1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, as his father David had done. 3But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He also made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah had cast out before the children of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 5Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him. 6At that time Rezin king of Syria restored Elath to Syria, and cleared out the men of Judah from Elath. Then the Syrians went to Elath, and dwell there to this day. 7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me. 8And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. 9So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin. 10Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. 11And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. And Urijah the priest had it made before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar and went up to it. 13So he sacrificed his burnt offering with smoke and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14He also brought the bronze altar from before Jehovah, from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of Jehovah; and put it on the north side of his altar. 15And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great new altar burn the morning burnt offering with smoke, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by. 16Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz had commanded. 17And King Ahaz cut off the rims of the carts, and removed the lavers from them; and he took down the sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones. 18And the covered Sabbath structure which they had built in the house, he removed from the house of Jehovah, along with the king's outer entrance, before the king of Assyria. 19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. 20So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 We have here a general character of the reign of Ahaz. Few and evil were his days - few, for he died at thirty-six - evil, for we are here told, 1. That he
did not that which was right like David (
2Kgs 16:2), that is, he had none of that concern and affection for the instituted service and worship of God for which David was celebrated. He had no love for the temple, made no conscience of his duty to God, nor had any regard to his law. Herein he was unlike David; it was his honour that he was of the house and lineage of David, and it was owing to God's ancient covenant with David that he was now upon the throne, which aggravated his wickedness; for he was a reproach to that honourable name and family, which therefore was really a reproach to him (
Degeneranti genus opprobrium -
A good extraction is a disgrace to him who degenerates from it ), and though he enjoyed the benefit of David's piety he did not tread in the steps of it. 2. That he walked
in the way of the kings of Israel (
2Kgs 16:3), who all worshipped the calves. He was not joined in any affinity with them, as Jehoram and Ahaziah were with the house of Ahab, but,
ex mero motu -
without any instigation, walked in their way. The kings of Israel pleaded policy and reasons of state for their idolatry, but Ahaz had no such pretence: in him it was the most unreasonable impolitic thing that could be. They were his enemies, and had proved enemies to themselves too by their idolatry; yet he walked in their way. 3. That he
made his sons to pass through the fire, to the honour of his dunghill-deities. He burnt them, so it is expressly said of him (
2Chr 28:3), burnt some of them, and perhaps made others of them (Hezekiah himself not excepted, though afterwards he was never the worse for it) to pass between two fires, or to be drawn through a flame, in token of their dedication to the idol. 4. That he did
according to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out. it was an instance of his great folly that he would be guided in his religion by those whom he saw fallen into the ditch before his eyes, and follow them; and it was an instance of his great impiety that he would conform to those usages which God had declared to be abominable to him, and set himself to write after the copy of those whom God had cast out, thus walking directly contrary to God. 5. That he
sacrificed in the high places, 2Kgs 16:4. If his father had but had zeal enough to take them away, the debauching of his sons might have been prevented; but those that connive at sin know not what dangerous snares they lay for those that come after them. He forsook God's house, was weary of that place where, in his father's time, he had often been detained before the Lord, and performed his devotions on high hills, where he had a better prospect, and under green trees, where he had a more pleasant shade. It was a religion little worth, which was guided by fancy, not by faith.
5 Here is, 1. The attempt of his confederate neighbours, the kings of Syria and Israel, upon him. They thought to make themselves masters of Jerusalem, and to set a king of their own in it,
Isa 7:6. In this they fell short, but the king of Syria recovered Elath, a considerable port upon the Red Sea, which Amaziah had taken from the Syrians,
2Kgs 14:22. What can those keep that have lost their religion? Let them expect, thenceforward, to be always on the losing hand. 2. His project to get clear of them. Having forsaken God, he had neither courage nor strength to make head against his enemies, nor could he, with any boldness, ask help of God; but he made his court to the king of Assyria, and got him to come in for his relief. Those whose hearts condemn them will go any where in a day of distress rather than to God. Was it because there was not a God in Israel that he sent to the Assyrian for help? Was the rock of ages removed out of its place, that he stayed himself on this broken reed? The sin itself was its own punishment; for, though it is true that he gained his point (the king of Assyria hearkened to him, and, to serve his own turn, made a descent upon Damascus, whereby he gave a powerful diversion to the king of Syria,
2Kgs 16:9, and obliged him to let fall his design against Ahaz, carrying the Syrians captive to Kir, as Amos had expressly foretold,
Amos 1:5), yet, considering all, he made but a bad bargain; for, to compass this, (1.) He enslaved himself (
2Kgs 16:7):
I am thy servant and thy son, that is, I will be as dutiful and obedient to thee as to a master or father, if thou wilt but do me this good turn. Had he thus humbled himself to God, and implored his favour, he might have been delivered upon easier terms; he might have saved his money, and needed only to have parted with his sins. But, if the prodigal forsake his father's house, he soon becomes a slave to the worst of masters,
Luke 15:15. (2.) He impoverished himself; for he took the silver and gold that were laid up in the treasury both of the temple and of the kingdom, and sent it to the king of Assyria,
2Kgs 16:8. Both church and state must be squeezed and exhausted, to gratify this his new patron and guardian. I know not what authority he had thus to dispose of the public stock; but it is common for those that have brought themselves into straits by one sin to help themselves out by another; and those that have alienated themselves from God will make no difficulty of alienating any of his rights.
10 Though Ahaz had himself sacrificed in high places, on hills, and under every green tree (
2Kgs 16:4), yet God's altar had hitherto continued in its place and in use, and the
king's burnt-offering and his meat-offering (
2Kgs 16:15) had been offered upon it by the priests that attended it; but here we have it taken away by wicked Ahaz, and another altar, an idolatrous one, put in the room of it - a bolder stroke than the worst of the kings had yet given to religion. We have here,
I. The model of this new altar, taken from one at Damascus, by the king himself,
2Kgs 16:10. The king of Assyria having taken Damascus, thither Ahaz went, to congratulate him on his success, to return him thanks for the kindness he had done him by this expedition, and, as his servant and son, to receive his commands. Had he been faithful to his God, he would not have needed to crouch thus meanly to a foreign power. At Damascus, either while viewing the rarities of the place, or rather while joining with them in their devotions (for, when he was there, he thought it no harm to do as they did), he saw an altar that pleased his fancy extremely, not such a plain old-fashioned one as that which he had been trained up in attendance upon at Jerusalem, but curiously carved, it is likely, and adorned with image-work; there were many pretty things about it which he thought significant, surprising, very charming, and calculated to excite his devotion. Solomon had but a dull fancy, he thought, compared with the ingenious artist that made this altar. Nothing will serve him but he must have an altar just like this: a pattern of it must be taken immediately; he cannot stay till he returns himself, but sends it before him in all haste, with orders to Urijah the priest to get one made exactly according to this model and have it ready against he came home. The pattern God showed to Moses in the mount or to David by the Spirit was not comparable to this pattern sent from Damascus. The hearts of idolaters walked after their eyes, which are therefore said to
go a whoring after their idols; but the true worshippers worship the true God by faith.
II. The making of it by Urijah the priests,
2Kgs 16:11. This Urijah, it is likely, was the chief priest who at this time presided in the temple-service. To him Ahaz sent an intimation of his mind (for we read not of any express orders he gave him), to get an altar made by this pattern. And, without any dispute or objection, he put it in hand immediately, being perhaps as fond of it as the king was, at least being very willing to humour the king and desirous to curry favour with him. Perhaps he might have this excuse for gratifying the king herein, that, by this means, he might keep him to the temple at Jerusalem and prevent his totally deserting it for the high places and the groves. Let us oblige him in this, thinks Urijah, and then he will bring all his sacrifices to us; for by this craft we get our living. But, whatever pretence he had, it was a most base wicked thing for him that was a priest, a chief priest, to make this altar, in compliance with an idolatrous prince, for hereby, 1. He prostituted his authority and profaned the crown of his priesthood, making himself a servant to the lusts of men. There is not a greater disgrace to the ministry than obsequiousness to such wicked commands as this was. 2. He betrayed his trust. As priest, he was bound to maintain and defend God's institutions, and to oppose and witness against all innovations; and, for him to assist and serve the king in setting up an altar to confront the altar which by divine appointment he was consecrated to minister at, was such a piece of treachery and perfidiousness as may justly render him infamous to all posterity. Had he only connived at the doing of it, - had he been frightened into it by menaces, - had he endeavoured to dissuade the king from it, or but delayed the doing of it till he came home, that he might first talk with him about it, - it would not have been so bad; but so willingly to walk after his commandment, as if he were glad of the opportunity to oblige him, was such an affront to the God he served as was utterly inexcusable.
III. The dedicating of it. Urijah, perceiving that the king's heart was much upon it, took care to have it ready against he came down, and set it near the brazen altar, but somewhat lower and further from the door of the temple. The king was exceedingly pleased with it, approached it with all possible veneration, and offered thereon his burnt-offering, etc.,
2Kgs 16:12,
2Kgs 16:13. His sacrifices were not offered to the God of Israel, but to the gods of Damascus (as we find
2Chr 28:23), and, when he borrowed the Syrians' altar, no marvel that he borrowed their gods. Naaman, the Syrian, embraced the God of Israel when he got earth from the land of Israel to make an altar of.
IV. The removal of God's altar, to make room for it. Urijah was so modest that he put this altar at the lower end of the court, and left God's altar in its place,
between this and the house of the Lord, 2Kgs 16:14. But that would not satisfy Ahaz; he removed God's altar to an obscure corner in the north side of the court, and put his own before the sanctuary, in the place of it. He thinks his new altar is much more stately, and much more sightly, and disgraces that; and therefore let that be laid aside as a vessel in which there is no pleasure. His superstitious invention, at first, jostled
with God's sacred institution, but at length jostled it
out. Note, Those will soon come to make nothing of God that will not be content to make him their all. Ahaz durst not (perhaps for fear of the people) quite demolish the brazen altar and knock it to pieces; but, while he ordered all the sacrifices to be offered upon this new altar (
2Kgs 16:15),
The brazen altar (says he)
shall be for me to enquire by. Having thrust it out from the use for which it was instituted, which was to sanctify the gifts offered upon it, he pretends to advance it above its institution, which it is common for superstitious people to do. The altar was never designed for an oracle, yet Ahaz will have it for that use. The Romish church seemingly magnifies Christ's sacraments, yet wretchedly corrupts them. But some give another sense of Ahaz's purpose: As for the brazen altar, I will consider what to do with it, and give order about it. The Jews say that, afterwards, of the brass of it he made that famous dial which was called
the dial of Ahaz, 2Kgs 20:11. The base compliance of the poor-spirited priest with the presumptuous usurpations of an ill-spirited king is again taken notice of (
2Kgs 16:16):
Urijah the priest did according to all that king Ahaz commanded. Miserable is the case of great men when those that should reprove them for their sins strengthen and serve them in their sins.
17 Here is, I. Ahaz abusing the temple, not the building itself, but some of the furniture of it. 1. He defaced the bases on which the lavers were set (
1Kgs 7:28,
1Kgs 7:29) and took down the molten sea,
2Kgs 16:17. These the priests used for washing; against them therefore he seems to have had a particular spite. It is one of the greatest prejudices that can be done to religion to obstruct the purifying of the priests, the Lord's ministers. 2. He removed
the covert for the sabbath, erected either in honour of the sabbath or for the conveniency of the priests, when, on the sabbath, they officiated in greater numbers than on other days. Whatever it was, it should seem that in removing it he intended to put a contempt upon the sabbath, and so to open as wide an inlet as any to all manner of impiety. 3. The king's entry, which led to the house of the Lord, for the convenience of the royal family (perhaps that ascent which Solomon had made, and which the queen of Sheba admired,
1Kgs 10:5), he turned another way, to show that he did not intend to frequent the house of the Lord any more. This he did for the king of Assyria, to oblige him, who perhaps returned his visit, and found fault with this entry, as an inconvenience and disparagement to his palace. When those that have had a ready passage to the house of the Lord, to please their neighbours, turn it another way, they are going down the hill apace towards their ruin.
II. Ahaz resigning his life in the midst of his days, at thirty-six years of age (
2Kgs 16:19) and leaving his kingdom to a better man, Hezekiah his son (
2Kgs 16:20), who proved as much a friend to the temple as he had been an enemy to it. Perhaps this very son he had made to pass through the fire, and thereby dedicated him to Moloch; but God, by his grace, snatched him as a brand out of the burning.
