IGNORING AN INVITATION TO FAITH
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Soon after the death of his father, Jotham (see 2 Kings 15:32–34), Ahaz was faced with the threat of attack from the neighboring kings of Aram and Israel.
They likely saw the transition to the newly crowned, twenty-year-old king as a moment of weakness they could exploit—and they were right.
Ahaz and his army were able to repel the first attack on Jerusalem, but he feared that another attack was coming. As Ahaz looked for backup, Isaiah came to him with a message of comfort delivered on the instructions of God. “Be careful” with whom you seek alliances. “Keep calm” rather than being panicked into unwise decisions.
And ultimately, “Don’t be afraid.” This was a call for Ahaz to trust God more than he feared his attackers. God concluded His appeal to Ahaz by saying, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9). But Ahaz ignored the warning. He took silver and gold from the temple to pay Tigleth-pileser, king of Assyria, to protect Israel.
The Assyrian king attacked Damascus, the capital of Aram, and killed their king (see 2 Kings 16:7–9). In the short term, the plan seemed to have worked.
But Ahaz traveled to Damascus and was drawn into the pagan worship he witnessed there (see 2 Kings 16:10–20), and Judah continued to pay tribute to Assyria throughout the remainder of Ahaz’s reign and beyond. During the reign of Ahaz, the faithfulness and independence of the nation were compromised because of his failure of faith and courage, despite the warning and the reassurance that God offered to the young king through Isaiah.
