 ff., who points with justice1. to the fanaticism of the Israelites and Syrians, who aimed directly at the annihilation of the Jewish power (Isa 7:6; 2Ki 15:16; comp. also 2Ch 28:9); 2. to the military strength of the Jews (307,500), stated shortly before under Uzziah, 2Ch 26:13, which shows that it was about a third of their force that was put to the sword; 3. to the round number 120,000 (as also the subsequent number of 200,000 captives), showing itself to be the product of a rough estimate, and not an exact enumeration.
2Ch 28:7. And Zichri . . . slew Maaseiah the kings son, probably a royal prince of an older generation, uncle, cousin, or brother of Ahaz, for he himself at this time had scarcely a son of military age. Azrikam also is perhaps to be regarded as a relative of the king, for a governor of the house can scarcely designate a president of the temple (according to 1Ch 9:11; 2Ch 31:13); rather might it be the title of a higher officer of the royal house or palace.And Elkanah the vicegerent of the king, literally, the second after the king, his minister (chancellor, vizier).
2Ch 28:8. And the sons of Israel took captive of their brethren. Observe the importance of this reference to the character of the war, as a barbarous strife between brother tribes.
11. Continuation: b. Oded the Prophet effects the Release of the Captives: 2Ch 28:9-15 (without a parallel in 2 Kings).And a prophet of the Lord was there of the name of Oded, in Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. Here, as well as in other places of this kingdom, prophets of the true God appear active till its complete fall (722 b.c.), as in particular the ministry of Hosea teaches, which was likewise exercised on this soil.And he went out; comp. the report, 2Ch 15:2, of Azariah son of Oded under Asa.In the wrath . . . against Judah. Not so much your bravery as the judicial sentence of God for the punishment of idolatrous Israel is the cause of the great victory over your adversariesa victory which you have abused by a frantic slaughter and carnage. On that reacheth unto heaven, comp. Gen 18:21; Ezr 9:6
2Ch 28:10. And now ye purpose to subject; comp. Gen 1:28; Lev 25:42 ff.Are there not even with you yourselves trespasses against the Lord? look for once at yourselves, whether ye do not perceive there enough of that which inculpates you before God. To this exhortation to repentance is suitably added the warning in 2Ch 28:11, to beware of the further abuse of the power given them to execute the divine judgment, and therefore of the unmerciful treatment or even the longer retention of the captives.
2Ch 28:12 f. Four of the chiefs of Ephraim declare their concurrence with this exhortation and warning of Oded. Their names occur only here, but they present, at all events, a weighty testimony for the concrete historical character and credibility of the present account.For with the trespass of the Lord upon us, that the effect of our heavy guilt with God (2Ch 28:10) may fall upon us, that the heavy punishment of sin may overtake us. is here the effect, the punishment of guilt contracted before God.
2Ch 28:14. And the armed host left, the armed escort who conducted the captives to Samaria. , as in 1Ch 12:23.
2Ch 28:15. The men who were expressed by name, the notable men mentioned by name in the old records, who specially distinguished themselves at that time by a noble emulation of love and compassion for the poor captives; comp. 1Ch 7:31; 1Ch 16:41; 2Ch 31:19. The analogy of these passages forbids us to think only of the four named in 2Ch 28:12.And clothed all that were naked of them, literally, all the nakedness (abstr. pro concr.).And anointed them, because they should return home happy and cheerful.And carried them on asses; to which is appended a limiting and more exactly defining phrase, all the weary (or stumbling, ). Observe the pictorial reality and epic breadth of the whole description, which exhibits itself even in designating Jericho as the city of palms (comp. Jdg 3:13), and by the mention of it (as the border town of Judah, whither the captives were first brought; comp. Jos 18:21) accords with the story of the good Samaritan. For, in fact, there is here a grand archetype of the deed of compassion described in this didactic narrative of the Lord, as sure as they were inhabitants of the city and later country of Samaria, who took so loving an interest in the helpless Jews. The thought that Christ drew directly from this episode of the present war several points of His noble lesson should by no means be absolutely rejected. Comp. Evangelical and Ethical Reflections, No. 3.
12. Close: c. Further Visitations of Ahaz on account of his Idolatry; his End: 2Ch 28:16-27. Only the part of this section that refers to the relations of Ahaz to the Assyrian world-power (his seeking aid from Tiglath-pileser, his payment of tribute to the same, and his fall occasioned by this slavish submission to the idolatry of Syria and Damascus, 2Ch 28:16; 2Ch 28:20-25) is reported in 2 Kings 16 (2Ch 28:7-18), and there, indeed, much more fully than here. On the contrary, there is wanting there a statement of the contemporaneous humiliations of Ahaz by the Edomites and Philistines, as they are here reported, 2Ch 28:17-19.At that time King Ahaz sent unto the kings of Assyria. The rather indefinite admits the assumption that this embassy to Assyria took place immediately after the invasion of Rezin and Pekah (Berth.), as well as that several months or years elapsed between these events (Keil). But according to 2Ki 16:6 ff., the consequence of that first heavy defeat by the Syrians and Ephraimites, the taking of Elath by Rezin (and that which was connected with it, the invasion of the Edomites and Philistines), seems to have been the motive of Ahaz to apply to the Assyrians for aid. The plural the kings of Assyria is perhaps not rhetorical, as above, 2Ch 28:3, (Keil), but, as it seems, originally written under the consciousness that the head of the Assyrian government was composed of several factors, namely, the king and the so-called eponymus or archon of the current year; see in particular 2Ch 30:4, where this view seems undeniable; also 2Ch 30:6; and comp. Schrader, Studien und Kritiken, 1871, part iv.; Die Keilschriften, etc., p. 308 ff.
2Ch 28:17. And again the Edomites came, perhaps made free again by Rezins expedition against Elath, 2Ki 16:6, from the Jewish yoke, which lay upon them from the time of Amaziah and Uzziah (2Ch 25:11, 2Ch 26:2). The tense is to be taken as the pluperfect: and moreover , et prterea, et insuper; comp. Isa 1:5) the Edomites had come; and so in the two following verses, for they also report something that preceded the fatal treaty with Tiglath-pileser, and served to bring it about.
2Ch 28:18. And the Philistines invaded. Of the places conquered by them, Beth-shemesh (1Ch 6:44), Ajalon (1Ch 6:54), and Socho (2Ch 11:7) have occurred already in our book. For Gederoth (in the Shephelah), comp. Jos 15:41; for Timnah, now Tibneh, Jos 15:10; for Gimzo, now Jimsu, a large village between Lydda and Beth-horon, Robins. Palest, iii. 271 The mention of daughter cities (literally, daughters) along with the chief places, as in 2Ch 13:9.
2Ch 28:19. For the Lord humbled Judah on account of Ahaz king of Israel. Ahaz is perhaps ironically so named; for the title King of Israel can scarcely be an honourable designation in him, as in Rehoboam (2Ch 12:6) or Jehoshaphat (2Ch 21:2), or as in his fore-fathers in general, 2Ch 28:27. It contains, perhaps, an allusion to the contrast between his idolatrous reign and the mind and walk of the true Israel of God (comp. Gal 6:16, Caspari, Keil, etc.).Because he had revolted in Judah. So is with following certainly to be taken, not as Kamph. and others think: because he made Judah refractory; comp. rather Exo 5:4, which speaks also against the rendering of the Vulg.: eo quod nudasset eum auxilio, and of Luther (that he made Judah naked).
2Ch 28:20. And Tiglath-pilneser. Concerning this form, as corresponding not so well to the Assyrian as the Tiglath-pileser of the other Old Testament sources, see on 1Ch 5:6; for the conjectural identity of Pul with Tiglath-pileser, see on 1Ch 5:26.And distressed him, and strengthened him not. This is the only rendering agreeable to the context, according to which, here, contrary to its usual intransitive meaning, expresses the active sense of strengthening (confortare, roborare). See for justification of this rendering against Luther, Then., Bertheau, etc. (who take according to 2Ch 27:5, Jer 20:7, etc.= overcome): he oppressed and besieged him, but subdued him not, in particular Keil on this passage; rightly also Neteler and Kamph.
2Ch 28:21. For Ahaz had plundered the house of the Lord. This was at the time that he sent the embassy with its cry for help to the mighty Assyrian king (2Ch 28:16), for with empty hands he need not approach him (comp. also 2Ki 16:7-8). here is not divide (Luther), but plunder, spoliare (Vulg.); comp. , booty, share of spoil (Num 31:36; Job 17:5). The strong expression corresponds to the rhetorical tone of the narrator; thereby the certainly historical statement shows that the treasures of the kings house, as well as those of the princes (the high officers of the palace, or perhaps also the princes of the royal house; comp. on 2Ch 28:7), must have contributed, that the gift (, see 2Ki 16:8) sent with the ambassadors might be worthy of acceptance. That Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser is attested, besides our passage and the report in 2Ki 16:7-9 (comp. also Isa 36:5, where Rabshakeh charges Hezekiah with revolt from Assyria), also by the Assyrian monumerts. In line 61 of an inscription composed in the last year of Tiglath-pilesers reign (ii. R. 67), it is said that this king received tribute (madatu) from Mittini of Askalon, Ahaz (JehoahazJa-hukha-zi) of Judah, Kozmalak of Edom. That here Ahaz is spoken of as a tributary of the great king, and not Uzziah (as H. Rawlinson thought on account of the surprising form of the name), is shown by the naming of the rulers of Philistia and Edom, who in Uzziahs time would scarcely have been co-ordinated with the Jewish king, the naming of whom along with Ahaz is quite consistent with the contents of the verses of our chapter. Comp. Schrader, p. 151 ff.
2Ch 28:22. And in the time of his distress, a date of like indefiniteness and pliability with in 2Ch 28:16. That the revolt of Ahaz to the gods of the Syrians thus took place after the distresses which the Edomites, Philistines, and Syrians prepared for him, cannot be definitely concluded from this passage; rather it seems to follow from 2Ch 28:23 that he had already, during the war with Rezin, begun to testify his respect for the gods of his foe and his country. There is therefore no proper contradiction between our passage and 2Ki 16:10 ff.; only that there is given a more concrete and definite report concerning this turning of Ahaz to the Syrian gods than in our section, which also, again, bears an eminently rhetorical and pathetic character, as indeed all that is related from 2Ch 28:5 onwards.
2Ch 28:24. And Ahaz . . . cut up the vessels of the house of God, that is, as is stated more precisely in 2Ki 16:17, he broke out the sides of the bases, removed the lavers from them, transferred the sea from the brazen oxen to a stone pavement, etc.And shut the doors of the house of the Lord, that is, according to 2Ch 29:3; 2Ch 29:7, the doors not of the court, but of the temple itself, or the porch before the holy and most holy places. Accordingly, the shutting of these doors signified that he suspended the worship of God in the holy and in the most holy place, while he left the altar of burnt-offering in the court; with which 2Ki 16:15 f. agrees, although there the erection of a separate altar of burnt-offering, built after the model of Damascus of Syria, beside the brazen altar of Solomon, is reported (see Bhr on the passage).And made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. Among these altars is included the new altar of burnt-offering in the court, 2Ki 16:10-16, built at the command of Ahaz by the priest Uriah after the pattern of the idol-altar at Damascus. The in is not to be pressed, nor, for example: under every tree, in 2Ch 28:4, nor the phrase: in every single city of Judah, in the following verse.
2Ch 28:25. And provoked to anger the Lord (, hiph., as in Deu 32:16; 1Ki 14:9).
2Ch 28:26-27; comp. the briefer closing notice in 2Ki 16:19-20.And they buried him in the city in Jerusalem; thus not: in the city of David, as is usually said, and further not: in the sepulchres of the kings of Israel (see on 2Ch 28:19), but apart from the proper tombs of the kingsperhaps in the field mentioned in 2Ch 26:23, where the leprous Uzziah was buried. 2Ki 16:20 reports nothing of such an exception that was made with respect to the grave of Ahaz.
Evangelical And Ethical Reflections And Homiletic Hints On 2 Chronicles 24-28
1. A period of fully a century and a half (877727 in the usual chronology) is occupied by the five reigns here combined, comprising a reign of forty, of nearly thirty, and of fifty-two years. But none of them yields any permanent gain for the development of Judah into the normal form of a truly theocratic condition, as the deep corruption exhibited under the last, an instance of decided misrule, shows. When the Canaanitish idolatry, naturalized by Athaliah, after a short predominance, was again expelled, as an element utterly foreign to the Davidic house and the Jewish people, five reigns regularly following in legitimate succession, of which perhaps none was begun otherwise than under favourable auspices, and with joyful hopes on the side of the theocratic party, furnish before the end of 150 years the sad result of a decided relapse into that idolatry. For the less insidiously evil and murderous than merely weak policy of Ahaz in every instance must be regarded as such a relapse, though it might not be the Tyrian-Canaanitish idolatry of Athaliah to which he chiefly yielded, but the Damascene-Syrian superstition of his adversary Rezin, and though, further, the outward form and show of the legitimate worship was perhaps better observed under him than under the priest-opposing daughter of Omri. On the whole, it is manifest that under Ahaz the corruption of religion and morals had gnawed more deeply than at that time, and struck firmer roots into the consciousness and customs of the people. It is now, at least, quite contrary to the state of things then, directly a priest, perhaps the high priest (Uriah, 2Ki 16:10 ff.), who readily enters into the kings idolatrous intentions, and lends a hand to desecrate the sanctuary of Jehovah with foreign modes of worship, elaborated after heathen models; a characteristic which the Chronist perhaps only neglected expressly to mark, because it disgusted and annoyed him to report anything so unreasonable and abominable as this treason of a priest of the Lord. And as the priest, so the people does not now, at the beck of a true witness, as then of Jehoiada, rise up as one man to put an end to the foreign hateful thing at one blow, but presents so little resistance to the seductions to spiritual and corporeal adultery proceeding from the court, that it remains, during a reign of almost sixteen years, on the path of Baal-worship, and establishes not only idolatrous altars in every corner of Jerusalem, but also high places for burning incense to strange gods in every single city of Judah (comp. 2Ch 28:24-25), without standing up in righteous indignation against such a course, or even earnestly seeking a return to theocratic obedience. That it could come to this a century and a half after the events under Athaliah, tells not of a gradual progress to a better state of things, but rather, of a slow but irresistible sinking into worse and worseof a constant ripening of the people for that fearful judgment of God which now fell on the kindred people of Ephraim immediately after the death of Ahaz at the end of these 150 years, and with respect to which for Judah, with all the energy of many attempts at reform (especially under Hezekiah and Josiah), nothing beyond a postponement, a delay of less than 150 years more was secured.
2. None of the four comparatively theocratic reigns before Ahaz had been able to check the descent of the people with uneasy certainty and constancy on this downward path to final corruption; for none possessed the reverence for God and law, untainted by heathenish abominations, which characterized the rule of an Asa or Jehoshaphat. For Joash maintained a decidedly theocratic demeanour only so long as his paternal friend, instructor, and counsellor Jehoiada governed him, or so long as those two symbols given him (2Ch 23:11) at his accessionthe crown as the sign of power, and the law as the sign of theocratic wisdomexercised their united influence over him;19 after whose death he permits, at the request of the worldly-minded princes of Judah (representatives of the higher nobility, to whom the priestly power might long since have well been an abomination), the entrance again of idolatry, and causes the faithful witness of the truth, warning them of the evil consequences of such a course, the son of his instructor Jehoiada (and therefore his near relative), to be slain in the court of the temple. Whereupon also the threatened judgment of God, accomplished by a desolating raid of the Syrian Hazael, suddenly enters, and in a very short time brings about the endand that a terrible endof the unfaithful king. This reign resembles in more than one respect the history of such rulers of the Middle Ages or of modern times as the German emperors Otto III. and Henry IV., or in many respects Louis XIV. of France, who enjoyed the guardianship of excellent regents of the spiritual order at the beginning of their career, but afterwards failed to beware of the evil consequences of their passing over to a false independence. Not much better or happier was the reign of Amaziah, whose early measures, as the sparing of the children of the murderers who conspired against Joash (2Ch 25:4; comp. Deu 24:16) shows, were entirely accordant with the precepts of the law; but who afterwards, in consequence of a successful war with Edom, which seems to have made the conqueror presumptuous, degenerated into heathenish practices, offered the tribute of worship to the gods of the conquered Edomites (naturally without meaning to abolish the legitimate worship of Jehovah, proceeding on some sort of theoretical and practical mingling of the two modes of worshipping God), and added to this the further folly of a supercilious provocation of the powerful Joash of Israel to war. A severe humiliation by this foe, as a reward for this haughty bearing (conjoined with which are here, again, scornful neglect and rough treatment of one of the prophets of Jehovah, ver. 16), here also failed to delay the issue; and the end of the king, effected by a band of traitors and conspirators, ver. 27, was as violent as that of his father. With respect to external politics as well as military and economic (financial) consolidation of their power, the two following reigns appear to have been more fortunate. The vigorous Uzziah, reigning more than a half century, restores in many respects once more the glorious days of a Jehoshaphat, especially with regard to the maintenance of his sway over the southern tribes, and the great advance of the defensive power and financial capability of the country. But when the true spiritual adviser whom he long followed, the prophet Zechariah, was separated from him, he also exhibited haughtiness, daring arrogance, and false independence in spiritual things. And if his people were not involved in the judgment incurred by this guilt, yet his transgression brought on himself a heavy and shameful fall, for which there was no recovery on this side the grave. He dies as one smitten of God (Isa 53:4; comp. Job 2:7; Job 6:4 f., 2Ch 16:12 ff.) in a sick-house, and does not even in death partake of the honour due to a king of the line of David, and also a powerful and celebrated prince (2Ch 26:28). To his son Jotham, reigning a much shorter time, but in a like spirit and with like external fortune, a humiliation of the same kind is certainly spared; for he entered not into the temple of the Lord, ventured on no such daring stretch of his authority as Uzziah in his attempt to burn incense. And how far he was thereby from being without guilt, or free from inward participation in such offences, is shown by the reckless audacity with which his on and successor, during his whole reign (of equal length with that of his father), ventured to addict himself to the demoralizing idolatry of the neighbouring nations, and to procure for it unlimited entrance among his people. Of the father of such a son we can form no very favourable opinion, even if the scanty notices of our author announce little or nothing positively unfavourable concerning him.
3. The penal judgment of God for such continued yielding to the seducing and corrupting influence of heathenism, as it was decreed against Judah, soon after the corruption had broken forth in all its grossness, in the so-called war with Syria and Ephraim, appears, according to the representation of the Chronist, to have been terribly great and severe. More than 100,000 fighting men fall as the sacrifice of a single battle-field, and almost double that number of women, children, and other prisoners of war are dragged away as slaves, and owe their instant unconditional release to the compassion of their kinsmen, the victorious Ephraimites, evoked by a bold and vehement prophetic admonition; so that in this case the Jews were put to shame by the more righteous and pious conduct of the citizens of the neighbouring kingdom (which, however, took place on the very eve of their religious and political ruin). But the spiritual blessing which should have sprung from so heavy and deeply humiliating a visitation was gone. No trace of the return of the heart to the true God and to His law comes to light in the subsequent accounts concerning the acts and events of the reign of Ahaz. And the calamities added to that great defeat, the invasions of the Edomites and Philistines, as well as the distress from the Assyrian king, whose alliance naturally soon proved to be an oppressive sovereignty, produce, instead of repentance toward God, only increasing submission to the idols. As slave children with venal servility kiss the rod with which they are chastised, so Ahaz thinks he must present more demonstrations of respect to the gods of his victorious foes, in proportion as they prepare for him heavier humiliations. And no one among the people brings him back from such folly; the voice of no prophet, though they press as strongly and closely upon his ear as that of an Isaiah (Isaiah 7-10), is able to check the criminal course into which he has gone with his princes, his counsellors, and his strong party among the people. First under his son Hezekiah, repentance and amendment, the path to which was already prepared in many hearts by the previous afflictions, come to light; and that unusually severe judgment of God finally proves to be a wholesome corrective measure, the effect of which is to save, create new life, and purify; comp. Hezekiahs own reflections on it, 2Ch 29:9,a passage which, at the same time, deserves to be taken into account as a supplementary testimony to the greatness of the loss suffered by the people from the defeats in question.
4. In the representation of the author of the books of Kings, this pragmatic connection of the defeats of Ahaz, especially that inflicted on him by the Syrians and Ephraimites, with his sins and his sinking into ever worse impenitence and idolatry, is less sharply and clearly exhibited than in the strong, rhetorically-coloured, and generally animated and impassioned style adopted by our author. But its substantial credibility can suffer no damage from this, that it here and there presents other points of view, and in part connects the events otherwise. As the reports of the Chronist, giving great prominence to the Levitical element in the revolution conducted by Jehoiada, as well as in the contributions for the temple and its repair under Joash, in contrast with those of the books of Kings, do not deserve to be cast in the shade and disparaged; or as that which our author more specially relates concerning Uzziahs transgression and punishment from his Levitical point of view is not to be suspected in comparison with the allusive brevity of the older parallel account; even so we have no right to hesitate with regard to that which is peculiar to him in the description of the Syro-Ephraimitish war. The roundness, resting rather on an estimate than an exact enumeration, of the high numbers in 2Ch 28:6-8 is the only thing that is to be conceded to the judgment of the opponent calling in question the strict historical accuracy of his narrative (see above on this passage). All other details of this description clearly rest on good historical ground; neither the names of the persons that fell, 2Ch 28:7, in the great engagement with Pekah among the kings relatives and nearest circle, nor those of the nobles of Ephiraim who supported by their vote the admonition of Oded to release the Jewish captives (2Ch 28:12), look like mere invention. The invention of such names, in order to invest an account, legendary in itself, with the appearance of historical truth, would, in fact, be an inconceivable monstrosity, a unicum in the history of literary fictions. But they both hold and support each other, the undeniable historical reality of these names, and the credibility of the facts with which they are connected and environed. The entrance also of the prophet Oded, and the words spoken by him, are accredited by the reacting power of these concrete names. What is done to the Jewish captives by those four chiefs of Ephraim seems purely inconceivable without a vehement admonition, such as that spoken by Oded according to 2Ch 28:9-11. Caspari therefore declares it to be the highest levity (against Gesenius, in his Commentary on Isaiah, p. 269, and other impugners of the historical truth of this prophetic utterance) to hold the report in vers. 911 to be unworthy of credit, and yet to regard the contents of 2Ch 28:12 ff. as historical. And in the same relation of supplement and of correspondence to 2 Kings stands in general all that our author reports different from the statements there concerning Ahaz and the steps taken by him for the furtherance of idolatry. As the remarks made by him, 2Ch 28:17-19, concerning the invasions of the Edomites and Philistines, agree excellently with 2Ki 16:6, so between that which he relates, 2Ch 28:23-25, regarding the idolatrous profanation of the temple and its vessels and 2Ki 16:10-16 there is no contradiction whatever, but merely a relation of supplement and confirmation. On the whole, it would seem superfluous, indeed almost paltry, after Casparis emphatic and pertinent argument in favour of the essential harmony of the two reports of the war, to enter further into subtle critical disquisitions or wide apologetic investigations regarding their apparent or even real points of difference.
Footnotes:
[1]The absent copula before is supplied in the Sept., Vulg., and Luth., and rightly.
[2]The Sept. and Vulg. take rather as the accus. belonging to Zechariah ( , sacerdotem).
[3]The Vulg. and Syr. do not translate ; the Sept. ( ) appears to have read .
[4]Hebr. , as always in Chronicles; comp. 1Ch 18:5.
[5]For the Sept. and Vulg. probably read aright The plur. seems a slip of the pen.
[6]So according to the Kethib . on the Keri , be multiplied (the sentence upon him), see Exeg. Expl.
[7]Before is to be supplied, with almost all recent expositors. See Exeg. Expl.
[8]For we should certainly read, with the Keri (and a considerable number of mss.): .
[9] , Kethib; the Keri is . Comp Exeg. Expl.
[10] , gate of turning, is undoubtedly and error for , corner gate; comp. 2Ch 26:9, and especially the parallel 2Ki 14:13.
[11]For the old versions (Sept., Vulg., Syr.) have: in the city of David.
[12]The Keri amends , after 2Ki 15:2, into , which is scarcely right.
[13]Instead of should rather be read, with the Sept. ( ), Syr., Targ., Raschi, Kimchi, and some Hebrew mss. of de Rossi: .
[14]Sept.: (Perhaps thinking of petra, the capital of Edom).
[15]Sept.: , by mistake (from the preceding ).
[16]So the Kethib (); the Keri has (as Ezr 8:13).
[17]The Sept., Syr., and Arab. have twenty-five, a reading which Houbigant, Dathe, Ewald, Berth., and most moderns prefer. Comp. also J. A. Bengel, in the passage quoted, Introd. 6, Rem. (p. 28).
[18]Properly Darmascus; comp. 1Ch 18:5-6; 2Ch 14:2; 2Ch 24:23.
[19]Comp. Luthers marginal note on this passage: Finely are both the crown and the book presented to the King that he might be not only mighty, but also wise, or (as we may say) know Gods word and right. Thus, even now, we make kings with a sword and book.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This chapter contains the history of the reign of Ahaz and a melancholy relation of his wicked reign it furnisheth. He is afflicted by the Syrians. His death, and successor in the kingdom, is also related.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
What a melancholy account is here given in a few verses of the life and conduct of Ahaz! had we not the authority of God’s sacred word it would be incredible to read of the degeneracy both of king and people respecting idolatry. But Reader! what must have been the forbearance, mercy, and long suffering, of the Lord. Oh! for grace to contemplate this with an eye to Jesus!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jotham Regarded As a Connecting-link
2Ch 27:22Ch 282Ch 28
WHO was he? Whence did he spring? He comes so suddenly upon us: let us interrogate him. A few facts may lead to a great philosophy. Jotham was the son of a king, and the probable son of a high priest. Then he must be good! Let us take care how we hasten to conclusions. We may be right, or we may be wrong; but let us take great care of the basis oh which our reasoning is founded. His father’s name was Uzziah, not a name to be altogether proud of, as we have seen. His mother was the daughter of Zadok, and Zadok was probably high priest. Jotham was a good king, almost whole-hearted in genuine piety, and a wise man in that he avoided at least one of his father’s mistakes. Anybody can avoid a vulgarity; no genius is required in forbearing to imitate drunkenness, profanity, sheer and desperate recklessness: the thing that is difficult to avoid is a divergence from the path of virtue and wisdom. Heavenly wisdom discriminates between shades. A child might soon learn to distinguish between the right hand and the left; but all things are not diametrically separated; there are radii, and they can come quite closely together, being finely drawn, by specially prepared instruments. The wisdom that is from above hath a microscopic eye which can see the finest shades and the closest lights. Uzziah made a fool of himself in a way that his son could hardly imitate. Moreover his son may have heard of the penalty that fell upon the trespassing king. When a man’s father has been blasted with leprosy, surely the son is not likely to go and do the very thing which brought upon his parent that malediction. We read, therefore, that Jotham “entered not into the temple of the Lord.” Here is a negative virtue to begin with. The meaning is not that Jotham did not go to the temple service, did not heed the temple ritual, did not care for temple life; probably he was regular and punctual in his attendance at the temple within the assigned limits; but he did not enter the temple sacrilegiously as his father did, for, as we have seen, his father went in and took the censer, and swung it, and burned incense, and the priests followed him with great haste, and arrested him, king though he was, and said No: even a king must keep within the proper limitations; and whilst they remonstrated the white patch came up in the forehead, and Uzziah went out a leper, as he had come in a trespasser. Jotham took care not to imitate the broad vulgarity of his father’s sacrilege. But to avoid a great sin does not involve the fact or the necessity that we must therefore be minutely, critically, and vitally pious. The Scripture comes into closer quarters with us, and asks many questions in a whisper which we could have borne if they had been hurled at us in thunder. It is the searching whisper, the spiritual cross-examination, the still small voice that wants the minutest secret from the heart, that we cannot endure.
The piety of Jotham was the more remarkable that he had nobody to sustain him: “The people did yet corruptly” ( 2Ch 27:2 ). It is hard to be a flower in a wilderness of weeds. There is a singularity that is painful. It is hard to pray when everybody is cursing. It is easy to join the popular hymn, easy to flow with the stream. The difficulty is to be the one example, to stand by conviction in the time of general moral collapse; to be the one faithful among the many faithless. But there is danger even here. A man may think himself more pious than he really is because other people are so corrupt. A little light may seem to be quite a sun where the darkness is so great. The danger is that we take credit to ourselves for being very heavenly when we are only really good by contrast, when we owe more to the darkness that is around us than to the light that is in us for the display of any supposed virtue or excellence.
We have said that Jotham was almost whole hearted: what flaw was there in the crystal? Read the words, and say if the most critical eye can detect in them any foreign material, any vitiating speck:
“He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers” ( 2Ch 27:3-4 ).
This wall looked towards the south: who does not like to work or build or loiter on the sunny side of the hill? Work then becomes a kind of pleasure, the sun blithely assists the labourer, and makes him forget quite half his toil. Many men are willing to assist on sunny days and at sunny places and under sunny circumstances, who are no use among shadows and gathering gloom and threatening thunder. They call themselves your friends, and so they tell wicked lies; they profess themselves to be willing to undertake any work that the sun shines on, and to do it in the spirit of sacrifice: no such action is possible; they do it that they may enjoy themselves, that they may receive the benediction of the sun. Perhaps they do not mean to be wicked: what man ever did, fully and self-consciously, intend to be as bad as he could be? But they are self-deceived, they are charmed and tempted because the work is on the southern slope, and there the sun seems to shine all day. If all this were said to an intelligent Christian congregation the assembly would listen with interest and attention; yet this is not the meaning of the text, and this has no connection whatsoever with the text. This is the difficulty which the Christian teacher must always contend with, namely, that nobody knows the Bible; and further that there is a great danger in neglecting the text that the sermon may be enjoyed. As well neglect to reap, and come for the fruit. What then does “Ophel” mean? It means the mount. Where was the mount? On the southern slope. Why did the king build so much on Ophel? Because it was most accessible to the enemy; he would have built as much on the northern or shady side if that had been the weak point of his life; like a wise commander he remembered that no man is stronger than his weakest point, and that no fortification is stronger than its frailest part; so the king built much where the wall was weakest, or where the access of the enemy was most open; and in doing so he gathered up and represented the wisdom and experience of the ages, and anticipated what we and all the sons of time ought to do. Many men are building unnecessarily; they have not walked round the wall to see what place was weakest. So long as they are building they think they are industrious; it is industry thrown away. So many men are foolishly energetic and industrious. Why put more bolts on the door that is already ironed and strengthened in what appears to be every possible way? Why so diligently protect the front door, and leave the back door standing wide open? This is the folly of life, this is the madness of many business men, this is the secret of failure in a thousand directions, industry to the point of exhaustion, early rising, late retiring, continual friction, but all at the wrong time or under the wrong circumstances, all stultified by want of proceeding from the right centre. What is your weakest point? Build much there. Your weakest point is not want of information; if your wisdom were half your knowledge a greater than Solomon would be here. Why all this acquisition of more languages, more history, more philosophy? Your character is running out of you at another point. Build much where much building is needed. Your want is not want of more money. Suppose your money were multiplied by ten, what of it? It would be multiplied by ten if you thought it were. After a certain point, a man can have just as much as he pleases to have by multiplying it a hundredfold. There is a time when money ceases to be of value as to living effect and blessed influence; therefore you can at any time multiply what you have by any number of units and ciphers, and all will come out in the great polysyllable of love. You do not need more money, but you need more character, patience, thoughtfulness, self-control, settled persistence, unsparing discipline: why not build much at Ophel? What is your weakest point passion? Have plenty of water at hand, mountains of ice; that will be wisdom; but to be giving great festivals and floating banners and sounding trumpets will be absolutely useless to you: what you want is a plunge into an ice-pit, and to stop there till your friends fetch you out of it, you will be a long time absent, What is your weakest point covetousness? Then take inkhorn and pen and cleanest sheet of whitest paper, and write on it in God’s sight that every day in the week you will give a sum that will pinch you. You do not give till you begin to feel you have given. All other contribution is luxury, vanity, a perfunctory service; let there be some feeling of real sacrifice; then every day for a time will be a battle. There will stand the oath a challenge, a claim. Near your shoulder there will plead an invisible devil, who will say, Has not the time come when you might relax your discipline? And you, poor bruised reed, only healed the day before yesterday, will begin to feel that perhaps you might intermit a day. Build much on that Ophel; that is your salvation or your ruin, namely, your relation to that weakest point in your character. What is your most accessible point indolence? Build much there; insist upon being roused; say to your soul, It is right that I should, if need be, be maddened into action; and plead with your dearest friend not to spare the puncture that will call you to your fate. Sloth steals over a man, lulls him, delights him; and how quickly the unsympathetic clock goes when we are dozing! What man ever woke up and said, It is not so far on as I thought it was? How many thousands awake to say they had no idea that the time had passed so rapidly? Is your weakest point envy? Is it impossible for you to see your neighbour prosper without your sleep being broken in upon? Does the prosperity of your competitor spoil your peace? That is your Ophel; build much there; to build otherwhere is useless; such building may express industry, but industry misspent; to beat the air is a fool’s exercise.
You are not going to found an accusation on the process and action of building. He was not building evil temples, unholy houses, places destitute of every sign of spiritual excellence and religious significance. Yet it was in all that building that he got wrong. We must go to the religious critic to find what men are doing. We must go to the pulpit, if the pulpit is true, to know whether kings are acting wisely or unwisely; and the pulpit must bear the foolish accusation of being political in its criticism and censure. All the building is proceeding, and people are saying what an admirable building it is; but Hosea was the prophet of the time, a burning fire in the northern kingdom, a man who would be written down by the journalists of the day for being political; he thundered in his age, and made kings know that prophecy was the true royalty. Said he, in the name of God: “Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.” Whilst Jotham was building Hosea was thundering. Hosea might have been more popular if he had said nothing about it. People love an inoffensive ministry; a sweet, quiet, vapid platitudinarianism. But the prophets were great critics; they let nothing escape them, they condemned with a strong voice. Said Isaiah, that great statesman-prophet who would not be shut up within some limited place called a pulpit, but who made creation the theatre of his action, “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,” the northern tribes being politically designated by that name, and being thus significantly described. Jotham would have fortresses and castles and towers and much masonry. The Lord has always been training the race to spiritual dependence. If he has allowed man to build anything with mortar and stone, it has been to teach him the inutility of any such erections. “I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.” The word “castles” in this verse literally means palaces, the very word which Hosea uttered at the bidding of God. The Lord is to be our refuge and strength, not our high walls and great towers and invincible bastions. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. A man may be building atheistically. A man may lay up so much for a rainy day that in his very economy and penuriousness and forethought he may be denying God. Innocent indeed Jotham appeared to be when building and completing the line of fortifications; but he ought to have trusted more in the living God. There be those who say that heaven helps those who help themselves, and they help themselves so much as to leave heaven nothing to do. Are we not displacing faith by prudence? Are we not ousting religion by calculation? Except the Lord keep the city, every gate of it will fall down, and the burglars may enter in full force. Except the Lord watch, the watchman’s lamp and rattle are but child’s toys. What is the fortification of our life? What is the line of defence? Wherein have we put our trust? What appears to be innocent may in reality be full of atheism and folly. Self-preservation may be really an aspect of atheism. To put another line of defence around one’s life may be to restrain prayer before God. Thus all through the ages God has been training men to spiritual trust, to simple faith, to casting one’s self upon the Almighty, and saying Father, as thou wilt; I am not my own, I am thine: lead me, guide me, make use of me, make my whole life a blessing; I want to have no will but thine: there cannot be two almighties: the Lord reigneth; he shall be the defence of my soul.
Was Jotham, then, condemned and utterly cast away? No. We will retain our first form of words and say he was almost whole-hearted in his healthy piety. And it is recorded of him, “Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God” ( 2Ch 27:6 ). Literally, He directed his steps by the meridian of God’s righteousness. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” How difficult it is to be a whole-hearted man in piety! How strong the temptatation just to do a little building and a little praying! How likely the Sunday of life is to be voted out by the six competing days! It must be hard to be the one day in the week which peculiarly bears the image and superscription of God. It is difficult to tell the whole truth. Who does? Society would be rent in pieces if the whole truth were spoken one single day. Jotham established his ways before God; he lived a religious life; he had an uppermost thought that fixed itself upon the living God. Who is a Christian? No man. It is impossible to be a Christian. What is possible is the desire “I count not myself to have attained, but I press toward the mark.” If that was all the great apostle accounted himself to have done, in some feeble echo only can we claim to be of the glorious company of the apostles. The Lord looks upon the uppermost thought, the supreme desire, and when we can say, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee: I know what happened four days ago I know it yet I love thee,” then shall come a mission to feed the lambs and sheep.
Such was Jotham, in rude outline. Such a father must, we should say, have an excellent son. On so fair a tree fair fruit must be found. Yet we must beware of our own reasoning, for such halting logic would not have given us Jotham himself. We are on the wrong line of reasoning if we suppose that a good father must have a good son. There is a kind of natural logic in it, a sequence that comes as if it were of necessity; but it is not so. Jotham’s father was a leper, and was smitten with leprosy on moral grounds. Helped until he became strong, he was not satisfied with strength; he exaggerated his strength into presumption; he inspired his strength by a baleful ambition, and he was ruined in his very endeavour to become more than God intended him to be. Blessed is he who knows the measure of his election, and who makes his calling and election sure; blessed is he who knows he cannot preach, cannot utter music, cannot grasp and handle with mastery the tragedy of life; blessed is he who knows just what he can do, and who faithfully, simply, lovingly does it; he shall be honoured with many honours when his Lord cometh. Uzziah was not after that model. Having done much he thought he could do more, and in the perversion and misapplication of his strength he found his leprosy. It would seem as if Providence persistently broke in upon natural logic and asserted a sovereignty immeasurable, incalculable, so that no man could tell what will happen tomorrow. The growth of humanity is not after a horticultural manner. We cannot say that a good tree shall have good off-shoots, if we are speaking of humanity. The holiest father may have a murderer for his son. The sweetest mother may die of a broken heart. Only a foolish criticism is reckless in fixing definite responsibilities in this matter of the nurture and culture of children. The Lord rebukes us when we say that because the father was good the son must be good; or because the father was evil the son must be evil. The Lord permits men to come in between who are bad, or who are good, that all our little speculation about heredity, and all our arrangements for moral progress, may be thrown back and lost in confusion. Herein is the working of that mysterious law which is often misunderstood when denominated the law of election. We cannot tell what God is doing. Your son ought to have been good: for where is there a braver soul than yourself? The boy ought to have been chivalrous, for he never knew you do a mean deed or give lodgment to an ungenerous thought. In a way too he was proud of his father; yet there was no devil’s work he would not stoop to do. He did not get the bad blood from his mother, for gentler, sweeter soul never sang God’s psalms in God’s house. Yet there is the mystery, and it is not for a reckless criticism to define the origin and the issue of this mysterious phenomenon in human development.
Jotham had a son called Ahaz: “But he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father” ( 2Ch 28:1 ). What a point of departure! The prodigal son has been in every history; it required but the fingers of Christ to take him out and set him forth in a parable that fills the eyes like the sun at midday. Why did Ahaz go astray when his father was a good man? Perhaps he went only a little astray; perhaps the deflection was hardly calculable. No, that is not so: “For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim,” not for Baal; he served all the gods; his idols were in the plural number: for every aspect of Baal; literally, for the Baals. There was not an avatar that had not its recognition from wicked Ahaz. He walked round the Baalim to see how many there were of them, and the more there were the better he was pleased. “Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel” ( 2Ch 28:3 ). He revelled in wickedness; he was a glutton at the devil’s table. He would have come well immediately after his grandfather, the leper. But Jotham was between. That is the mystery. How is it that man goes on for a while, and then suddenly reverts, or turns aside, or makes room for a monster? It is a curious history! There was no end to the wickedness of Ahaz. “He made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord”: literally, He made Judah licentious; still more literally, He loosed Judah, took away the restraints of decency, custom, publicity; cut the tether, loosed Judah, made Judah naked, destroyed the last light of decency. Yet Jotham was his father. That is the difficulty. The old leprosy was to come up again in another form. This is the son of the leper, only the leprosy is on the heart, not on the face. A melancholy record, truly! Yet Jotham was his father. His father prayed, he worshipped idols; his father acknowledged God, he denied him. All the home influence was lost; he was a sevenfold offender. Hear his record: he worshipped the gods of Syria, “For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But” now comes a sentence that ought to be written in letters of fire, that ought to be kept steadily before the eyes of every young man
“But they were the ruin of him” ( 2Ch 28:23 ).
Now let us read the verse in its entirety:
“For he [Ahaz] sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel [lit. and they (i.e. those very gods) were to him to make him stumble, and all Israel. The mode of expression, as well as the thought expressed, is highly characteristic] ( 2Ch 28:23 ).
Local gods are full of prejudice; sectarian gods will not bless the men that go to the next church. The gods of the Syrians are supposed to favour the Syrians only little gods, mean, poor-hearted gods, little shrivelled tearless gods, petting their own idolaters after a superstitious fashion, but having nothing to do with the great human heart in all the tragedy of its meaning. That is the history of sectarianism everywhere. Only that God is true, though he be but a painted deity, that loves the world. The artist that painted such a god created him. This is the glory of the Bible, that it reveals a God who loves all men, who redeemed all men, who is no respecter of persons. A God that respects persons pays his Godhead for his elevation. How many men have been mistaken in seeking false inspiration or in coveting false benedictions! The young man says he has a difficult task tomorrow, he is to meet persons with whom he has no sympathy and from whom he expects no quarter; constitutionally, he is nervous, self-distrustful, somewhat afraid of a certain aspect of controversy: he therefore says, I will fortify myself, I will take wine, the wine will quicken the flow of my blood, will pleasantly and usefully excite the nervous centres, and I shall go forward boldly and confidently and make the best of myself; but it was the ruin of him! Wine never made a man really bold; whilst the wine was working its little temporary miracle upon him, it was sucking out his will, it was twisting the chain round his life; whilst the wine satisfied one thirst it was creating another, and he who was so bold under the inspiration of one glass of wine will need two the next time; and so he seeks a fool’s helper, that will be the ruin of him. Impudence is not boldness; self-forgetfulness wrought by this demon of the pit is not power, dignity, or noblest manhood. For a time you were pert, self-sufficient, heedless, careless of every man, and could answer in retort and repartee with some sharpness: it was not you, but the evil spirit, and that evil spirit will be the ruin of you; though you start business with a heavy capital, and with many friends, and with the fullest sunshine of social favour, take heed; you may be buried with the burial of an ass. Are there not those who seek false inspiration? They will consult their false pride, they will sacrifice at the altar of appearances; over their poverty they will put some borrowed rag in the hope that observers will look at the rag and not at the poverty, and treat them as occupying a certain social position. False pride will be the ruin of them. Why do you not acknowledge poverty? There is a poverty that is honourable, there is an industry of which no man need be ashamed. If you cannot surround yourself with liveried servants, who cares? The people who simulate amazement at your grandeur will laugh at you as fools when they go home. False appearances are the ruin of many people. They are ashamed to work, they would die if they had to clean their own doorstep. All this we must get rid of, or we shall have no real health. All tall talk, all high assumptions, all genteel lying must be swept out of the way, and men must go for what they are worth, and create an aristocracy of merit. Let capacity lead the nation: let merit be the chief partner in business: let genius wear the purple and sway the sceptre. They were the ruin of Ahaz, and they will be the ruin of every man that consults false sources of inspiration or excitement; it is not inspiration, it is insanity; it is not healthy excitement, the glow of an intelligent enthusiasm, but the madness and the lawlessness of superstition or self-idolatry.
The subject gives a word to many, let the word be confined to one only, and that to the soul who wonders why his child should not be better. It is a wonder. There is no frivolous explanation of that mystery. Do not be content with any man who would try to daub that wall with untempered mortar. We did not expect this; we all said, The son of such a father must have on him the stamp of spiritual royalty; his very speech must be attuned to the music of heaven. God is working, and he may at last show what he has been meaning all the time; but you may rest in this solemn doctrine that judgment is in the hand of God. It is not for man to condemn or to praise beyond a very easily defined limit of criticism. God knoweth all things. He knoweth more things than you, even the boy’s father, can tell, because he knows all the fathers that have gone before you. You do not know them beyond a very recent date; but every line is open, even to nakedness, to the eyes of him with whom we have to do; and he will be kind, he will be gracious. Aaron says, “His mercy endureth for ever.” Israel says, “His mercy endureth for ever.” All men who have had experience of him say, “His mercy endureth for ever.” And all his attributes, purposes, have been gathered up into one sublime utterance, which a child can remember as to words, but which no archangel can fathom as to meaning, “God is Love.”
Prayer
Speak thy word to our hearts, thou God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may we know that the word is thine because of our glowing love. There is no voice like thine, there is no touch like thine. Draw near to us, whisper to us, lay thy fingers upon us, and we shall be cheered and healed and made strong with thine own strength. We have wandered, but thou knowest that we love thee; we have stopped our prayers that we might do some sin, yet all the while the prayer has been uppermost and has prevailed; we have gone away from thy sanctuary, but our hearts have ached that we might return. Behold, thou hast not left us to ourselves, thou hast followed us, thy Holy Spirit has been with us, entreating, rebuking, reproaching, yet comforting: assuring us when our hunger was keenest that in our Father’s house there was bread enough and to spare. Give us understanding of the times, that we may know what thy Church ought to do; bless us with the spirit of fearlessness, that we may speak the necessary word with all clearness and with the power of self-restraint and the charm of anxious modesty; may there be no sparing of wrong, may there be no compromise with evil or darkness, may no bribe be accepted at Christ’s altar, but may all men be alive with the spirit of righteousness, burning with the spirit of love; then shall there come upon all thy Church a revival full of intelligence, earnest, intense, enduring, and he who is our Saviour shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XV
THE REIGNS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AND THAZ (OF JUDAH) AND ZECHARIAH, SHALLUM, PEKAHIAH, AND PEKA (OF ISRAEL)
2Ki 15:1-16:20
In this chapter we begin with the brief reign of Zechariah who was the last king of the dynasty of Jehu. He was a weakling preceded by four strong men, but himself very inferior to his predecessors. Zechariah reigned only six months, and during that six months we have the same story of sin and corruption repeated as we have had in all the reigns previous to him. He was murdered by a usurper named Shallum, and thus ends the dynasty of Jehu as had been prophesied: that his children to the fourth generation only should sit upon the throne.
Then follows the brief reign of Shallum. The usurper succeeds in removing Zechariah and seizes the throne. His reign is short lived, but during that time we have an even more terrible picture of the condition of the people as described in the book of Hosea, Hosea 4-14. It is during this period and after, that Hosea gives us the bulk of his prophecy. In Hos 10:3 , referring to one of these revolutions when the dynasty was changed, we find this statement: “Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not the Lord; and the king, what can he do for us?” which indicates that the people felt themselves without a king. They cared not for God nor for the king. The kingdom was without a head) without a central government, the result of such condition of affairs is the anarchy which he describes. In Hos 4:1-2 we have a catalogue of the sins of the people: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel; for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land; nought but swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.” So frequent were the murders that the blood of one is not dried up before another one takes place and there is a continuous stream of blood.
Next comes the brief reign of Menahem, who seized the throne through murder, destroyed all the dynasty preceding him, and the brief statement made in regard to his character would indicate that he was a man, barbarous in his ferocity, a murderer and a relentless freebooter.
The record tells us that when Uzziah was exalted, his heart was lifted up with pride, and he assumed to perform the functions of the priesthood. He thrust himself into the Temple to offer the incense which the law placed in other hands. There the priest met him, bravely stood in the way of that offering, and while the spirit of persistence was upon him, God smote him with leprosy, and from the day that leprosy struck him he had to be isolated from the throne and the people and though he lived years afterward a regency was established by his son, Jotham. It is called Uzziah’s reign, but Jotham acted as king until his leprosy killed him.
In 2Ki 15:19-20 and 1Ch 5:26 we find that Pul, king of Assyria, or the great Tiglath-Pileser, approaches the Northern Kingdom, and Menahem had to pay a large tribute in order to maintain his kingdom, a thousand talents of silver: “And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria, so the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.” Thus he was able to maintain his throne and kingdom by paying Tiglath-Pileser a heavy tribute. Then follows the reign of Pekahiah, the son of Menahem. He was a little improvement upon his father. In a short time he was himself butchered by Pekah who seized the throne and established another dynasty. His character was in line with the other kings of Israel in general: “He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.”
About this time Uzziah died. It is notable that he was buried “in the field of burial with his fathers, for they said, He was a leper.” Just at this time, Isaiah, the greatest of Old Testament prophets, had his vision, and also the prophetic work of Amos and Hosea of Israel and Micah of Judah falls in this period. From these prophets we get a fine description of the customs and practices of this time.
Upon the death of Uzziah, his son Jotham, reigned in his stead. His mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. His character was ahead of any other king in the period except Hezekiah. He didn’t put down the high places, but he didn’t commit particular sins to aggravate the condition of the people. He carried forward some important building enterprises. He built the upper gate of the Temple, the wall of Ophel, cities in the hill country of Judah and castles and towers in the forest. He was also successful in war with the Ammonites who paid him large tribute.
During the reign of Pekah several things happened. The kingdom was now nearing its end and we read that Pul, the great Assyrian king approached eastern Palestine, conquered it, deported the entire population “and brought them unto Halah, and Habor and Hara, and to the river of Gozan,” and there they remained. Tiglath-Pileser was the first of the great Assyrians that inaugurated the system of deporting a rebellious people, thus rendering them powerless to oppose him. He picked them up, and transported them to other countries, and brought in others to take their places, simply transferred whole nations. Thus all eastern Palestine had gone into exile.
We now come to Ahaz and the whole picture is black. He reigned sixteen years and he crowded into that time as much meanness, vileness, as a man can put into sixteen years. Let us glance at the record itself to see some of the things that he did. In the sketch of his character it is said, “He did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.” There was a confederacy formed against him to which the prophets give particular notice. The king of Israel and the king of Syria entered into an alliance to destroy Judah. Here the prophet Oded comes in and the record says, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not even with you trespasses of your own against the Lord your God?” You acted as the sword of God against Judah. Ought it not to put you to thinking that God would make some other nation the sword against you? ‘Spurgeon has a great sermon on that text: “Are there not even with you trespasses of your own against the Lord your God?” Spurgeon preached his sermon to those harsh censorious people who with an eye of a buzzard can detect anything fowl, or dead, or decaying in the character of other people, and he made this charge in the sermon: “You that condemn others, you who are so ready to pass a harsh and inexorable judgment upon them, are there not even with you some trespasses against the Lord your God?” Our Lord carried out the thought thus: “What judgment ye mete unto others shall be measured unto you.” Not only was Ahaz smitten by this confederacy from the north, but the Edomites on the south revolted against him; on every side the enemies came in and smote him.
Now we come to his next sin. Instead of turning to God with repentance and asking the Lord to help him he seeks an alliance with Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, and invites him to smite Syria for a consideration: “Now I will foot the bills.” In order to foot the bills he strips the house of God of all of its precious ornaments and with that gold he buys the service of the Assyrian king to smite the Syrians and the Assyrian was ready enough to do the smiting. He had an eye in that direction already and he did smite, but he demanded that Ahaz should come up to Damascus and pay tribute to him.
So we come to the third great sin of Ahaz. When in Damascus he studied the form of the altar of burnt offerings that the idolaters had up there and was very much pleased with it; so before he leaves he sends a plan of it to a certain priest and instructs him to make one just like it, and when he gets home he moves God’s altar off to one side, and puts up this heathen altar that he had copied. He didn’t stop at that; he shut up the holy place, and closed up all the services of the worship of the true God. That gives some idea of his sins.
In 2Ki 15:29 we have the account of another terrible deportation by Tiglath-Pileser. He came “and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all of the land of Naphtali, and he carried them captive to Assyria.” Thus we see that northern Israel was stripped of all of its land east of the Jordan and of all its land north of the plain of Esdraelon, and only the hill country of Ephraim was left, about one-tenth perhaps of the entire dominion. So the kingdom is going, falling, being stripped of its possessions gradually.
In 2Ki 15:30-31 , we have an account of the death of Pekah, which was the result of a conspiracy of Hoshea, the son of Remaliah. But between Pekah and Hoshea we find, according to good authority,” another interregnum of nine years which is determined by comparing 2Ki 15:27 ; 2Ki 15:30 and 2Ki 17:1 .
QUESTIONS
1. Who succeeded Jeroboam II, and what was his character?
2. How long did he reign, what was the manner of his death, and what promise of Jehovah was fulfilled in him?
3. Who succeeded Zechariah and what was the story of his reign and death?
4. Who succeeded Shallum and what was his character?
5. What was Uzziah’s sin, what was its punishment and what is meant by “several house”?
6. Who became king regent and what was his special work as such?
7. What invasion of Israel just here and what results?
8. Who succeeded Menahem, what was his character and what the manner of his death?
9. Who succeeded Pekahiah and what was his character?
10. What is notable in the death and burial of Uzziah, what great prophet had his vision in the year of Uzziah’s death, and what other prophets came in this period?
11. Who succeeded Uzziah, who his mother and what his character?
12. What was the spiritual condition of his people, what of his building enterprises and what of his conquest and result?
13. What deportation of Israel here, who took them and where, and what the market condition of Judah at this time?
14. Who succeeded Jotham, what was his character, and what horrible thing did he practice?
15. Recite the account of the war between Ahaz and Rezin and Pekah including the account of Isaiah and the work of Oded the prophet.
16. What invasion here of Judah, what was the result and what reason assigned?
17. What distressed condition of Ahaz at this time, to what source did he turn for relief and what result?
18. What second deportation of Israel, who took them and where?
19. Recite the story of Ahaz’s sacrilege and its lessons.
20. What of the interregnum between Pekah and Hoshea and how determined by the author?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
2Ch 28:1 Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
Ver. 1. Ahaz was twenty years old. ] And reigned but sixteen years; and yet when he died, Hezekiah his son was twenty-five years old. 2Ch 29:1 Some a say this was extraordinary, and render this reason: Ahaz so young a father, as Elizabeth an old mother, should have hoped in Emmanuel, born of a virgin. Others b solve it thus: The beginning of that reign, when Ahaz was but twenty years old, is to be referred to Jotham, his father; for Ahaz was twenty years old when he – namely Jotham – began to reign: as Jehoiachin was eight years old when he – namely Jehoiakim his father – began to reign: for Jehoiachin was eighteen when he himself began to reign. 2Ch 36:9 2Ki 24:8
Like David his father.
a Brought. Consent.
b Dr Gouge.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Chronicles Chapter 28
Jotham dies, and Ahaz succeeds him – an impious son who “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim” (2Ch 28 ). Not satisfied with that, he, even as we know, brought down the pattern of a new altar from Damascus into the very house of God; but God smote him. “Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken Jehovah God of their fathers.” And so we find further sorrows without end upon Ahaz, so that in the extremity of his distress he sends for a little help to the king of Assyria, only to add to his sorrows.
I need not dwell upon this, though it is one of the most important points in the history of Judah; for it was the great crisis when the magnificent burst of prophecy came from God. Isaiah had began, no doubt, before, in the days of Uzziah and Jotham; but it was in Ahaz’s time that the prophecy of Emmanuel was given; yea, it was to Ahaz himself. What grace! that a wicked man should bring forth from God the distinctest pledge of the glory of the Messiah! Yet, so it was. How completely God moves above the evil of man! And if God be so to the evil, what is He not to the righteous? How should we not then ever confide in His love?
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
twenty years . . . sixteen years. Yet his son Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he died (2Ch 29:1). See note on 2Ki 16:1.
when he: i.e. when he (Jotham). Compare Jehoiakim and Jehoachin (2Ch 36:9; 2 Kings 21
not . . . like. Nor like his own father Jotham, or his son Hezekiah.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
By Chuck Smith
Shall we turn now to II Chronicles, chapter 28.
We are now moving into the final stages of the deterioration of this nation prior to its destruction. Ahaz is now the king.
He is twenty years old when he began to reign ( 2Ch 28:1 ),
And he is an extremely wicked person. And it is really during his reign that the kingdom sinks to a lower level spiritually than it ever has. And this begins the final downward trend. There are few respites. Hezekiah, his son, was a very good king. Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, was a wicked king. And then the son of Manasseh, Josiah, was again a very good king. But each time you get to the wicked kings it seems like their wickedness is just a little deeper or greater than the previous ones.
Now among the things that Ahaz did was to
walk in the ways of the kings of Israel [in the north] ( 2Ch 28:2 ),
Establishing the worship of Baal, and in establishing the worship of Baal, caused his children to pass through the fire.
Now some people wonder why God ordered the extermination of the Canaanites when the children of Israel came into the land. And it seems a very cruel thing for God to order them to wipe out all of the inhabitants of that land as they moved in. And it has created great problems for some people. How could a God of love order the extermination of a whole race of people? But if you will get into the practices of their worship and you begin to study their whole cultural system, you will see why God ordered their extermination. Because they had come to a place of such depravity, even in their concepts and worship of God, that they would in time destroy themselves.
One of the practices in the worship of Baal was to cause your children to pass through the fire. They would heat the little iron or stone images of Baal until they were glowing hot, and then the little images of Baal have always arms that are straight out from the body with the fingers turned up, and that was so that they could hold the infants. And these little images when they would turn molten red, they would place then their little babies in the molten red arms of the image of Baal and sacrifice their babies unto Baal. And so this king Ahaz was actually guilty of causing his own children to pass through the fire. And he got into all of the pagan practices in their religious system, forsaking the worship of the true and the living God and following after the worship that was common in the nations that God ordered exterminated. God ordered to get rid of them completely because of their disobedience to God and their failure to utterly exterminate these nations. Gradually the practice of these nations became sort of inculcated into the life of the people of God and they polluted the people of God, and ultimately caused the fall of God’s people.
So God was only seeking to protect them from this poison, this venom, in order that they might continue in the land and continue to serve the Lord. And it was their failure of obeying God that led to their ultimate downfall as they began to pick up the practices of the people round about.
Now as we are in this particular period in history, as we are dealing now with Ahaz and then subsequently Hezekiah, this is about the time, Hezekiah’s reign, Ahaz only reigned for sixteen years. Hezekiah was the time when Isaiah was the prophet of God. And you can go into the book of Isaiah and you can read how he speaks against those who had followed after the astrology and the stargazers and the monthly prognosticators and so forth, and he speaks of the things that they became involved with in false worship. As we move on after Hezekiah in the period of Manasseh, it was Manasseh, actually, who ordered Isaiah the prophet sawed in two. He didn’t want to hear any more of God’s word.
But God raised up another prophet during the time of Josiah, the prophet Jeremiah. And Jeremiah is the prophet who, talking to the people at this period of history, he said, “Has there ever been such a thing before that a people will turn from their God which are no gods?” In other words, those people that worshipped false gods won’t turn away from their god. They’ll continue to worship false gods generation after generation after generation. Of course, the reason is is that in the worship of false gods there is an appeal to the flesh. Thus, there is no spiritual struggle.
To worship the true and the living God does create a conflict within. The moment I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, begin to serve the Lord, there is a conflict, an internal conflict that is set up within me, the flesh warring against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary. The battle begins. But in worshipping the false gods, they are extremely appealing to the flesh, and thus, there is no conflict set up. And thus, people who worship false gods will continue in the worship of false gods from generation to generation. And so Jeremiah points it out. He said, “Have you ever seen such a thing? People will turn from their God, which really aren’t gods. They’re not even true gods but people won’t turn. They’re very loyal to them.” And yet, God said, “You have turned away from Me. You have left Me, the fountain of living waters.”
Living waters is a running stream. “You have left Me, the fountain of living waters, and you have hewn out for yourself, carved out for yourselves cisterns,” which are great caves that they carve out in the limestone over there in Israel in order that they might be water reservoirs. But they collect the water in the winter rains and then hold them through the summer season. But you know what water does that’s collected in a cistern like that. It soon begins to get stagnant. The little wiggle tails and all in it. So cisterns can only really hold stagnant water at the best. “But here you’ve forsaken Me,” God said, “the fountain of living water and you’ve cut out for yourselves cisterns. You’ve followed now religious systems that really… ” But He said, concerning their cisterns, “They can’t hold water.”
Every once in a while they carve out a cistern and there would be a fracture in the rocks. So you set the whole thing up and you pray for the rain and you got the thing all designed, you got all your little dikes built, and you direct all of the rain to the hole that you put in the top of the cistern. And you watch the water running in down your dikes and in, and you hear it splashing. You say, “All right, now this is great.” And so you go out the next morning to draw a bucket of water out and there’s no water in it. Suddenly you discovered after three years of picking away at this rock in carving out your cistern, there’s a fracture in it somewhere and it won’t hold water. And so you use it for a tomb.
Interestingly enough, there is a tomb on the Mount of Olives just below the Intercontinental Hotel that was originally a cistern, cut out for a cistern. Didn’t hold water so they used it for a tomb. So God’s complaint against the people. “You’ve turned from Me.” Ahaz turned from God. Followed the practices.
Now you see, in following these practices and getting into these horrible, abominable practices, it was for these things that God brought His judgment upon these nations. And now His own people are following these same things. The reason why God ordered them exterminated is so that they would not infect His people with these practices. But their disobedience led to their infection, which led ultimately to their destruction. And so Ahaz, an extremely wicked king, and because of his wickedness there was a rapid deterioration of the strength of the kingdom.
Verse 2Ch 28:5 :
So the LORD delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and he was brought with them to Damascus. And he was delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter ( 2Ch 28:5 ).
That is the northern kingdom. And 120,000 of his men were killed in one day of battle.
they were all very valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And then the children of Israel carried away two hundred thousand of their brothers, and their children, and women, as captives ( 2Ch 28:6 , 2Ch 28:8 ).
But when they brought these captives unto Israel, some of the old men of Israel said, “Hey, that you can’t do. They are actually our brothers still and you can’t bring those of Judah as slaves.” They were going to make slaves out of them and some of the older men in the northern kingdom of Israel spoke out against this. And so they brought the people back again from that particular captivity.
Now in verse 2Ch 28:16 :
The king sent to the… [Ahaz took money and sent to the] king of Assyria to come and help him ( 2Ch 28:16 ).
Because the Philistines have moved against him and took several of the cities. The Edomites moved against him and took several of the cities of the southern portion. The Philistines were taking the cities of the western portion. The Israelites were taking the cities from the northern portion. He was getting wiped out on every side. And so he sent for the king of Assyria to come and help him. And rather than helping him, he also just took his money and did nothing to help him in his distress.
Verse 2Ch 28:19 :
For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz the king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD. And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, and would not help him. And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore I’ll sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and all Israel ( 2Ch 28:19-20 , 2Ch 28:22-23 ).
And so the reason for, of course, his problems–his forsaking of God clearly declared, and in his distress, rather than turning to God he just went deeper into the abomination. Beginning to worship the gods of the Syrians saying, “Well, because the Syrians wiped us out, their gods must be stronger than our God.” And began to worship them and he and his practices became the ruin of the people. The worship of these false gods.
Now Ahaz died and his son Hezekiah began to reign in his stead ( 2Ch 28:27 ).
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
2Ch 28:1-3. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
God had driven out the Canaanites because of these abominations; therefore, for his own people to practice them, was peculiarly provoking to him.
2Ch 28:4. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
He could not do enough of it; so many trees, so many altars. There are some men who use every opportunity for sin, with a diligence which should bring the blush into the face of Christians, who are not as diligent in obeying as these men are in sinning.
2Ch 28:5. Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
It did not look as if the captives would ever return; yet the prophets son was named Shear-jashub, The remnant shall return. Ahaz might have said to Isaiah, Your childs name is a lie. We shall see.
2Ch 28:6-11. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the kings son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and, ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.
It was very wonderful that these wild fellows should listen to this prophet with all those captives round about them. It was a brave act on the part of the prophet Oded to go out, and utter his protest.
2Ch 28:12-15. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.
What a wonderful thing that was! Ahaz ought to have said to Isaiah, Your childs name is right, after all; for the remnant has returned. Did it not seem as if Ahaz must now trust God? But notice what the next verse says.
2Ch 28:16. At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.
When men are determined to be unbelievers and disobedient, they will send anywhere for help but to the Lord. Israel and Syria were very little kingdoms; but Assyria was a great empire, the mighty nation of the period. Yet no help came to Ahaz from that quarter, for we read in the twentieth verse, And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. The twenty-first verse tells us that Ahaz bribed the king of Assyria; but he helped him not. That is always the dirge at the end of all efforts to secure human instead of divine aid.
This exposition consisted of readings from Isa 7:1-16, and 2Ch 28:1-16.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
2Ch 28:1-4
2Ch 28:1-4
THE WICKED REIGN OF AHAZ BRINGS AWFUL PUNISHMENT UPON JUDAH
AHAZ (735-715 B.C.)
A SUMMARY OF THE WICKEDNESS OF AHAZ
“Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, like David his father; but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.”
In commentary on 2Kings are there is a discussion of the reign of Ahaz; and the only section of this chapter which is not mentioned there is found in 2Ch 27:8-9. These verses provide a remarakbly interesting insight into the problems of those times.
It will suffice here to note that Ahaz was by far the most wicked of the kings of Judah up to this point in their history. He even sacrificed his son to Molech, closed the temple, and worshipped pagan gods.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 28:1. David is called the father of Ahaz by way of respect. There had been many generations since him, but he was the first king of the tribe of Judah.
2Ch 28:2. Every king of Israel (the 10 tribes) was an idolater, hence this general reference to them which is done so many times. There were three methods of shaping the metallic idols; carving, hammering and casting or molten. Baalim is the plural form of Baal, and that form was used sometimes because there were so many places where an image was erected to that false god.
2Ch 28:3. The valley of Hinnom is sometimes connected with the son of Hinnom with reference to the offspring of the founder of those rites. Burnt incense means he offered sacrifices in that valley in service to the heathen deity. On the offering of human sacrifies see the comments at 2Ki 16:3.
2Ch 28:4. Idolatrous sacrifices were wrong wherever practiced. The mention of all these places is to show the degree of iniquity to which Ahaz had gone. High places (see 1Ki 3:2) were the elevations made by man, the hills were those made by nature, and the trees were those either planted for the purpose of idolatry, or were selected out of the groves and consecrated to the false worship.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The whole reign of Ahaz was a period of terrible and rapid degeneracy. With appalling fearlessness the king restored all the evils of idolatry, even including the terrible offering of children to Moloch. In all probability his own son was a victim. As dif6culties gathered around, he turned to the king of Assyria for aid, attempting to procure help from him by giving him treasure out of the house of God. The evil of his character is supremely demonstrated in that calamities seemed not to have the effect, as they so often had had among his predecessors, of rousing him to consciousness of his sin. Indeed it is distinctly stated, “In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord, this same king Ahaz.”
During this period Isaiah was exercising his ministry, and the king was persistently rebellious, absolutely refusing to listen to Isaiah’s voice or obey its call. Ahaz was evil by choice, persistent in evil in spite of calamity, blasphemously rebellious notwithstanding the direct warnings of the prophet of God. This attitude of the king made the darkness all the denser.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Smitten for Forsaking the Lord
2Ch 28:1-11
The reign of Ahaz was marked by terrible and rapid degeneration. He not only restored idolatry and offered his children to Moloch, but as the difficulties of his reign increased, he made an alliance with the king of Assyria, notwithstanding the vehement protests of Isaiah. His extreme wickedness made him notorious. This is that king Ahaz, 2Ch 28:22. The instruments used for his punishment were the kings of Syria and Israel, 2Ch 28:5-6; and his sin led to the suffering of his people, carried from their homes to Samaria. When a nation or an individual life turns from the love and life of God, it becomes at once a prey to enemies that are lurking near, as an anemic constitution is liable to the microbes of disease.
It was a noble act on the part of the prophet Oded to denounce the captivity of so many brethren and sisters; and his splendid protest touched the finest chords in the conquerors hearts. We must never flinch from holding up Gods standard before the minds of our contemporaries. It will often arrest evil and incite to nobleness of action.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
2Ch 28:19, 2Ch 28:22-23, 2Ch 28:25
I. The career of Ahaz illustrates that law of character by which the wickedness of a man is proportioned to the amount of holy influence which he has conquered. We find a reason for his extreme depravity in the extreme facilities which he had for being a saint. The worst of men are apostates from the best of faiths.
II. The career of Ahaz illustrates also the faithfulness of God in chastising wicked men for their good. “The Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz.” From the beginning to the end of his reign he experienced the truth that the way of transgressors is hard. Nothing went well with him. His public life was one long career of defying God, yet of God’s persistent efforts to save him by chastising him.
III. The life of Ahaz illustrates the extreme which sin reaches when men fight successfully against God’s chastisements. Few things are so truthful a touchstone to the character of men as the way in which they treat the suffering which God sends as chastisement. One man turns at its bidding, and becomes an heir of glory; another defies it, and becomes a monument of perdition.
IV. The reign of Ahaz illustrates the disappointments which wicked men experience in their hopes of happiness in sin.
V. The reign of Ahaz illustrates the distinction which it is possible for a man to gain in this world as a monument of guilt. “He did trespass more against the Lord. This is that king Ahaz!” Such is the reflection of the annalist after enumerating the monarch’s crimes. Look at him; mark him; let him stand in history as a monster of iniquity; let the world stand aghast at him.
A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 101.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 28 The Reign of Ahaz
1. The record of his reign (2Ch 28:1-4)
2. The punishment of Ahaz (2Ch 28:5-8)
3. The message of Oded and its results (2Ch 28:9-15)
4. Further punishments of Ahaz (2Ch 28:16-25)
5. Death of Ahaz (2Ch 28:26-27)
On Ahaz his wicked reign and apostasy, as well as the war with Syria and the invasion of Judah by Israel, see our annotations on 2 Kings 16. It was at that time that Isaiah ministered in Judah (Isa. 7). Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in one day 120,000 men because they had forsaken the LORD their God. it was a terrible punishment which fell upon Ahaz. Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew the son of Ahaz, Maaseiah, also the governor and Elkanah, who was next to the king. A still larger number of Jews were taken captive. The interesting record of the prophet Oded is only given here in Chronicles. Who Oded was we do not know. He was a true and courageous prophet of Jehovah in the midst of idolatrous Samaria nearing so rapidly its predicted doom. Only a true prophet clothed with the Spirit of power could utter such a daring message, which in a time of victory and enthusiasm was calculated to humble the people. And he made the demand, deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. It was the Word of the Lord, and they knew only too well that every word spoken was true, and the heads of Ephraim (the northern kingdom) were deeply impressed and convicted. They said, Ye shall not bring the captives hither. They acknowledged that Israel had transgressed. For our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. Then follows one of the beautiful scenes in Chronicles. This dark chapter is relieved by the mercy which was shown. And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren. it reminds us of two passages in the New Testament: Luk 10:30-37, the parable of the good Samaritan, and Mat 25:31-40. We leave the application which can be made with the reader. Ahaz and his alliance with Assyria as well as Ahazs further idolatry are commented upon in Second Kings.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 3262-3278, bc 742-726
Ahaz: 2Ki 16:1, 2Ki 16:2-20, 1Ch 3:13, Isa 1:1, Isa 7:1-12, Hos 1:1, Mic 1:1, Mat 1:9
like David his father: 2Ch 17:3
Reciprocal: 1Ki 14:8 – my servant David 2Ki 15:38 – Ahaz 2Ch 29:2 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 28:1-4. He did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord
Nay, he did a great deal that was wrong, very wrong, and that toward God, toward his own soul, and toward his people. He walked in the way of the revolted Israelites, and the devoted Canaanites; made molten images and worshipped them, contrary to the second commandment; nay, he made them for Baalim, contrary to the first. He forsook the temple of the Lord, and sacrificed, and burned incense on the hills, and under every green tree, in imitation of the neighbouring idolaters. And, to complete his wickedness, as one perfectly divested of all natural affection, as well as of all religion, and perfectly devoted to the service and interest of the great enemy of mankind, he burned his children in the fire to Moloch Not thinking it enough to dedicate them to that infernal fiend, by causing them to pass through the fire. Such is the absolute sway which the prince of the power of the air sometimes exercises over the children of disobedience! But of his true character and complicated wickedness, see notes on 2Ki 16:1-4; 2Ki 16:10-18.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ch 28:3. Burnt his children. In 2Ki 16:3, it is said he made his son pass through the fire. The Hebrew term has a double meaning. Sometimes it implies the burning of children in the arms of Moloch till they were consumed, and so it is explained in Eze 16:20-21. Others made their children pass between two fires, to dedicate them to Moloch. Hence it appears that Ahaz burnt one of his sons, and dedicated all the others by making them pass between the fires. The Talmud has legendary tales here, little worthy of credit.
2Ch 28:5. They smote him. This was an expedition about three years after that mentioned in 2Ki 16:5; for Ahaz then escaped.
2Ch 28:19. Ahaz king of Israel. The kings of Judah sometimes continued the title of king of Israel, because of the Lords covenant with David, and because many of the ten tribes still adhered to the house of David.
2Ch 28:22. This king Ahaz. The silence of Ezra leaves the reader to fill up the dark shades of the portrait.
2Ch 28:23. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which smote him, as he said, and on the same superstitious principle as Amaziah had sacrificed to the gods of Seir, and as Scipio had done before Carthage. See 2Ch 25:14.
2Ch 28:24. Shut up the doors of the house of the Lord. Ahaz had no law for doing this: no king had ever done it before. The priests had lost all soul, and the nation all hope, under a doting monarch mad with superstition. To strip and desecrate the temple of the Lord, was the consummation of folly and of crime.
2Ch 28:27. Ahaz sleptthey buried him in the city. The French wrote on the equestrian statue of Louis xvth, statua statu, the statue of a statue. Another wrote
Voyez notre Roi comme il est Versailles, Sans vertu, sans loi, sans entrailles.
REFLECTIONS.
Ahaz, corrupted no doubt by some unhappy means, began his reign by apostasy. He was so superstitious as to worship almost every idol known in his country, and in the neighbouring nations. He was the first of bad kings who introduced human sacrifices into Judah, and burnt his son to Moloch, after the manner of the seven nations whom the Lord had expelled before his people. Thus by forsaking the Lord, he cast off the defence and protection of his people; and it is highly probable that Urijah the highpriest contributed not a little to his ruin.
After notorious crimes and grievous wickedness, punishment soon follows. Ahaz had not much time to rejoice in the fire he had kindled, nor to exult in his liberty, after throwing off the yoke of the Lord. Rezin king of Syria gave him a defeat, took Eloth the key to the Indian trade, and carried away a multitude of his people into captivity. Pekah, son of Ramaliah, slew of the best troops of Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, among whom were the kings son, and two of the kings ministers or generals. And had it not been for the persuasive sermon of Oded the prophet, by which he moved the princes of Israel to restore the two hundred thousand captives, Judah had now received a fatal blow. The people had scarcely breathed from these disasters, before Philistia in the west, and Edom in the south, inflicted additional wounds on an apostate people. This is the fruit of leaving God; this is changing masters, and changing religion. Calamities so signal, and visitations so many, must have been sent by a supernatural hand. Yes, the God who gave his people, during the two preseding reigns, every blessing of the covenant, now in this time of apostasy, caused them to inherit all its curses.
Ahaz, mortified and oppressed on every hand, and what is worse, hardened to restless revenge, sent to Tilgath-pilneser king of Nineveh, who was then rising to great power: and when this prince had extended his victorious arms to Damascus, Ahaz went thither to congratulate him on his conquests, and invite him to Jerusalem. The king of Nineveh took all his presents, and marched to Jerusalem, which very much oppressed Judah with expenses, while it afforded them no real help. So it is with men that trust in an arm of flesh, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
Ahaz, now in bondage to his idols, and tributary to Nineveh; (for the seat of government was not transferred from Nineveh to Babylon till the latter part of Hezekiahs reign) Ahaz corrupted by every crime, instead of seeking divine aid, as other men do in their afflictions, trespassed yet more against the Lord. He worshipped all the gods of Nineveh, he filled Jerusalem and the high places of Judah with altars, and shut the doors of the Lords house. The mania seemed to take fast hold of his soul, to put his country under the protection of the idols of the heathen, to renounce the God of his fathers, and to dare his vengeance. By consequence, if superstition could have saved him, he would have been a happy man. But on the contrary, he was afflicted with a multitude of calamities, and appears to have been wholly abandoned of the Lord to a reprobate mind; for if there be a spark of grace unextinguished in the heart, the blasts of affliction will kindle it to a flame.
This prince is branded in the sacred volume with a name of infamy. This is that king Ahaz, who never discovered a single virtue worthy of record, who was guilty of every crime against the Lord, and who brought every calamity on his people. This is that Ahaz whom the Lord sent in anger to Judah, because under the pious reigns of Uzziah and of Jotham, the people would worship corruptly; and this is that Ahaz whom the Lord removed in compassion to his afflicted people. This is, in short, that most wicked Ahaz, who to complete his crimes, most profanely shut the doors of the Lords house; and thereby, we fear, shut heaven against his own soul, and whose body was justly shut out from the sepulchre of his fathers.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ch 28:1-27. The Reign of Ahaz.See notes on 2 Kings 16, but the Chroniclers account of this reign is largely independent of 2 K.; he makes the Syro-Ephraimite War two separate campaigns, Ahaz being in turn defeated by the Syrians and then by the northern Israelites. This cannot be regarded as historical in face of 2 Kings 16; the Chronicler has probably reconstructed the history with a view to bringing into greater relief the punishment of Ahaz on account of his faithlessness to Yahweh. In a number of other ways this section differs from the account in 2 Kings 16.
2Ch 28:27. they brought him not . . .: but see 2Ki 16:20.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
THE UNGODLY REIGN OF AHAZ
(vv.1-4)
Ahaz stands in painful contrast to his father. Jotham had been unable to rightly influence Judah to cease worshipping in high places, and it seems his influence over his own son was ineffective, for Ahaz from the beginning of his reign at the age of 20 was committed to a course of evil. Ignoring the faithfulness of his father David and that of other kings of Judah, he chose to follow the wicked example of the kings of Israel. He made idolatrous images and burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, in that place sacrificing his own children to the fire (v.3). This was done through placing the young child in the arms of a metal idol, a fire fit under the child and drums beaten to drown out the child’s cries. Such is the callous wickedness of idolatry, though such men as Ahaz think they are very religious in practising such idolatry. Though his father Jotham did not burn incense in the high places, he had allowed those places to remain, and Ahaz forgot the temple of God and burned incense in the high places and other outdoor areas (v.4). He was like many today who claim they need not gather with others to worship God, but can worship just as well in enjoying the scenery while they bunt or fish or play golf or hike in the mountains.
DEFEATED BY SYRIA AND ISRAEL
(vv.5-8)
Because of the idolatry of Ahaz, God sent the king of Syria against him, to badly defeat him and take a great number of captives to Damascus (v.5). But also, Pekah, the king of Israel, came against Judah and in one day killed 120,000 able warriors! (v.6). Three prominent men of Judah, including the king’s son, were killed by one man of Ephraim.
But as well as this, the Israelites captured 200,000 people, women with their sons and daughters, as well as a great amount of plunder, bringing this to Samaria. The devastation of Judah must have been awesome, with the number of men killed by Syria and great numbers taken captive, then 120,000 killed by Israel and 200,000 captives taken! Why did Ahaz not realise that this was a judgment from God, and turn to the Lord in repentance? But his heart remained hard as a stone.
CAPTIVES RETURNED BY ISRAEL
(vv.9-21)
The Lord intervened to stop Israel from exceeding in their harsh treatment of Judah. Having the upper hand, Israel was bent on doing all in their power to humiliate their brethren in Judah, but God sent the prophet Oded to the army of Israel with a solemn message. He told them that, because the Lord was angry with Judah, He had allowed Israel to soundly defeat them. But Israel’s rage against Judah had reached up to heaven, and now they were planning to force the women and children into slavery. Israel’s law had forbidden them to make slaves of other Israelites (Lev 25:39). Did the Israelites think that because Judah had sinned against the Lord, therefore it was right to make them slaves? But Oded answered this by reminding Israel that they also were guilty before God (v.10). Therefore, he told them, return those captives to Judah, for the fierce wrath of God was against their plan to make slaves of them (v.11).
It was a mercy of God that there were some leaders among the people who took Oded’s words to heart. Four are mentioned by name who stood up against the armed warriors, who came bringing the captives, and told them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt: for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel” (v.13). These men realised that Israel was guilty in the first place of killing 120,000 men, which was far more than necessary to win the war. To also take 200,000 women and children captive as staves would add greatly to their guilt.
Pekah, the king of Israel, is not mentioned as having anything to do with the protest of these four men, but it is good to see that they acted rightly without consulting the king. Their word had good effect on the warriors, who left the captives and the spoil then for the leaders to do with as they saw fit. Then these men named in verse 12 showed proper concern for the captives, using the spoil to clothe and feed them, even providing donkeys for those who were feeble, and brought them to Jericho to be returned to Judah. But in spite of the Lord’s dealing with Judah in allowing them to be so devastated by Syria and Israel, and in spite of kindness being shown to Judah by the return of the captives, Ahaz did not turn to the Lord. It seems he remained as cold and hard as he been before. There are some cases of men who are so decidedly sold to do evil, that, though God patiently appeals to them again and again, they not only fail to respond, but become more hardened still. This is all the more tragic when we consider that the father of Ahaz was a believer. When standing before the Great White Throne such men will have the past all brought before them with all its kind overtures by God, and no excuse will even come to their lips.
Ahaz, having, refused the Lord, sought help from the kings of Assyria, when the Edomite again attacked Judah and took captives, and the Philistines invaded Judah’s cities, taking possession of some of them (vv.16-18). Thus, the Lord brought Judah low, and anyone ought to have been able to discern the reason for this was the bad influence of Ahaz in his own moral depravity and his despising of the worship of the God of Israel (v.19), But Ahaz was so deluded by his own wickedness that he was blind to the reasons for his defeat. The king of Assyria also came to Judah, but not to help Ahaz, rather to add to his troubles. In fact, Ahaz robbed the temple of God to give some of its treasures to the king of Assyria, which the king gladly took without any intention of helping Ahaz (v.20).
INCREASED EVIL AND DEATH OF AHAZ
(vv.22-26)
God’s patience had no good effect on Ahaz, for his determination to do evil only increased instead of being arrested (v.22). Since Syria had defeated him, he thought Syria did so by the power of their idols, and therefore he adopted Syria’s idolatry, sacrificing to their gods. But this only involved him and all Judah in deeper evil. It seems he was doing everything he could to limit the God of Israel, going so far as to cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shutting its doors, and instead make altars in every corner of Jerusalem (v.24). This pictures what many religious leaders are doing today. For instance, the table of showbread in the temple symbolised Christ as the Sustainer of true communion with God. Such truth has been cut to shreds by the false teachings of ungodly professors of religion. The lampstand speaks of Christ as the Sustainer of testimony, but this truth too has been treated with utter contempt, as have many other scripture truths that are illustrated in the articles of the temple.
By shutting the doors of the temple, Ahaz was indicating he considered the temple no longer of any use, just as today the truth of the Church, the present-day house of God, is flatly refused by many religious denominations. In contrast to this, Ahaz made altars in every corner of Jerusalem. God had placed His name in the temple, but Ahaz refused God’s centre and made centres wherever he wanted, just as denominations today consider it right to forget God’s one centre, which is Christ, and adopt for themselves any number of centres that appeal to their selfish feelings.
Besides his many other wicked actions, Ahaz made high places in every city of Judah for burning incense to false gods. Since he despised God’s centre, Jerusalem, he made centres all through Judah, making their worship more convenient with many locations (v.25), Satan likes to make people feel at ease with no exercise of heart and conscience to know and to obey the Word of God, so he has religions of every kind to cater to the fleshly desires of everyone. But such things provoked the Lord to anger, and Ahaz died at the early age of 36 years! He was buried in Jerusalem, but not with the kings of Judah. The people evidently refused him this honour, for he was not worthy of it.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
L. Ahaz ch. 28
With the reign of Ahaz the Chronicler introduced a new interest, namely, the prospect of captivity for Judah, which he again called "Israel"-the true Israel-twice in this chapter (2Ch 28:19; 2Ch 28:23).
Why did Israel go into captivity? Why did the perfectly obedient Davidic King not appear? Ahaz’s behavior helps explain the reason. The writer selected three major events from Ahaz’s reign: the king’s idolatry (2Ch 28:2-15), his appeal for help to Assyria (2Ch 28:16-21), and his sacrifices to foreign gods (2Ch 28:22-25).
Ahaz’s heart was far from God. He was more like Saul in this respect than like David. Even though he failed to obey God, like the other kings, there is no mention of his ever repenting when God chastened him. Instead he hardened his heart even more (2Ch 28:22; cf. the pharaoh of the Exodus). The reason for Israel’s exile was the hardness of heart that Ahaz exemplified. At this time in her history, the nation needed a faithful Son of David more than ever. A prophet who spoke in Ahaz’s reign promised that He would appear (Isa 7:1 to Isa 12:6).
In Ahaz’s day the army of Israel threatened to capture the people of Judah and lead them into slavery (2Ch 28:8; 2Ch 28:10). While God prevented this (2Ch 28:9-15), the threat of captivity by another foreign foe became a more realistic possibility. The Edomites even captured some Judahites and took them to Edom (2Ch 28:17). The Philistines took some of Judah’s glory (i.e., towns) captive during the Philistine conquest (2Ch 28:18), and Ahaz gave more of it away to Tiglath-Pileser III (treasure, 2Ch 28:21). Ahaz’s personal disregard for Yahweh mirrored his disrespect for the temple.
"Under Ahaz, Judah appeared to have reached its nadir. But for the Chronicler there was always hope of tragedy and despair being turned to rejoicing through repentance. Such a return would occur preeminently under Hezekiah, the king most like David (cf. 2Ch 29:2; 2Ch 29:25-30)." [Note: Thompson, p. 340.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AND AHAZ
2Ch 26:1-23; 2Ch 27:1-9; 2Ch 28:1-27
AFTER the assassination of Amaziah, all the people of Judah took his son Uzziah, a lad of sixteen, called in the book of Kings Azariah, and made him king. The chronicler borrows from the older narrative the statement that “Uzziah did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.” In the light of the sins attributed both to Amaziah and Uzziah in Chronicles, this is a somewhat doubtful compliment. Sarcasm, however, is not one of the chroniclers failings; he simply allows the older history to speak for itself, and leaves the reader to combine its judgment with the statement of later tradition as best he can. But yet we might modify this verse, and read that Uzziah did good and evil, prospered and fell into misfortune, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, or an even closer parallel might be drawn between what Uzziah did and suffered and the chequered character and fortunes of Joash.
Though much older than the latter, at his accession Uzziah was young enough to be very much under the control of ministers and advisers; and as Joash was trained in loyalty to Jehovah by the high-priest Jehoiada, so Uzziah “set himself to seek God during the life-time” of a certain prophet, who, like the son of Jehoiada, was named Zechariah, “who had understanding or gave instruction in the fear of Jehovah,” i.e., a man versed in sacred learning, rich in spiritual experience, and able to communicate his knowledge, such a one as Ezra the scribe in later days.
Under the guidance of this otherwise unknown prophet, the young king was led to conform his private life and public administration to the will of God. In “seeking God,” Uzziah would be careful to maintain and attend the Temple services, to honor the priests of Jehovah and make due provision for their wants; and “as long as he sought Jehovah God gave him prosperity.”
Uzziah received all the rewards usually bestowed, upon pious kings: he was victorious in war and exacted tribute from neighboring states; he built fortresses, and had abundance of cattle and slaves, a large and well-equipped army, and well-supplied arsenals. Like other powerful kings of Judah, he asserted his supremacy over the tribes along the southern frontier of his kingdom. God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabians of Gur-baal, and the Meunim. He destroyed the fortifications of Gath, Jabne, and Ashdod, and built forts of his own in the country of the Philistines. Nothing is known about Gur-baal; but the Arabian allies of the Philistines would be, like Jehorams enemies “the Arabians who dwelt near the Ethiopians,” nomads of the deserts south of Judah. These Philistines and Arabians had brought tribute to Jehoshaphat without waiting to be subdued by his armies; so now the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah, and his name spread abroad “even to the entering in of Egypt,” possibly a hundred or even a hundred and fifty miles from Jerusalem. It is evident that the chroniclers ideas of international politics were of very modest dimensions.
Moreover, Uzziah added to the fortifications of Jerusalem; and because he loved husbandry and had cattle, and husbandmen, and vine-dressers in the open country and outlying districts of Judah, he built towers for their protection. His army was of about the same strength as that of Amaziah, three hundred thousand men, so that in this, as in his character and exploits, he did according to all that his father had done, except that he was content with his own Jewish warriors and did not waste his talents in purchasing worse than useless reinforcements from Israel. Uzziahs army was well disciplined, carefully organized, and constantly employed; they were men of mighty power, and went out to war by bands, to collect the kings tribute and enlarge his dominions and revenue by new conquests. The war material in his arsenals is described at greater length than that of any previous king: shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slings. The great advance of military science in Uzziahs reign was marked by the invention of engines of war for the defense of Jerusalem; some, like the Roman catapulta, were for arrows, and others, like the ballista, to hurl huge stones. Though the Assyrian sculptures show us that battering-rams were freely employed by them against the walls of Jewish cities, {Cf. Eze 26:9} and the ballista is said by Pliny to have been invented in Syria, no other Hebrew king is credited with the possession of this primitive artillery. The chronicler or his authority seems profoundly impressed by the great skill displayed in this invention; in describing it, he uses the root hashabh, to devise, three times in three consecutive words. The engines were “hishshe-bhonoth mahashebheth hoshebh”-“engines engineered by the ingenious.” Jehovah not only provided Uzziah with ample military resources of every kind, but also blessed the means which He Himself had furnished; Uzziah “was marvelously helped, till he was strong, and his name spread far abroad.” The neighboring states heard with admiration of his military resources.
The student of Chronicles will by this time be prepared for the invariable sequel to God-given prosperity. Like David, Rehoboam, Asa, and Amaziah, when Uzziah “was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.” The most powerful of the kings of Judah died a leper. An attack of leprosy admitted of only one explanation: it was a plague inflicted by Jehovah Himself as the punishment of sin; and so the book of Kings tells us that “Jehovah smote the king,” but says nothing about the sin thus punished. The chronicler was able to supply the omission: Uzziah had dared to go into the Temple and with irregular zeal to burn incense on the altar of incense. In so doing, he was violating the Law, which made the priestly office and all priestly functions the exclusive prerogative of the house of Aaron and denounced the penalty of death against any one who usurped priestly functions. {Num 18:7; Exo 30:7} But Uzziah was not allowed to carry out his unholy design; the high-priest Azariah went in after him with eighty stalwart colleagues, rebuked his presumption, and bade him leave the sanctuary. Uzziah was no more tractable to the admonitions of the priest than Asa and Amaziah had been to those of the prophets. The kings of Judah were accustomed, even in Chronicles, to exercise an unchallenged control over the Temple and to regard the high-priests very much in the light of private chaplains. Uzziah was wroth: he was at the zenith of his power and glory; his heart was lifted up. Who were these priests, that they should stand between him and Jehovah and dare to publicly check and rebuke him in his own temple? Henry IIs feelings towards Becket must have been mild compared to those of Uzziah towards Azariah, who, if the king could have had his way, would doubtless have shared the fate of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada. But a direct intervention of Jehovah protected the priests, and preserved Uzziah from further sacrilege. While his features were convulsed with anger, leprosy brake forth in his forehead. The contest between king and priest was at once ended; the priests thrust him out, and he himself hasted to go, recognizing that Jehovah had smitten him. Henceforth he lived apart, cut off from fellowship alike with man and God, and his son Jotham governed in his stead. The book of Kings simply makes the general statement that Uzziah was buried with his fathers in the city of David; but the chronicler is anxious that his readers should not suppose that the tombs of the sacred house of David were polluted by the presence of a leprous corpse: the explains that the leper was buried, not in the royal sepulcher, but in the field attached to it.
The moral of this incident is obvious. In attempting to understand its significance, we need not trouble ourselves about the relative authority of kings and priests; the principle vindicated by the punishment of Uzziah was the simple duty of obedience to an express command of Jehovah. However trivial the burning of incense may be in itself, it formed part of an elaborate and complicated system of ritual. To interfere with the Divine ordinances in one detail would mar the significance and impressiveness of the whole Temple service. One arbitrary innovation would be a precedent for others, and would constitute a serious danger for a system whose value lay in continuous uniformity. Moreover, Uzziah was stubborn in disobedience. His attempt to burn incense might have been sufficiently punished by the public and humiliating reproof of the high-priest. His leprosy came upon him because, when thwarted in an unholy purpose, he gave way to ungoverned passion.
In its consequences we see a practical application of the lessons of the incident. How often is the sinner only provoked to greater wickedness by the obstacles which Divine grace opposes to his wrong-doing! How few men will tolerate the suggestion that their intentions are cruel, selfish, or dishonorable! Remonstrance is an insult, an offence against their personal dignity; they feel that their self-respect demands that they should persevere in their purpose, and that they should resent and punish any one who has tried to thwart them. Uzziahs wrath was perfectly natural; few men have been so uniformly patient of reproof as not sometimes to have turned in anger upon those who warned them against sin. The most dramatic feature of this episode, the sudden frost of leprosy in the kings forehead, is not without its spiritual antitype. Mens anger at well-merited reproof has often blighted their lives once for all with ineradicable moral leprosy. In the madness of passion they have broken bonds which have hitherto restrained them and committed themselves beyond recall to evil pursuits and fatal friendships. Let us take the most lenient view of Uzziahs conduct, and suppose that he believed himself entitled to offer incense; he could not doubt that the priests were equally confident that Jehovah had enjoined the duty on them, and them alone. Such a question was not to be decided by violence, in the heat of personal bitterness. Azariah himself had been unwisely zealous in bringing in his eighty priests; Jehovah showed him that they were quite unnecessary, because at the last Uzziah “himself hasted to go out.” When personal passion and jealousy are eliminated from Christian polemics, the Church will be able to write the epitaph of the odium theologicum.
Uzziah was succeeded by Jotham, who had already governed for some time as regent. In recording the favorable judgment of the book of Kings, “He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah had done,” the chronicler is careful to add, “Howbeit he entered not into the temple of Jehovah”; the exclusive privilege of the house of Aaron had been established once for all. The story of Jothams reign comes like a quiet and pleasant oasis in the chroniclers dreary narrative of wicked rulers, interspersed with pious kings whose piety failed them in their latter days. Jotham shares with Solomon the distinguished honor of being a king of whom no evil is recorded either in Kings or Chronicles, and who died in prosperity, at peace with Jehovah. At the same time it is probable that Jotham owes the blameless character he bears in Chronicles to the fact that the earlier narrative does not mention any misfortunes of his, especially any misfortune towards the close of his life. Otherwise the theological school from whom the chronicler derived, his later traditions would have been anxious to discover or deduce some sin to account for such misfortune. At the end of the short notice of his reign, between two parts of the usual closing formula, an editor of the book of Kings has inserted the statement that “in those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah.” This verse the chronicler has omitted; neither the date nor the nature of this trouble was clear enough to cast any slur upon the character of Jotham.
Jotham, again, had the rewards of a pious king: he added a gate to the Temple, and strengthened the wall of Ophel, and built cities and castles in Judah; he made successful war upon Ammon, and received from them an immense tribute-a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand measures of wheat, and as much barley-for three successive years. What happened afterwards we are not told. It has been suggested that the amounts mentioned were paid in three yearly installments, or that the three years were at the end of the reign, and the tribute came to an end when Jotham died or when the troubles with Pekah and Rezin began.
We have had repeated occasion to notice that in his accounts of the good kings the chronicler almost always omits the qualifying clause to the effect that they did not take away the high places. He does so here but, contrary to his usual practice, he inserts a qualifying clause of his own: “The people did yet corruptly.” He probably had in view the unmitigated wickedness of the following reign, and was glad to retain the evidence that Ahaz found encouragement and support in his idolatry; he is careful however, to state the fact so that no shadow of blame falls upon Jotham.
The life of Ahaz has been dealt with elsewhere. Here we need merely repeat that for the sixteen years of his reign Judah was to all appearance utterly given over to every form of idolatry, and was oppressed and brought low by Israel, Syria, and Assyria.