What is the meaning of 2 Kings 16:5? Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel • The verse opens by naming the two aggressors, Rezin of Aram (Syria) and Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel. Their alliance is already noted in 2 Kings 15:37 and Isaiah 7:1. • Both kings were threatened by the growing power of Assyria and wanted Judah to join a regional coalition (cf. 2 Chronicles 28:5). • Their partnership shows how far Israel had drifted: instead of standing with Judah, the covenant people were attacking their own brethren (see Hosea 5:13). came up to wage war against Jerusalem • “Came up” signals an aggressive march southward toward the Judean capital. Jerusalem, containing the temple and Davidic throne, is the heart of God’s covenant promises (2 Samuel 7:13–16). • The immediate goal was to dethrone Ahaz and install a puppet king (“the son of Tabeel,” Isaiah 7:6) who would cooperate with their anti-Assyrian plans. • The larger spiritual backdrop is a direct assault on the line of David from which Messiah would come (cf. Micah 5:2). They besieged Ahaz • A siege was laid, as hinted in Isaiah 7:2, causing “the hearts of the people” to tremble. • Ahaz’s personal faithlessness is highlighted in 2 Chronicles 28:1–4, yet Judah’s fate was not tied to the righteousness of this king but to God’s covenant faithfulness. • The hardship was real—casualties and captivity occurred elsewhere in Judah (2 Chronicles 28:6–8)—but the enemy could not breach the city. but could not overcome him • The phrase underscores divine intervention. Isaiah’s prophecy to Ahaz—“It will not happen; it will not occur” (Isaiah 7:7)—proves true. • Humanly, Ahaz tried to save himself by bribing Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7–9), yet the text gives ultimate credit to God, not to political maneuvering. • God preserved Jerusalem then, just as He later preserved it from Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:32–34), protecting the Davidic line until Christ (Matthew 1:1). summary 2 Kings 16:5 records an alliance between Syria and northern Israel that advanced against Jerusalem but failed. Their plan threatened both Judah’s security and God’s covenant promise, yet the siege could not prevail because the Lord safeguarded the Davidic throne. Even under an unfaithful king, God’s faithfulness remained unshaken, demonstrating His sovereign control over history and His unwavering commitment to fulfill His redemptive purposes. |
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