al associations. Menahem, king of
Israel, had died, and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah. "But Pekah
the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and smote
him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, ... and he killed
him, and reigned in his room."[508] When Pekah was on the throne, Ahaz
began to reign over Judah.

Judah had taken advantage of the disturbed conditions in Israel to
assert its independence. The walls of Jerusalem were repaired by
Jotham, father of Ahaz, and a tunnel constructed to supply it with
water. Isaiah refers to this tunnel: "Go forth and meet Ahaz ... at
the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
fuller's field" (_Isaiah_, vii, 3).

Pekah had to deal with a powerful party in Israel which favoured the
re-establishment of David's kingdom in Palestine. Their most prominent
leader was the prophet Amos, whose eloquent exhortations were couched
in no uncertain terms. He condemned Israel for its idolatries, and
cried:

For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me and
ye shall live.... Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings
in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have
borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the
star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.[509]

Pekah sought to extinguish the orthodox party's movement by subduing
Judah. So he plotted with Rezin, king of Damascus. Amos prophesied,

Thus saith the Lord.... I will send a fire into the house of
Hazael, which will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. I will break
also the bar of Damascus ... and the people of Syria shall go into
captivity unto Kir.... The remnant of the Philistines shall
perish.

Tyre, Edom, and Ammon would also be punished.[510] Judah was
completely isolated by the allies who acknowledged the suzerainty of
Damascus. Soon after Ahaz came to the throne he found himself hemmed
in on every side by adversaries who desired to accomplish his fall.
"At that time Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ...came up to Jerusalem
to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him."[511]
Judah, however, was overrun; the city of Elath was captured and
restored to Edom, while the Philistines were liberated from the
control of Jerusalem.

Isaiah visited Ahaz and said,

Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for
the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the f