and His communication of pardon, light, and life.

* That such was literally the case is confirmed by the notice of the re -opening of the doors of the

Sanctuary in 2 Chronicles 29:3; comp. verses 7, 17.

The temple of Ahaz was no longer that of Jehovah, and the attempt to attach the old services to the

new altar would only aggravate the sin, while it exhibited the folly of the king.

Even more strange seems the mixture of heathen rites which it was sought to introduce by the side

of the perverted Temple ritual. It consisted of the worship of the Syrian deities, of Baalim, of

Ashtoreth,* of the host of heaven, and of Molech - in short, it com ined Syrian, Phoenician, and

b

Assyrian idolatry.**

* This is implied in the reference to the worship "under every green tree" in 2 Chronicles 28:4.

** It is only right to say that in Assyrian worship there is not a trace of human sacrifices.

Yet in a ll this Ahaz found a servile instrument in the high priest Urijah (2 Kings 16:11-16).

Assuredly the prophet's description of Israel's "watchmen" as "ignorant," "dumb dogs -loving to

slumber," "greedy dogs," "insatiable shepherds," only bent on gain and steeped in vice, was true to

the letter (Isaiah 56:10 -12). And with this corresponds the same prophet's account of the moral and

religious condition of the people (Isaiah 2:6 -9; 5:7-23). In view of this, King Ahaz can only be

regarded as the outcome of his time and the representative of his people. Accordingly the

judgments announced in these prophecies of Isaiah read only as the logical sequence of the state of

The account of these judgments comes to us equally from the Books of Kings and Chronicle s,

which here supplement one another, and especially from the prophecies of Isaiah, which in chapter

7 give the most vivid description of the condition of things. The Syro -Israelitish league had been

formed at the close of the reign of Jotham (2 Kings 15:37), although its full effects only appeared

when Ahaz acceded to the throne. In its development the confederacy embraced also the Edomites

and Philistines, although probably at a later period - in all likelihood after the early victories of the

Syrian and Israelitish armies (2 Chronicles 28:17, 18). The purpose of the two chief allies is easily

understood. No doubt it was the desire of Syria and Israel, which Tiglath-pileser had so deeply

humbled, to shake off the yoke of Assyria. And as, after a period of decadence, the Assyrian

power had only lately been restored by the usurper Pul, a hope may have been cherished that a

powerful league might huff Tiglath-pileser from his throne. But for this object it was necessary

first to secure themselves against any danger from the south, especially as there is some indication

in the Assyrian inscriptions of a connection existing between Judah and Assyria since the days of

In point of fact, the expedition was rather against Ahaz than against Judah,* and we are distinctly

informed that it was the purpose of the allies to depose the house of David, and to place on the

throne of Judah a person of low origin, "the son of Tabheel," whose name indicates his Syrian

descent** (Isaiah 7:6).

* The personal character o f the war appears not only in such expressions as 2 Kings 16:5: "They

besieged Ahaz," but to an attentive reader throughout the whole account of it, both in Kings and

** We gather that he was of low origin, from the contemptuous designation, "the son of Tabheel" -

like "the son of Remaliah." Probably he was a Syrian captain. Tabheel (in pausa, Tabheal) = "good

is God" in Aram, a name kindred to Tabrimmon. But it is a mistake to suppose that it occurs in

another form (Itibil or Tibil) on an Assyrian tablet. It is also the name of a Persian official in Ezra