The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 174, Ahaz King Of Judah, Part Two

Today we are continuing on with our study of one of the most wicked kings in history. Ahaz is the son and and the grandson of two kings who were godly men and who did good things for the nation. But he is an idolater. He is willing to serve anyone and anything other than the one true God, probably because the false gods of the pagan nations around him don't require holy, moral living. He is not interested in holy, moral living. As we learned yesterday, he has sunk so low into utter depravity that he sacrificed some of his children to a god of the Canaanites. 

Thinking about the unspeakable sins of Ahaz serves as a sharp reminder to me that we are studying actual historical figures in the Bible. I mean, we already know that, but we are so far removed from them in time that it can be easy to think of them only in spiritual terms---to concentrate mainly on whether or not they loved and served the Lord. But they were historical figures too and this man Ahaz actually took the lives of his children and made burnt sacrifices out of them! He struck them down in their youth, preventing them from growing up, preventing them from marrying and having children and grandchildren of their own, preventing them from perhaps doing good things for the nation of Judah. It's unfathomable that a person could have no pity whatsoever for their offspring. But in this fallen world there have been (and still are) people who have little to no regard for their children. 

The only comfort I can draw from studying the wicked life of King Ahaz is that his children went immediately into the presence of the Lord when they passed out of this world and that they did not have to grow up under his cruelty and under his idolatrous teachings. It could be that if they'd remained on the earth they would have been just like him as adults. This doesn't excuse what he did and it doesn't mean it was the Lord's will for him to commit murder. It just means that at least one good thing came out of something horrifying: those children have been with the Lord for thousands of years now instead of growing up to be as evil and cruel as their father, which they might have done if he'd had more time to be a bad influence on them. 

Because Ahaz is such an evil man, the Lord will not bless his reign with peace and prosperity. "Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him." (2 Chronicles 28:5) The king of Israel and the king of Aram allied themselves against Ahaz and marched out against the nation of Judah. "Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and beseiged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day." (2 Kings 16:5-6) King Rezin and King Pekah were not able to cause the fall of Jerusalem; Ahaz and his forces were strong enough to defend the city. But his enemies were able to wreak havoc in other parts of his kingdom, even taking back the city of Elath where the Edomites (who have been in rebellion against Judah for some time now) moved in and occupied it. 

In tomorrow's study we will find King Ahaz turning to Assyria for help. But the king of Assyria will not be a true friend to him. Nothing will go right for Ahaz because he persists in his sins. In fact, the author of 2 Chronicles will inform us that, "In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord." What a sad thing that is to read! Ahaz could have responded to his troubles (his correction) appropriately and his soul could have been saved and his nation could have successfully repelled all enemies. But we will find him continuing to move farther and farther away from the Lord.