The king Ahas.

 Isaiah and his followers found themselves in the worst conditions ever in the kingdom of Judah. Many who had previously resisted the temptations of idolatry were now persuaded to participate in the worship of pagan deities. The princes of Israel neglected their responsibility; false prophets arose with their seductive prophecies, and even some priests taught the people only for profit. However, the leaders of the apostasy still performed religious ceremonies and were counted among God’s people. The prophet Micaiah, who performed his prophetic ministry in this troubled time, declared that the sinners in Zion who claim to “trust in the Lord” are blaspheming when they say: “Is not the Lord among us? Nothing bad will happen to us.” These people “build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity” (Mic 3:11, 10). (322) The prophet Isaiah pointed out these iniquities and reprimanded them severely: “Hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom, listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah! What do I need? What is the number of your victims? – says the Lord… Who asked you to tread my courts when you appear before me?” (Is 1,10-12). Scripture says: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, especially when it is offered for a shameful deed” (Proverbs 21:27). God, “your eyes are pure to look at evil” (Hab 1,13). God does not turn away from the sinner because He does not want to forgive him but because he rejects the grace freely offered, and God cannot deliver him from sin against his will. “The Lord’s hand is not too short to save, and his ear is not so deaf that it does not hear, but your iniquities have become a barrier between you and your God! Your sins have hidden his face from you, so he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:1,2). Solomon wrote: “Woe to you, land, if a child is your king” (Ecclesiastes 10:16). That’s how it was with Judea. By constantly transgressing God’s commandments, its rulers became children. Isaiah warned that the position of the people among the surrounding nations was uncertain and pointed out the consequences of ungodly leaders. He said: “The Lord, the Lord of hosts, will remove from Jerusalem and Judah all the support of bread and all the support of water, the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the old man, (323) the commander over fifty and the noble man, the counselor, and the expert in magic (172) and capable spell caster. I will give them boys as princes, and their will rule over them.” “Truly Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their language and actions are against the Lord” (Is 3,1-4.8). The prophet continued: “O my people, your leaders are deceivers and make confusion in the way you should walk” (Isaiah 3:12). These words were fulfilled to the letter by King Ahas. We read about him: “But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made molten idols for the Baals.” He burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinton,” “even he had his son lead through the fire according to the abominable custom of the nations that the Lord drove out from before the Israelites” (2 Par 28,2,3; 2 Kings 16,3). This period was difficult for the chosen nation. The enemy will soon scatter the twelve tribes of the kingdom of Israel among the Gentile nations. The prospects for the Kingdom of Judah were also bleak. The number of followers of good was rapidly dwindling, while the forces of evil continued to increase. Looking at this state, the prophet Micah had to declare: “The godly have disappeared from the land; there is no honest man among men.” “The best of them is like a thistle, and the most honest of them is like a thorn hedge” (Mic 7,2.4). “If the Lord of hosts had not left us a small remnant, we would have been like Sodom; we would have resembled Gomorrah” (Is 1:9).  God, for the sake of his faithful and out of infinite love for those who wandered, is forgiving for a long time and admonishes the rebellious to stop doing evil and return to him. Through the called men, he sends them “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here is a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:10) and teaches transgressors the way of justice. It was similar during Ahas’s reign. Wandering Israel received call after call to return and be faithful to the Lord. When the prophets compassionately and lovingly admonished the people to repent and improve, their words bore fruit to God’s glory. Micah’s call was admirable: “Hear what the Lord says: Arise! Start a lawsuit before the hills. Let the hills hear your voice! Hear, you mountains, the judgment of the Lord, and you, firm foundations of the earth! Because the Lord has a dispute with his people, he judges Israel. My people, what have I done to you? What have I burdened you with? Answer me! For I brought you out of Egypt, redeemed you from the house of slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember your journey, from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know  the righteous acts of the  Lord. (Mic 6:1-5). The God we serve is forgiving and long-suffering. “His mercy never ends” (Lamentations 3:22). Throughout the time of grace, God’s Spirit begged man (325) to accept the gift of life. (173) “As I live – declares the Lord God – I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but in the fact that the wicked turn from his way of life and live. Turn away, turn away.