Ahaz

 

    Ahaz is Āḥāz (אָחָז) in Hebrew.  In Greek the name is  Ἄχαζ, Ἀχάζ Akhaz and in Latin it is Achaz.  It means "has held" or "he has possessed".  Ahaz was the 12th king of Judah.  His reign last 742–727 BC.  He succeeded his father King Jotham and left his dynasty to his son, Hezekiah.

    Ahaz was 20 when he became king over Judah.  He reigned in Jerusalem.  He was not a good king by God's standards.  He sacrificed his own son in fire displaying how he followed pagan traditions of other nations instead of staying true to God.  The consequences were that God was not with him when he went to battle.  He lost Edom to be taken over by Edomites.  His people were exiled to Damascus.  He was attacked by many nations.

    When things got bad Ahaz turned to Assyria instead of God for help.  It backfired and he had another nation attacking him.  He went so far as to take God's money from the church to pay Assyria, but it was for nothing.  He lost all that his ancestors had left him.  Even after that, he did not turn to God.  He destroyed God's things to replicate the idolatry.  

    The king led the nation to a dark place.  However, it was the priest that should have stood up to him.  They should have told him that what he was doing was not okay.  Instead they followed every order.  His reign was fairly short.  When you abandon God, you run into the arms of death.  His people paid the price, but he also had a short life.  He also left a huge mess for Hezekiah to deal with.

2 Kings 15:38-16:20, 2 Chronicles 28:1-27