2 Kings 16:5 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, the attack made by Ahaz’s allies turned enemies, the kings of Syria and Israel. They had planned to take Jerusalem and set their own king over it, as Isaiah 7:6 says. They did not succeed in that full plan, but the king of Syria did recover Elath, an important port on the Red Sea that Amaziah had taken from the Syrians (2 Kings 14:22). When people lose their religion, what can they really keep? After that, they should expect to keep losing.

Next, we see Ahaz’s attempt to get free from these enemies. Because he had turned away from God, he had neither the courage nor the strength to stand against them. He also could not honestly ask God for help. So he won favor with the king of Assyria and brought him in to rescue him. People whose hearts condemn them will go anywhere in trouble rather than go to God. Was there no God in Israel, that he sent to Assyria for help? Had the eternal Rock been moved out of place, that he trusted in this broken reed?

Even so, his sin became its own punishment. It is true that he got what he wanted. The king of Assyria listened to him and, for his own advantage, attacked Damascus. That forced the king of Syria to turn away from Ahaz and instead focus on his own trouble. The Syrians were carried away captive to Kir, just as Amos had said they would be (Amos 1:5). But when all is considered, Ahaz made a very bad bargain.

To get this help, he first made himself a slave (2 Kings 16:7). “I am your servant and your son” means, “I will obey you like a servant or dutiful child if you will only do this for me.” If he had humbled himself like that before God and asked for his mercy, he could have been rescued on easier terms. He could have saved his money and only needed to give up his sins. But when a prodigal leaves his father’s house, he soon becomes the slave of the worst masters (Luke 15:15).

He also made himself poor, because he took the silver and gold stored in the treasuries of both the temple and the kingdom and sent them to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:8). He squeezed both church and state to satisfy his new protector and supposed helper. I do not know what right he had to hand over public wealth in this way. But it is common for people who get into trouble through one sin to try to escape through another. And those who have cut themselves off from God will not hesitate to give away even what belongs to him.