2 Chronicles 28:16 - Meaning and Application

This shows the great trouble Judah fell into because of Ahaz’s sin. In general, the Lord brought Judah low (2 Chronicles 28:19). They had recently been rich and powerful, but God found a way to humble them and make them weak and despised. Those who will not humble themselves under God’s word will rightly be humbled by his judgments. Sin brings people down (Psalm 106:43).

Ahaz also left Judah exposed and defenseless. His sin stripped them of honor and made them open to attack, like a person left unclothed or unarmed (Exodus 32:25). The Edomites took revenge for Amaziah’s cruel treatment of them (2 Chronicles 25:12), attacked Judah, and carried off many captives (2 Chronicles 28:17). The Philistines also insulted Judah, seized several towns and villages near their border (2 Chronicles 28:18), and paid Judah back for the raids Uzziah had made on them (2 Chronicles 26:6). To show that Ahaz’s sin truly brought the Philistines down on Judah, Isaiah later foretold their destruction in the year Ahaz died (Isaiah 14:28-29).

Ahaz also made the nation’s trouble worse by seeking help from foreign kings. When the Edomites and Philistines troubled him, he sent to the kings of Assyria for aid (2 Chronicles 28:16). He had seen his kingdom weakened, and because he had no trust in God, he spent great sums to win the Assyrian king’s favor. He took silver and gold from the house of God, the royal palace, and the princes to pay for this help (2 Chronicles 28:21). But the Assyrians did not truly care for him. They came, but they hurt him and did not strengthen him (2 Chronicles 28:20-21). They settled their forces in his land, which only drained and weakened it, and they became harsh and troubling to him, like a broken reed that fails and pierces the hand.

Ahaz also made the nation’s guilt greater by turning to false gods when he was in trouble. Instead of repenting of his idolatry, which he had every reason to see was foolish, he became even more unfaithful (2 Chronicles 28:22). This marks him as a truly wicked king, a shame to the house of David and a curse to his generation. People are deeply corrupt when suffering makes them worse instead of better, and when trouble only hardens their hearts.

His sin against God’s house was serious. He broke up the vessels of the temple so the priests could not carry out the service properly, and in the end he shut the temple doors so the people could not worship there at all (2 Chronicles 28:24). He also set up altars all over Jerusalem, as the prophet says, like heaps in a plowed field (Hosea 12:11). In the towns of Judah, he either used his authority or his money, perhaps both, to build high places where people could burn incense to whatever idols they wanted (2 Chronicles 28:25). It was as if he meant to provoke the God of his fathers.

He also turned away from the Lord himself. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus (2 Chronicles 28:23), not because he loved them, but because he feared them. He thought they had helped Syria against him, so he wanted them on his side. But he was foolish. It was the Lord who was striking him and strengthening the Syrians against him, not the gods of Damascus. If he had served the Lord alone, the Lord would have helped him. But when people confuse the true source of their trouble and their help, their worship becomes twisted too. The gods of Syria did not help Ahaz any more than the kings of Assyria did. Instead, these choices ruined him and all Israel.

This sin brought judgment on him and also harmed the whole nation. He died in the middle of his life, at thirty-six years old, which showed God’s displeasure. It also spread idolatry so deeply among the people that the reform under the next king could not fully remove it. The nation kept that root of bitterness until the Babylonian captivity finally tore it out.

The chapter ends with the close of Ahaz’s reign (2 Chronicles 28:26-27). As far as we can tell, he died without repentance, and so he died without honor. He was not buried in the tombs of the kings, and rightly so, for he was not like them. He used his royal power to harm the church instead of protecting and building it up.