2 Kings 16:1-9
AHAZ CALLS UPON ASSYRIA FOR HELP... [ Continue Reading ]
AHAZ CALLS UPON ASSYRIA FOR HELP... [ Continue Reading ]
In the seventeenth year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the second-last king of Israel, AHAZ, THE SON OF JOTHAM, KING OF JUDAH, BEGAN TO REIGN.... [ Continue Reading ]
Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, his God, like David, his father; he forsook the traditional piety of the kings of Judah.... [ Continue Reading ]
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, following their idolatrous customs, YEA, AND MADE HIS SON TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE, in a form of the terrible human sacrifices in use among the Moabites and the Assyrians, ACCORDING TO THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE HEATHEN, WHOM THE LORD CAST OUT FROM BEFOR... [ Continue Reading ]
And he sacrificed and burned incense, with all the rites observed in true worship, IN THE HIGH PLACES AND ON THE HILLS, where there was no house of the Lord, but only idolatrous altars, AND UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, who had formed an alliance at the time of Jotham, 2 Kings 15:37, CAME UP TO JERUSALEM TO WAR; AND THEY BESIEGED AHAZ, BUT COULD NOT OVERCOME HIM; they were unable to take the city, which had been strongly fortified by Uzziah and... [ Continue Reading ]
At that time Rezin, king of Syria, recovered Elath, the important harbor and commercial city at the head of the Elanitic Gulf, TO SYRIA, AND DRAVE THE JEWS FROM ELATH, thus cutting off one of the chief sources of prosperity of Judah. AND THE SYRIANS CAME TO ELATH, settling there a commercial colony,... [ Continue Reading ]
So Ahaz, in his great extremity, SENT MESSENGERS TO TIGLATH-PILESER, KING OF ASSYRIA, SAYING, I AM THY SERVANT AND THY SON, thereby offering to become a tributary vassal; COME UP, AND SAVE ME OUT OF THE HAND OF THE KING OF SYRIA AND OUT OF THE HAND OF THE KING OF ISRAEL, WHICH RISE UP AGAINST ME. It... [ Continue Reading ]
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house, all that had accumulated since Jehoash of Israel had plundered these treasures, 2 Kings 14:13, AND SENT IT FOR A PRESENT TO THE KING OF ASSYRIA, thus buying his assistance and entering... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, the capital of Syria, and took it, and carried the people of It captive to Kir, leading them into exile to the modern Georgia, south of the Caspian Sea, AND SLEW REZIN. Thus the word of the prophet, Amos 1:... [ Continue Reading ]
AHAZ PROFANES THE TEMPLE... [ Continue Reading ]
And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to express his appreciation of the assistance which had been rendered him and his people, AND SAW AN ALTAR THAT WAS AT DAMASCUS, which struck his fancy. AND KING AHAZ SENT TO URIJAH, THE PRIEST, THE FASHION OF THE ALTAR, AND TH... [ Continue Reading ]
And Urijah, the priest, far from resenting this unwarranted action of the king, BUILT AN ALTAR ACCORDING TO ALL THAT KING AHAZ HAD SENT FROM DAMASCUS, an exact counterpart of the heathen altar; SO URIJAH, THE PRIEST, MADE IT AGAINST KING AHAZ CAME FROM DAMASCUS, he had it ready at the return of the... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar. And the king approached to the altar and offered thereon, evidently in person and unrebuked by any priest.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he burned his burnt offering and his meat-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offerings upon the altar, all this being really a usurpation of rights which did not belong to him, but which he presumed upon in order to express to his own gods his gratitude... [ Continue Reading ]
And he brought also the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, the altar of burnt offering, FROM THE FOREFRONT OF THE HOUSE, FROM BETWEEN THE ALTAR, that is, the new altar, AND THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, the Sanctuary proper, AND PUT IT ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ALTAR, in a location of minor importance... [ Continue Reading ]
And King Ahaz commanded Urijah, the priest, saying, Upon the great altar, the new altar, which was now the principal one, BURN THE MORNING BURNT OFFERING, AND THE EVENING MEAT-OFFERING, the corresponding sacrifice being understood in every case, Exodus 29:38; Numbers 28:3; Numbers 7:87; Numbers 15:2... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus did Urijah, the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded; he readily agreed to these unwarranted changes and thus became guilty with the king.... [ Continue Reading ]
And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, those which held the water receptacles, 1 Kings 7:27, AND REMOVED THE LAVER FROM OFF THEM; AND TOOK DOWN THE SEA FROM OFF THE BRAZEN OXEN THAT WERE UNDER IT, 1 Kings 7:23, AND PUT IT UPON A PAVEMENT OF STONES, on a special foundation of stone, probably... [ Continue Reading ]
And the covert for the Sabbath that they had built in the house, evidently a covered hall in the court of the Temple, set apart for the king when he visited the Sanctuary, AND THE KING'S ENTRY WITHOUT, the ascent to the Temple mentioned 1 Kings 10:5, TURNED HE FROM THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOR THE KING... [ Continue Reading ]
Now, 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?... [ Continue Reading ]
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings, 2 Chronicles 28:27; AND HEZEKIAH, HIS SON, REIGNED IN HIS STEAD. Woe unto every person who is so carried away with his godlessness that he is beyond warning and restraint! Self-h... [ Continue Reading ]