Ahaz

(2 Chron. 28:1) (possessor) — was the son of Jotham and inherited the throne of the king of Judah at the age of 20; he gave himself over to gross idolatry and even sacrificed his own children to pagan gods. This impiety brought down upon him and his kingdom the severe judgment of God. Ahaz at last gave himself over to the utmost impiety, and the kingdom of Judah was devastated and turned into a wasteland as a result of his great iniquities. At the beginning of his reign (probably in the second year), the kings of Syria and Israel, who had already conspired to destroy Judah at the end of Jotham’s life, indeed invaded the kingdom of Judah with large armies, preparing to besiege Jerusalem.

At this, their design, the Lord commanded the prophet Isaiah to take his son Shear-jashub and go to Ahaz, whom he could meet at a certain well-known place in the city of Jerusalem, and to declare to him the will of the Lord. This mercy was shown to the impious king as the representative of the house of David, for the sake of his people, with whom the Lord had made a covenant (Isa. 7:1). Isaiah, meeting Ahaz at the appointed place, told him that the plans of the armies about to attack Jerusalem would come to nothing, that their designs regarding Jerusalem would be brought to naught, and that in due time the kingdoms from which they came would be destroyed.

In confirmation of this prophecy, the king was offered the chance to ask for any sign he wished. The king, probably out of a feeling of indifference, or perhaps from better motives, refused to ask for a sign (Isa. 7:14 [as given]); but the Lord Himself was pleased to give him the following sign through the prophet: “The Lord Himself shall give you a sign,” said the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings” (Isa. 7:14–16; Matt. 1:23). Three or four years after this prophecy was uttered, the kings of Israel and Syria were slain (2 Kings 15:30; 16:9). This was probably the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy, but it received a more striking and literal fulfillment in the very birth of Immanuel, for Herod the Great was the last king who had a right to the title of king of Judah and Israel, and though he lived to the time of Immanuel’s birth, he died while the Lord Jesus was still an infant, and then was fulfilled the prophecy of Jacob: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:10).