Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 16
For a long time, many or most of the people in Judah did not really want to serve the true God. Instead, their main desires were for wealth and comfort. That caused the richer people to act cruelly towards poor people. The people still followed the religion of the true God because their kings had made it the official religion of their country. However, the people’s many evil acts showed that they did not truly love God (Isaiah 1:1-26).
That was the situation in Judah when Ahaz became king. Ahaz was very different in his attitude towards religion, from the kings who ruled before him. His opinions and beliefs were like the opinions and beliefs of the people whom he ruled. He considered the religion of the true God to be an old religion that needed to change. He believed that he could introduce better and more powerful gods into Judah. He disliked the law of God and he disliked the temple (the house of God). Still, he insisted that he respected the true God (Isaiah 7:12), together, of course, with all his other gods. He did not oppose religion – rather, religion was very important to him. However, he believed that he could improve the religion in Judah.
Ahaz obtained his gods from foreign nations; and his acts of religion were more wicked than any king who had ruled Judah or Israel before him. However, Ahaz was not a foreigner – and he did not gain his power to rule in a wrong manner. He was the son of the previous king, Jotham – a good king who was completely loyal to the true God. So Ahaz belonged to the royal family of King David, which God had chosen to rule over Judah. His father Jotham died at the age of 41; Ahaz was just 20 years old when he became king.
Next part: The religion of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3-4)
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