The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Tribute” it comes from the Hebrew Word “minchah” which means “gift, tribute, offering.”
Jotham’s faithful legacy collapses almost immediately under his own son’s disastrous idolatry. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 2 Chronicles 28.
Ahaz becomes king and does not do what is right, walking instead in the ways of Israel’s kings, even making molten images for Baal and burning his own children in the fire, following the abominable practices of the nations God had driven out. Because of this, the Lord delivers him into the hands of Syria and Israel, who defeat Judah severely, with Israel alone killing 120,000 in a single day and carrying away 200,000 captives, women, sons, and daughters.
The prophet Oded confronts Israel’s returning army, warning that their own excessive cruelty toward their Judean brothers, whom the Lord had only allowed to be defeated because of His own anger, now risks bringing guilt upon themselves as well. Convicted by this warning, several Ephraimite leaders intervene, clothing, feeding, and returning the captives safely to Jericho rather than keeping them as slaves.
Rather than turning to the Lord in this crisis, Ahaz appeals to Assyria for help, stripping the temple and palace treasuries to pay “tribute,” “minchah” in Hebrew, though Assyria brings him more distress than actual relief. Ahaz sacrifices to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning foolishly that since they helped Syria’s kings, they might help him too, though this only accelerates Judah’s downfall. He shuts up the doors of the Lord’s house entirely and makes altars throughout Jerusalem, dying dishonored, not even buried among the tombs of Judah’s kings.
Ahaz’s willingness to worship the very gods of the nation that had just defeated him reveals a troubling, self-destructive spiritual confusion, repeated tragically throughout several of Judah’s worst kings. His decision to shut the temple doors entirely marks perhaps the lowest point yet in Judah’s spiritual decline, setting the stage for the dramatic reforms his son Hezekiah will soon undertake.
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