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This monarch’s reign is totally evil. He follows the ways of the North: making idols for Baal worship, sacrificing at rival shrines, offering his sons, and worshiping at high places. As a result, Arameans take citizens into exile and the North punishes the South. The chronicler attributes Judah’s distress to God’s punishment for unfaithfulness.
The prophet Oded rebukes the Israelites for their zeal in their role as the instrument of God’s wrath (vv.9-11). The chronicler still considers the North and South as parts of one fractured state, not as separate entities. He calls the exiles taken to Samaria fellow countrymen (vv.11, 15) and kinsmen (v.8) to show this close connection. Remarkably, Israel returns the prisoners to Judah. The chronicler’s readers would recognize this parallel to their history of captivity and return.
Ahaz sends for Tiglath-Pileser III to help fight his various opponents. The Lord judges Ahaz for this alliance. This ally was an adversary, one paid tribute from the temple and palace. Besides this political miscue, Ahaz closes the temple and promotes false religion. In his distress King Ahaz sacrifices to the Aramean gods instead of seeking God’s forgiveness and restoration.