2 Chronicles 28:22-27

How does distress lead Ahaz further away rather than back to the Lord?

Berean Standard Bible

22 In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. 23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel. 24 Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers. 26 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

What is the context?

Ahaz reasons that the gods of Damascus have helped their rulers and begins sacrificing to them. The narrator gives the opposite assessment: they bring ruin rather than help.

He damages the temple articles, shuts the Lord’s house, and multiplies altars and high places. The distress deepens the abandonment instead of producing the humility seen in some earlier reigns.

His death and burial outside the royal tombs close the account, with Hezekiah succeeding him. The next reign will begin by confronting the damaged and closed house.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley emphasizes the contrast between distress and the refusal to turn, though his harsh personal rhetoric is not needed to explain the text. 2 Kings 16:10–20 also describes Ahaz reshaping the worship arrangements after Damascus. The account distinguishes Ahaz’s belief about those gods from the narrator’s judgment of their failure.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

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