Was the coming king more influenced by the prayers of his grandfather than the deeds of his father?
We now shift from two kings in Israel to two in Judah. Jotham and Ahaz each reigned for sixteen years (2 Ki 15:33; 16:2), but how different their impacts! Jotham prepared for his reign by serving with his father Uzziah, who as a leper could not enter the palace. Jotham “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (15:34), no doubt encouraged by his father who did the same (see v 3). But Ahaz, his son, “did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord” (16:2). This is another reminder that, while the parent has a responsibility, the child also has a response. And even though Jotham sought to do what was right, “In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Syria and Pekah…against Judah” (15:37). Remember “the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1 Pet 4:17). At present, God is convicting the lost and chastening His children. But what a heartbreak was Uzziah’s grandson! “He made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out…And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree” (2 Ki 16:3-4). Everything wrong! He followed the wrong examples, submitted to the wrong god, offered the wrong sacrifice, and worshiped in the wrong place. And then, when in trouble, rather than seeking the Lord, “Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, ‘I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me’” (v 7). He both impoverished Judah and enslaved Israel (see 2 Chron 28). Then to top it off, he replaced God’s altar with one of his own liking, rearranging the temple’s architecture and furniture. Yet his son was one of the best kings Judah ever had! Sin abounds. But grace superabounds.