Bible Chapter Summary
2 Kings 16 Summary
King Ahaz and Covenant Compromise
Ahaz reigns at twenty and does evil, following the abominations of the heathen and making his son pass through fire. When Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel besiege Jerusalem, Ahaz seeks help from Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, sending treasures from the temple and palace. Assyria defeats Syria and captures Damascus, killing Rezin. Ahaz travels to Damascus and sees an altar, which he replicates in the temple, displacing the bronze altar. He commands the priest to use the new altar for all sacrifices and offerings, effectively replacing God's original pattern with a foreign design.
Key themes
Key verses
2 Kings 16:2-3
“Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.”
2 Kings 16:7-8
“So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.”
2 Kings 16:10-11
“And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.”
2 Kings 16:15
“And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to inquire by.”
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