King of Israel – Pekah; King of Judah – Ahaz; King of Syria – Rezin
Ahaz of Judah “did not that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, like David his father.” So what did Ahaz do?
2 Kings 16:3 – But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.
So we can make the assumption that the kings of Israel passed their children through the fire. Unfortunately the author doesn’t go into any more details. Which son? Which deity required sacrifice by fire? Was it a death sacrifice or did the son just “pass through” a fire, much the way someone walks on hot coals, or runs through an open flame? How does a god, that supposedly doesn’t exist, influence a man just enough that he sacrifices his own son in a fire? Did the father receive something in return?
Can we assume HE DID? One would think that somehow, an example was made of what happens when you sacrifice your child in fire. After all, if someone saw another person sacrifice their child in fire, and nothing happened, they’d most likely not fall for the guise and not sacrifice their own child. However, we are told that MULTIPLE people, including kings of Israel did in fact, pass their children through the fire… WHY? What did they gain?
We already know that child sacrifice seems to be a norm in this part of the world at this time. Abraham was more than willing to sacrifice Isaac until an angel interrupted him. Nor can we forget the 2 Kings 3, when the king of Edom sacrificed his son (who was to be his successor) by offering him as a burnt offering on the wall. Let’s revisit this verse:
2 Kings 3:27 – Then he (king of Edom) took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
Notice, once again, that by offering his own son as a burnt offering upon the wall, the Israelites ended their battle (indignation was against ISRAEL, not Edom) and returned home. So, apparently, child sacrifice, in the bible, actually works in one twisted and sick way.
Isaiah 17 Prophecy
Back to the prophecy of Isaiah. So, despite Ahaz being a wicked king, he was still able to fend off the invasion by the combined armies of the king of Israel (Pekah) and the king of Syria (Rezin).
16:6 – At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
Ok, the first mention of the word “Jew”. In this case, it clearly points to those of Judah and excludes those of the kingdom of Israel, so it DOES NOT mean the entirety of the lineage of Abraham. After all, it was with the king of Judah that Rezin fought against, not his ally Pekah of Israel. However they were unable to take Jerusalem, capitol of Judah. In yet another story of one of the kings under Jehovah having to bribe their enemy to prevent their defeat, Ahaz king of Judah has paid Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria to defend him from Rezin of Syria:
Damascus Falls, Isaiah 17 Prophecy Fulfilled
16:8 – And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
I will cover this prophecy once again when I get to Isaiah 17, because it has implications in the modern world. Not so much the actual prophecy, but how the prophecy is being used and how the actual bible verse that tells us it was fulfilled, is being ignored. How the prophecy is being cherry picked and is being used as justification for innocent deaths and a blind eye towards the conflicts in Syria with the concept: “Well it’s bible prophecy so it’s ok.”
A Rejection of Jehovah’s Altar and Jehovah?
What happens next is pretty interesting: While Ahaz was in Damascus meeting with Tiglah-pileser, king of Assyria, he sees an altar and instructs one of his priests, Uriah, back home, to make a duplicate altar. When he returns to Jerusalem, he finds the duplicated altar and offers a burnt, meat, drink, and peace offering upon it. I will call this the Damascus altar. We also have a pre-existing “brasen” altar (verse 16:4) and he places both of them in the same locale, with the Damascus Altar to the north of the Brasen Altar.
16:15 – And king Ahaz commanded upon Uriah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
It sounds like the Damascus Altar has taken the place of importance of the Brasen Altar, which will now simply be an item that the king “enquires” by. In other words, this one important altar has been relegated down to a divining tool. Need more proof? Look what he does to this Brasen Altar of Jehovah:
16:17 – And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
So the Brasen Altar gets mutilated by king Ahaz. Will there be consequences? Need more evidence this might be a rejection of Jehovah?
16:18 – And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he FROM the house of Jehovah FOR the king of Assyria.
Did Ahaz just reject Jehovah the deity and replace the system of offerings to him for the king of Assyria? Who happened to save him from the invasion of two kingdoms of Israel and Syria?
This is food for thought as we get closer to the books of the prophets: These “kings” of foreign kingdoms… are they more than human mortals? Are they like gods? If not, why would Ahaz switch out Jehovah for Tiglath-piliser (who we ASSUME is a mortal man)? Why would a man require sacrificial offerings the way Jehovah would? What will Jehovah himself have to say about some of these foreign kings in the books of the prophets? Is it possible some have been in the Garden of Eden?
As to the question if Ahaz is punished for being wicked and for his post Damascus deeds:
16:20 – And Ahaz slept with is fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
Could Hezekiah be the son he had “pass through the fires?” After all it doesn’t say he died from it, it could some sort of fire ritual the indigenous Canaanites had performed. After all, why have children if you are going to kill them?
2 Kings 16, in my opinion, one of the more important chapters to understand and analyze from a prophetical point of view, as well as adding context to just what these “kings” were in the bible. This chapter also points well into the future towards the context of multiple books of the prophets. I can’t wait to get to them.
My Biblical Journey 