2 Chronicles 28 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
2 Chronicles 28 Short Summary:
Ahaz led the nation of Judah into idolatry and ruin. He closed the Temple and replaced the worship of the true God with the worship of idols. Due to his wickedness, God allowed the Assyrians, Edomites, Philistines, and Syrians to oppress Judah. Ahaz ruled as king of Judah for 16 years. In his relatively short reign, he managed to spread sin far and wide throughout the borders of the southern kingdom.
2 Chronicles 28 Extended Summary
WHEN:
Ahaz reigned in Judah for 16 years. His reign likely fits within the years 745-725 B.C.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Ahaz – Son of King Jotham. He became king of Judah after Jotham died.
Pekah – King of Israel.
Oded – A prophet of God. He was sent to the people of Israel to rebuke them for their harsh oppression of Judah.
Tiglath-pilesar – King of Assyria.
WHERE:
Jerusalem – The capital of the Kingdom of Judah and the location of God’s Temple.
Samaria – The capital of the Kingdom of Israel.
OUTLINE:
AHAZ REIGNS IN JUDAH AND PROMOTES IDOLATRY (28:1-4):
Ahaz became king at 20 years old and reigned 16 years in Judah.
He “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
He created images of false gods and even sacrificed his children to them.
ISRAEL KILLS 120,000 AND TAKES 200,000 CAPTIVES FROM JUDAH (28:5-15):
God allowed Judah’s enemies, the Israelites and the Syrians, to oppress them because of their wickedness.
In one day, Israel’s army killed 120,000 men of Judah. They took 200,000 captives and brought them to Samaria.
God sent a prophet named Oded to the men of Israel as they were returning from the battle. Oded rebuked Israel for their plan to turn the people of Judah into their slaves.
Oded told Israel they must send back the captives or face the “fierce wrath of the Lord.”
Some of the chiefs of Israel acknowledge that the actions of their military were wrong. They took the spoils of the battle and used it to feed and cloth the captives, afterwards they sent them home to Judah.
ASSYRIA OPPRESSES AHAZ AND JUDAH (28:16-21):
The Edomites and the Philistines were winning battles against Ahaz, so he sent to the king of Assyria, Tiglath-pileser, for help.
Instead of helping Judah, Tiglath-pileser caused them even more trouble.
Ahaz took money from the Temple and from the princes of Judah and gave it to the Assyrians, but it didn’t help.
No foreign nation was going to be able to help Judah because God was against them.
AHAZ AND HIS IDOLS (28:22-27):
Ahaz decided he was going to worship the gods of the Syrian because they had given the Syrians victory over Judah.
He closed the Temple in Jerusalem and shut down the worship of the true God.
He made idolatrous altars in Jerusalem, and he established new “high places” where unauthorized sacrifices could be offered.
He thought the pagan gods would save him, “but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel” (28:23).
APPLICATION:
Ahaz was never on God’s side, yet he blamed God for his failing nation. We see this in the fact that he traded God in for the gods of the Syrians after the Syrians won some military victories.
How come God always get the blame when things go wrong, even from people who have never been on God’s side?
Why is it that people who have never lived a day in subjection to God accuse Him of letting them down when their life gets hard.
Why doesn’t Satan get blamed? Why don’t we accuse him of failing us? Why don’t we accuse him of spewing false promises? If you’ve been Satan’s ally and your life has turned out sour, you should curse his name and abandon him! Don’t curse God for what Satan has done!
Satan is really good at shifting blame and convincing humans to do it. We have to be really careful that we don’t attribute the work of Satan to God. People do it all the time and they don’t even realize it.
