2 Kings 16:17 - Meaning and Application

Here we see Ahaz misusing the temple, not by tearing down the building itself, but by damaging some of its sacred furnishings. He broke up the bases that held the washbasins (1 Kings 7:28-29) and took down the bronze sea, the large basin used for ritual washing (2 Kings 16:17). The priests used these for cleansing, so it seems he had a special dislike for anything that supported their service. One of the worst harms done to religion is to block the cleansing of the priests, the Lord’s ministers.

He also removed the covered place for the Sabbath, whether it was built to honor the Sabbath or to help the priests when they served in greater numbers that day. Whatever its exact purpose, taking it away seems meant to show contempt for the Sabbath. That kind of act opened the door wider to every kind of ungodliness.

Ahaz also changed the king’s entrance to the house of the Lord, the royal passage that led to the temple. This may have been the raised way Solomon built, the one the queen of Sheba admired (1 Kings 10:5). By turning it another way, he showed that he no longer meant to make use of the house of the Lord. He did this for the king of Assyria, to please him, perhaps because the Assyrian king had visited and found the old entrance inconvenient or unworthy of his palace. When people who once had easy access to the house of the Lord turn that way aside to please others, they are moving quickly toward ruin.

Ahaz also ended his life in the middle of his years, at thirty-six years old (2 Kings 16:19), and left his kingdom to a better man, his son Hezekiah (2 Kings 16:20). Hezekiah later showed himself a true friend to the temple, in contrast to his father. It may be that Ahaz had even made this son pass through the fire and given him over to Moloch, the idol that demanded child sacrifice. But God, in his grace, snatched Hezekiah like a burning stick from the fire.