The Worst King: A Study of Ahaz — 2 Chronicles 28

Background: From Greatness to Disaster

Last week we talked about King Uzziah — one of the greatest kings of Judah, a man who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Judah's kings. Unfortunately, great people don't always raise great children. Uzziah's son Jotham was a good king. Scripture has nothing negative to say about him. He reigned about sixteen years. But Jotham's son — Uzziah's grandson — Ahaz, was a different story entirely.

If Uzziah was the greatest king of the divided kingdom period in Judah, Ahaz was probably the worst. Because of Ahaz, the people of Judah were led into deeper and darker sin than they had ever known. Because of Ahaz, God brought severe judgment and chastisement on His people.

Ahaz's Wickedness (vv. 1–4)

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

To understand what's happening here, you need to understand the geopolitical situation. The Assyrian Empire was rising — absolute terrorists, moving through the ancient world like Genghis Khan, conquering everything in their path and doing it with extraordinary cruelty.

Ahaz's father Jotham had wanted to resist the Assyrians and trust the Lord. But the leaders of Jerusalem weren't willing to take that risk. They pushed Jotham aside and put his son Ahaz — who seemed far more comfortable with Assyria — on the throne. Not a violent coup, just a quiet removal: "You're done. He's king now."

And Ahaz immediately dove headlong into wickedness. He made images for Baal. He followed the gods of the Canaanites. And most horrifically, he burned his own children in the fire in the valley of Hinnom — child sacrifice to Molech.

Molech was a demon god depicted with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The statue was hollow, with a furnace inside. They would heat it until it was glowing, then place living infants in the outstretched arms to burn. It is one of the most horrifying practices in all of human history.

And yet we should be careful before we feel too superior. In our own country, we have destroyed unborn children by the millions in the service of our own little-g gods — comfort, convenience, freedom from consequence. The form is different. The spirit is the same.

Ahaz led Judah into this darkness. And that wasn't all. If there was pagan worship to be done, it was being done in Judah during his reign.

God's Judgment Through Israel and Syria (vv. 5–7)

Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria... And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.

Israel to the north had formed a military alliance with Syria to resist the growing Assyrian threat. This combined army then turned south and invaded Judah, killing 120,000 valiant men in a single day.

The text tells us exactly why: "Because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers."

This wasn't just a geopolitical disaster. This was the hand of God. God brought this judgment on His own people because of their idolatry, their wickedness, their child sacrifice. He could not allow it to continue without consequence.

Principle #1: God Chastens His People

The lost world can seem to get away with serving false gods indefinitely. They can live in their sin, rejoice in it, and appear to face no consequences — at least not yet. Their reckoning comes at the judgment seat.

But God does not let His children live in unrepentant sin without discipline. We are held to a higher standard. When God's people start living like the world, God brings correction — swiftly, as He did here with Judah.

The Captives and the Prophet Oded (vv. 8–15)

And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters... But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again...

As part of this judgment, Israel took 200,000 captives — women, sons, daughters — and began marching them toward Samaria. Then God sent the prophet Oded, who stepped directly into the path of the returning army and declared: "You were God's instrument of punishment — but what you're doing now will bring God's wrath down on you. Send them back."

Amazingly, they listened. Not just the prophet — four named leaders of Ephraim stood up to the returning soldiers and refused to allow the captives to be brought in.

So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

These captives were naked. Stripped of everything. And these men from Israel — the enemy — clothed them, fed them, gave them water, anointed their wounds, and carried the weakest ones on donkeys all the way back to Jericho.

This reminds me of our own General Grant, who came here to Mattoon at the start of the Civil War to muster and train the 21st Illinois Infantry. After Appomattox, when he accepted the surrender of the Confederate Army, Grant insisted that the defeated soldiers be treated with dignity. He let them keep their horses — said they'd need them for the spring plowing. He let the officers keep their sidearms. He sent them home as men, not prisoners.

That same spirit is on display in 2 Chronicles 28. These Israelite leaders didn't just release the captives — they restored them. That is mercy going far beyond what was required.

Principle #2: Obedience to God's Word Matters More Than Your Track Record

Here is the great irony of this passage: the northern kingdom of Israel had been worshiping golden calves for generations. They were far from God. And yet when a prophet spoke one word, they obeyed — completely and generously.

Meanwhile, Ahaz, the king sitting in God's own holy city of Jerusalem, refused every warning God sent him.

God can use an unexpected voice. And a moment of obedience from an unlikely source can shame the disobedience of those who should know better.

Ahaz Makes a Deal with Assyria (vv. 16–21)

At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah... The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country... For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz... And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

Israel and Syria had taken everything except Jerusalem. Ahaz was besieged. In desperation, he reached out to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria — the most feared conqueror in the world — and asked for help.

Now here's what makes this so remarkable: God had already spoken to Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah about exactly this situation. Isaiah chapter 7 — that famous chapter containing the prophecy "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son" — was written directly to Ahaz, during this crisis, as a warning. God was saying through Isaiah: "Don't panic. Don't go to Assyria. Trust Me."

Ahaz completely ignored it and sent for Tiglath-Pileser anyway.

The Assyrians did drive out Israel and Syria. So it kind of worked. But it cost Ahaz everything — he had to strip the temple of God to pay for it. And even then, the text says Assyria "distressed him, but strengthened him not." He paid everything he had and got less than he bargained for.

Principle #3: The Devil's Bargain Never Pays What It Promises

Assyria didn't come to save Judah. They came because Ahaz gave them an excuse to move into the neighborhood.

That is always how it works. The world doesn't help you for free. There are always strings attached. You'll pay more than you planned, you'll get less than you were promised, and you'll end up more entangled than you were before.

When you're besieged — when the walls are closing in — the temptation is to grab the fastest solution available. But fast isn't always faithful. And the help the world offers almost always costs you something sacred.

Ahaz Goes Deeper (vv. 22–25)

And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

Ahaz was in a pit, and his answer was to keep digging.

Defeated by Syria, he decided the Syrian gods must be more powerful — so he started worshiping them. He shut the doors of the temple of the Lord. He smashed the sacred vessels. He set up pagan altars on every corner in Jerusalem and throughout every city in Judah.

There's a heartbreaking footnote to this in 2 Kings 16. When Ahaz went to Damascus to meet with the Assyrian king, he saw a pagan altar there and was impressed by it. He had plans drawn up and sent back to the priest in Jerusalem: "Build me one just like this for the temple."

And the priest did it. He replaced the altar of God with a pagan altar, just because the king asked.

We talked last week about a different priest — the one who confronted King Uzziah when he tried to burn incense in the temple, who stood up and said "This is not for you to do." That priest had a backbone. This priest was a pleaser. He just wanted to keep everybody happy, and he let pagan worship walk right into the house of God.

Principle #4: The House of God Is Not for Compromise

This church is for worshiping the Lord, and Him only. Not for pagan entertainment. Not for the politics of the day. Not for whatever the culture wants to bring through the door. God's house is God's house. We don't negotiate on that.

Conclusion: Darkness Is Not the Final Word (vv. 26–27)

And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Even in death, Ahaz was dishonored. He wasn't buried in the royal tombs. He left behind a nation in spiritual ruin.

This is the darkest chapter in Judah's history up to this point. And yet — God had Isaiah. Right in the middle of all of this wickedness, this same prophet who warned Ahaz and was ignored was pointing the people toward a coming hope: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel — God with us."

Sometimes it seems like the darkness is winning. Like wickedness is advancing unchecked, rolling over everything in its path, and the shadows just keep getting deeper. But our hope is not in kings. Our hope is in Christ — the Messiah who came, who defeated sin and death, and who will one day rule this world as it was always meant to be ruled.

Ahaz is a footnote. Jesus is the whole story.