Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 16

Ahaz puts his trust in the king of Assyria

2 Kings 16:7-9

The army of northern and central Israel and the army of Aram had decided to attack Judah, together. Judah’s men suffered a terrible defeat in the first battles. So, then the armies of Israel and of Aram went to attack Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 28:5-15).

At that time, God sent the prophet (holy man) Isaiah with a message to Ahaz, the king of Judah. Ahaz had not been loyal to the true God but instead he had chosen to serve many false gods. He was very afraid because of the armies that were opposing him.

Still, God told Ahaz not to be afraid of the kings of Aram and of northern and central Israel. They were in fact much weaker than it seemed. Soon, those nations would not even continue to exist (Isaiah chapter 7 and 8:3-8). The really dangerous enemy, both for those nations and for Judah, was the king of Assyria.

So, God told Ahaz that Ahaz should put his complete trust in God (Isaiah 7:9). God is with the people who put their trust in him (Isaiah 8:9-17). God would defend those people – the only real safety is with him.

However, Ahaz preferred to put his trust in the king of Assyria. In the end, that decision would cause Ahaz even more trouble (2 Chronicles 28:20). However, at the present time, it seemed to offer a solution to Ahaz’s troubles.

So, Ahaz declared that he would accept the king of Assyria’s authority over him, in return for his help. Ahaz sent a vast amount of silver and gold to the king of Assyria, so that Assyria’s army would attack Damascus. Damascus was the capital city of Aram. When Assyria’s army attacked Damascus, Aram’s army had to leave Jerusalem to defend their own country.

In that war, Assyria’s army was very successful. They took control of Damascus and forced its inhabitants to leave their homes for a foreign country. They also killed the king of Aram. Then, they attacked northern Israel (15:29).

Next part: Ahaz decides to serve the false gods of Damascus (2 Kings 16:10)

Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.