Ahaz

Ahaz was the twelfth king of Judah, reigning around 735–715 BC, and is presented as one of the most unfaithful kings in Judah's history. He made his own son pass through fire, practiced divination, worshiped at Canaanite high places, and even offered sacrifices on altars in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (2 Kings 16:3–4; 2 Chronicles 28:3). When threatened by the Syro-Ephraimite coalition, Isaiah offered him a divine sign, but Ahaz refused to ask, leading Isaiah to pronounce the Immanuel prophecy (Isaiah 7). Ahaz instead appealed to the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser, paying tribute from the temple treasuries, and commissioned a copy of an Assyrian altar for the Jerusalem temple (2 Kings 16:10–16). His reign marked a low point in Judah's spiritual history.