- 70-
is, that he removed both into the sanctuary itself, probably within the porch. We regard it
as a further part of these alterations when, in 2 Chronicles 28:24, by the side of the notice,
that Ahaz "broke up the vessels of the house of God," we find it stated that he "shut up
the doors of the house of Jehovah." This implies that the services within the Holy Place
were now wholly discontinued. Thus the worship would be confined to the sacrificial
services at the new altar; while the transference into the Temple porch of the king's stand
and of the entry to it, would not only bring them close to the new altar, but also assign to
them a more prominent and elevated position than that previously occupied. We can
readily understand that all such changes in the worship of Judah, and the pre-eminent
position in it assigned to the king, would be in accordance with the views, the practice,
and the wishes of the king of Assyria, however contrary to the spirit and the institutions
of the Mosaic law.
After this we do not wonder to read that Ahaz "made him altars in every corner of
Jerusalem," nor yet that "in every several city of Judah he made high places [bamoth] to
burn incense unto other gods" (2 Chronicles 28:24, 25). What influence all this must have
had on a people already given to idolatry will readily be perceived. Indeed, Holy
Scripture only gives us a general indication of the baneful changes made in the public
religious institutions of the country. Of the king's private bearing in this respect, we only
catch occasional glimpses, such, for example, as in the significant later reference to "the
altars" which he had reared "on the roof" of the Aliyah* or "upper chamber" in the
Temple, no doubt for the Assyrian worship of the stars (Jeremiah 19:13; Zephaniah 1:5).
- It has been surmised that this Aliyah had been constructed by Ahaz on one of the
buildings in the Temple court (for the latter comp. Jeremiah 35:4). But may it not have
been on the Aliyah over the Holy and Most Holy Places (1 Kings 6:17-20), and may there
not be some connection between this also and the change in the king's Sabbath-stand, and
in his entry to it?
(^)