2 Chronicles 28:12-27

a Wicked King's Blind Folly

2 Chronicles 28:12

This sending of the captives home, clothed, shod, and anointed was a beautiful act, and anticipates the spirit of Christianity. This is the true way of making and maintaining peace. Magnanimity is, after all, the best solvent of national hatred, and lays the foundations of enduring brotherhood. The Edomites and Philistines smote Judah and weakened it, but they were only the instruments. We are distinctly told that the Lord brought Israel low, 2 Chronicles 28:19. The relief bought from the king of Assyria at so great a sacrifice secured a temporary respite. See 2 Kings 16:7. In the end, however, it only added to his distress, 2 Chronicles 28:20. None can help the man who has forfeited the help of God. If He is against us, who can be for us!

The more distressed Ahaz was, the more he trespassed. See Isaiah 1:5. With blind infatuation he went step by step farther from God, sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, and offered wanton insult to God's house. The detestation of the people was evidenced in their treatment of his remains. See Proverbs 10:7.