16:1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king over Judah.
King Ahaz became the next King of Judah. He was from the messianic line of David.
16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David.
The Holy Spirit listed King Ahaz as an evil king.
16:3 He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, a horrible sin practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.
King Jotham also allowed Baal worship of the Canaanites and Moloch worship of the Moabites. Moloch worship included infant sacrifice. King Jotham, a descendant of King David and a member of the messianic line, actually sacrificed his own child in the fire to Moloch.
16:4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
The other Kings of Judah who were in the messianic line of David tolerated worship in the high hills, but King Ahaz was the first King of Judah to openly participate in these Canaanite rituals.
16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him.
The Davidic Covenant promised that a king from the line of David would one day establish an eternal kingdom. The kings of Syria and Israel wanted to overthrow Ahaz in order to force Judah into their anti-Assyrian coalition. They wanted to overthrow this Davidic King and replace him with another king. They were fighting God, because the line of David must survive until the days of Jesus.
16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. Syrians arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.)
Elat was an important seaport city which was established by Solomon. Syria took over this important city, shutting down Judah’s ocean trade.
16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent. March up and rescue me from the power of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked me.”
King Azariah and King Jotham became very prosperous during their reigns.
16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute to the king of Assyria.
King Ahaz paid silver and gold tribute to Assyria in exchange for protection against Syria.
16:9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; he attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people to Kir and executed Rezin.
This biblical conquest was recorded in Assyrian records.
16:10 When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design.
King Ahaz of Judah was more interested in pleasing the Assyrian king than he was in pleasing God. He desired to build a temple where he could worship the Assyrian gods.
16:11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.
King Ahaz, a descendant of David and part of the messianic line, ordered his priest to build an Assyrian pagan temple in Israel.
16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and offered a sacrifice on it.
Solomon and Jeroboam dedicated pagan temples in Israel and so did Ahaz.
16:13 He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar.
This was a violation of the Mosaic Covenant which would endanger Israel’s standing with God.
16:14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new altar.
The altar to Jehovah was moved and regarded as a secondary altar.
16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.”
King Ahaz, a descendant of David and part of the messianic line, instituted sacrifices to Assyrian pagan gods in the temple of Jerusalem.
16:16 So Uriah the priest did exactly as King Ahaz ordered.
The Jewish temple was now being used for pagan sacrifices.
16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” down from the bronze bulls that supported it and put it on the pavement.
King Ahaz, a descendant of David and part of the messianic line, began removing some of the temple furniture in order to pay tribue. All of these furniture items pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
16:18 He also removed the Sabbath awning that had been built in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria.
Some of these items were removed to keep them away as plunder to the Assyrian king.
16:19 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.
"The Annals of the Kings of Israel" was an uninspired historical book which has been lost to this day.
16:20 Ahaz passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.
Hezekiah became the next king of Judah.