When you’re heading downhill, as Ahaz was, it’s easy to pick up speed and very hard to stop.
One thing you can say about king Ahaz. He was consistent—consistently bad from start to finish! And this in spite of the fact that his father Jotham “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chron 27:2). By contrast, Ahaz, who began to reign at age twenty, “did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord” (28:1). How so? In just about every way possible! “For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals. He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire…And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree” (vv 2-4). Look, there’s a hill! Perfect to set up a place to worship a false god, wouldn’t you say? And that green tree over there—we wouldn’t want to miss any, now would we? As for all those deities of the nations that the Lord drove out, like the Baals? Let’s also idolize them since they were so helpful to the Canaanites. And not to be outdone, Ahaz even brought back Molech! How far down can a man go? He “burned his children in the fire”! No wonder our Lord used the contraction of “the Valley of the Son of Hinnom,” or Gehenna, to illustrate the horrors of hell. So the Lord used first Syria, then Israel (v 5), to punish him. There wasn’t only a great slaughter, but “the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters” (v 8) to be used as slaves. Thankfully a man of God named Oded, whose name means “restorer,” pled with Israel. Their battle had been fueled by rage for which God would punish them. Would they now add to their sins? Surprisingly, Israel listened (vv 9-15)! Thank God today for those with a ministry of restoration.