II
K I N G S
CHAP. XVI.
This
chapter is wholly taken up with the reign of Ahaz; and we have quite enough of
it, unless it were better. He had a good father, and a better son, and yet was
himself one of the worst of the kings of
Judah
. I. He was a notorious idolater, ver. 1-4. II.
With the treasures of the temple, as well as his own, he hired the king of
Assyria
to invade
Syria
and
Israel
, ver. 5-9. III. He took pattern from an idol's
altar which he saw at
Damascus
for a new altar in God's temple, ver. 10-16.
IV. He abused and embezzled the furniture of the temple, ver. 17, 18. And so
his story ends, ver. 19, 20.
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The
Reign of Ahaz.
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B.
C. 726.
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1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of
Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of
Judah
began to reign. 2 Twenty years old
was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in
Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD
his God, like David his father. 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 the LORD
cast out from before the children of
Israel
. 4 And he sacrificed and burnt
incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
We have here a general character of the reign of Ahaz. Few and evil were his
days--few, for he died at thirty-six--evil, for we are here told, 1. That he did
not that which was right like David (v. 2), that is, he had none of
that concern and affection for the instituted service and worship of God for
which David was celebrated. He had no love for the temple, made no conscience
of his duty to God, nor had any regard to his law. Herein he was unlike David;
it was his honour that he was of the house and lineage of David, and it was
owing to God's ancient covenant with David that he was now upon the throne,
which aggravated his wickedness; for he was a reproach to that honourable name
and family, which therefore was really a reproach to him (Degeneranti genus
opprobrium--A good extraction is a disgrace to him who degenerates from
it), and though he enjoyed the benefit of David's piety he did not tread
in the steps of it. 2. That he walked in the way of the kings of
Israel
(v. 3), who all worshipped the calves. He was not joined in any
affinity with them, as Jehoram and Ahaziah were with the house of Ahab, but, ex
mero motu--without any instigation, walked in their way. The kings of
Israel
pleaded policy and reasons of state for their idolatry, but Ahaz had no such
pretence: in him it was the most unreasonable impolitic thing that could be.
They were his enemies, and had proved enemies to themselves too by their
idolatry; yet he walked in their way. 3. That he made his sons to pass
through the fire, to the honour of his dunghill-deities. He burnt them, so
it is expressly said of him (2 Chron. xxviii. 3), burnt some of them, and
perhaps made others of them (Hezekiah himself not excepted, though afterwards
he was never the worse for it) to pass between two fires, or to be drawn
through a flame, in token of their dedication to the idol. 4. That he did according
to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out. it was an
instance of his great folly that he would be guided in his religion by those
whom he saw fallen into the ditch before his eyes, and follow them; and it was
an instance of his great impiety that he would conform to those usages which
God had declared to be abominable to him, and set himself to write after the
copy of those whom God had cast out, thus walking directly contrary to God. 5.
That he sacrificed in the high places, v. 4. If his father had
but had zeal enough to take them away, the debauching of his sons might have
been prevented; but those that connive at sin know not what dangerous snares
they lay for those that come after them. He forsook God's house, was weary of
that place where, in his father's time, he had often been detained before the
Lord, and performed his devotions on high hills, where he had a better
prospect, and under green trees, where he had a more pleasant shade. It was a
religion little worth, which was guided by fancy, not by faith.
5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of
Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz,
but could not overcome him. 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. 7 So Ahaz sent
messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant
and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and
out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 8
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD,
and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to
the king of Assyria. 9 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.
Here is, 1. The attempt of his confederate neighbours, the kings of Syria and
Israel, upon him. They thought to make themselves masters of Jerusalem, and to
set a king of their own in it, Isa. vii. 6. In this they fell short, but the
king of Syria recovered Elath, a considerable port upon the Red Sea, which
Amaziah had taken from the Syrians, ch. xiv. 22. What can those keep
that have lost their religion? Let them expect, thenceforward, to be always on
the losing hand. 2. His project to get clear of them. Having forsaken God, he
had neither courage nor strength to make head against his enemies, nor could
he, with any boldness, ask help of God; but he made his court to the king of
Assyria, and got him to come in for his relief. Those whose hearts condemn
them will go any where in a day of distress rather than to God. Was it because
there was not a God in Israel that he sent to the Assyrian for help? Was the
rock of ages removed out of its place, that he stayed himself on this broken
reed? The sin itself was its own punishment; for, though it is true that he
gained his point (the king of Assyria hearkened to him, and, to serve his own
turn, made a descent upon Damascus, whereby he gave a powerful diversion to
the king of Syria, v. 9, and obliged him to let fall his design against
Ahaz, carrying the Syrians captive to Kir, as Amos had expressly foretold, ch.
i. 5), yet, considering all, he made but a bad bargain; for, to compass this,
(1.) He enslaved himself (v. 7): I am thy servant and thy son,
that is, "I will be as dutiful and obedient to thee as to a master or
father, if thou wilt but do me this good turn." Had he thus humbled
himself to God, and implored his favour, he might have been delivered upon
easier terms; he might have saved his money, and needed only to have parted
with his sins. But, if the prodigal forsake his father's house, he soon
becomes a slave to the worst of masters, Luke xv. 15. (2.) He impoverished
himself; for he took the silver and gold that were laid up in the treasury
both of the temple and of the kingdom, and sent it to the king of Assyria, v.
8. Both church and state must be squeezed and exhausted, to gratify this his
new patron and guardian. I know not what authority he had thus to dispose of
the public stock; but it is common for those that have brought themselves into
straits by one sin to help themselves out by another; and those that have
alienated themselves from God will make no difficulty of alienating any of his
rights.
10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus:
and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the
pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11 And
Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from
Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from
Damascus. 12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king
saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered
thereon. 13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering,
and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings,
upon the altar. 14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was
before the LORD,
from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD,
and put it on the north side of the altar. 15 And king Ahaz
commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning
burnt 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. 16 Thus did
Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
Though Ahaz had himself sacrificed in high places, on hills, and under every
green tree (v. 4), yet God's altar had hitherto continued in its place
and in use, and the king's burnt-offering and his meat-offering (v.
15) had been offered upon it by the priests that attended it; but here we have
it taken away by wicked Ahaz, and another altar, an idolatrous one, put in the
room of it--a bolder stroke than the worst of the kings had yet given to
religion. We have here,
I. The model of this new altar, taken from one at Damascus, by the king
himself, v. 10. The king of Assyria having taken Damascus, thither Ahaz
went, to congratulate him on his success, to return him thanks for the
kindness he had done him by this expedition, and, as his servant and son, to
receive his commands. Had he been faithful to his God, he would not have
needed to crouch thus meanly to a foreign power. At Damascus, either while
viewing the rarities of the place, or rather while joining with them in their
devotions (for, when he was there, he thought it no harm to do as they did),
he saw an altar that pleased his fancy extremely, not such a plain
old-fashioned one as that which he had been trained up in attendance upon at
Jerusalem, but curiously carved, it is likely, and adorned with image-work;
there were many pretty things about it which he thought significant,
surprising, very charming, and calculated to excite his devotion. Solomon had
but a dull fancy, he thought, compared with the ingenious artist that made
this altar. Nothing will serve him but he must have an altar just like this: a
pattern of it must be taken immediately; he cannot stay till he returns
himself, but sends it before him in all haste, with orders to Urijah the
priest to get one made exactly according to this model and have it ready
against he came home. The pattern God showed to Moses in the mount or to David
by the Spirit was not comparable to this pattern sent from Damascus. The
hearts of idolaters walked after their eyes, which are therefore said to go
a whoring after their idols; but the true worshippers worship the true God
by faith.
II. The making of it by Urijah the priests, v. 11. This Urijah, it is
likely, was the chief priest who at this time presided in the temple-service.
To him Ahaz sent an intimation of his mind (for we read not of any express
orders he gave him), to get an altar made by this pattern. And, without any
dispute or objection, he put it in hand immediately, being perhaps as fond of
it as the king was, at least being very willing to humour the king and
desirous to curry favour with him. Perhaps he might have this excuse for
gratifying the king herein, that, by this means, he might keep him to the
temple at Jerusalem and prevent his totally deserting it for the high places
and the groves. "Let us oblige him in this," thinks Urijah,
"and then he will bring all his sacrifices to us; for by this craft we
get our living." But, whatever pretence he had, it was a most base wicked
thing for him that was a priest, a chief priest, to make this altar, in
compliance with an idolatrous prince, for hereby, 1. He prostituted his
authority and profaned the crown of his priesthood, making himself a servant
to the lusts of men. There is not a greater disgrace to the ministry than
obsequiousness to such wicked commands as this was. 2. He betrayed his trust.
As priest, he was bound to maintain and defend God's institutions, and to
oppose and witness against all innovations; and, for him to assist and serve
the king in setting up an altar to confront the altar which by divine
appointment he was consecrated to minister at, was such a piece of treachery
and perfidiousness as may justly render him infamous to all posterity. Had he
only connived at the doing of it,--had he been frightened into it by
menaces,--had he endeavoured to dissuade the king from it, or but delayed the
doing of it till he came home, that he might first talk with him about it,--it
would not have been so bad; but so willingly to walk after his commandment, as
if he were glad of the opportunity to oblige him, was such an affront to the
God he served as was utterly inexcusable.
III. The dedicating of it. Urijah, perceiving that the king's heart was much
upon it, took care to have it ready against he came down, and set it near the
brazen altar, but somewhat lower and further from the door of the temple. The
king was exceedingly pleased with it, approached it with all possible
veneration, and offered thereon his burnt-offering, &c., v. 12, 13.
His sacrifices were not offered to the God of Israel, but to the gods of
Damascus (as we find 2 Chron. xxviii. 23), and, when he borrowed the Syrians'
altar, no marvel that he borrowed their gods. Naaman, the Syrian, embraced the
God of Israel when he got earth from the land of Israel to make an altar of.
IV. The removal of God's altar, to make room for it. Urijah was so modest that
he put this altar at the lower end of the court, and left God's altar in its
place, between this and the house of the Lord, v. 14. But that
would not satisfy Ahaz; he removed God's altar to an obscure corner in the
north side of the court, and put his own before the sanctuary, in the place of
it. He thinks his new altar is much more stately, and much more sightly, and
disgraces that; and therefore "let that be laid aside as a vessel in
which there is no pleasure." His superstitious invention, at first,
jostled with God's sacred institution, but at length jostled it out.
Note, Those will soon come to make nothing of God that will not be content to
make him their all. Ahaz durst not (perhaps for fear of the people) quite
demolish the brazen altar and knock it to pieces; but, while he ordered all
the sacrifices to be offered upon this new altar (v. 15), The brazen
altar (says he) shall be for me to enquire by. Having thrust it out
from the use for which it was instituted, which was to sanctify the gifts
offered upon it, he pretends to advance it above its institution, which it is
common for superstitious people to do. The altar was never designed for an
oracle, yet Ahaz will have it for that use. The Romish church seemingly
magnifies Christ's sacraments, yet wretchedly corrupts them. But some give
another sense of Ahaz's purpose: "As for the brazen altar, I will
consider what to do with it, and give order about it." The Jews say that,
afterwards, of the brass of it he made that famous dial which was called the
dial of Ahaz, ch. xx. 11. The base compliance of the poor-spirited
priest with the presumptuous usurpations of an ill-spirited king is again
taken notice of (v. 16): Urijah the priest did according to all that
king Ahaz commanded. Miserable is the case of great men when those that
should reprove them for their sins strengthen and serve them in their sins.
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. 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 the LORD
for the king of
Assyria
. 19 Now the rest of the acts of
Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of
Judah
? 20 And Ahaz slept with his
fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of
David
: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
Here is, I. Ahaz abusing the temple, not the building itself, but some of the
furniture of it. 1. He defaced the bases on which the lavers were set (1 Kings
vii. 28, 29) and took down the molten sea, v. 17. These the priests
used for washing; against them therefore he seems to have had a particular
spite. It is one of the greatest prejudices that can be done to religion to
obstruct the purifying of the priests, the Lord's ministers. 2. He removed the
covert for the sabbath, erected either in honour of the sabbath or for the
conveniency of the priests, when, on the sabbath, they officiated in greater
numbers than on other days. Whatever it was, it should seem that in removing
it he intended to put a contempt upon the sabbath, and so to open as wide an
inlet as any to all manner of impiety. 3. The king's entry, which led to the
house of the Lord, for the convenience of the royal family (perhaps that
ascent which Solomon had made, and which the queen of Sheba admired, 1 Kings
x. 5), he turned another way, to show that he did not intend to frequent the
house of the Lord any more. This he did for the king of Assyria, to oblige
him, who perhaps returned his visit, and found fault with this entry, as an
inconvenience and disparagement to his palace. When those that have had a
ready passage to the house of the Lord, to please their neighbours, turn it
another way, they are going down the hill apace towards their ruin.
II. Ahaz resigning his life in the midst of his days, at thirty-six years of
age (v. 19) and leaving his kingdom to a better man, Hezekiah his son (v.
20), who proved as much a friend to the temple as he had been an enemy to it.
Perhaps this very son he had made to pass through the fire, and thereby
dedicated him to Moloch; but God, by his grace, snatched him as a brand out of
the burning.
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