Just when it seems impossible that King Ahaz could become more obtuse

Just when it seems impossible that King Ahaz could become more obtuse, it happens. Clearly, God had fought against Ahaz, but at some point Israel (Samaria) and Syria (Damascus) were about to overstep their bounds; therefore, God wanted to assure Ahaz that they would not succeed in their designs. The Lord pronounces, through Isaiah, that the two kings in charge of those nations are "two stubs of smoking firebrands" (Isa. 7:4). Within about 65 years they would cease to be nations. Ahaz would be long dead by then, but Judah would survive. The Lord asked Ahaz to ask for a sign—"either in the depth or in the height above" that would confirm this prophecy (v. 11).

And Ahaz was too dimwitted to ask for one. He begged off by affirming, "I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!" (v. 12). He would not have tested the Lord in complying with what God asked him to do; he tested the Lord by refusing to do so! Isaiah replied to him: "Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?" (v. 13). Therefore, God chose the sign, which involved the virgin birth of Jesus (v. 14). Ahaz remains the king who never learned a lesson. He certainly had the spirit of Pharoah and of Jehoram. He may have never figured out why he continually lost battles to everyone who came against him. What did he think was the reason—coincidence? His first course of action was to reject God—who eventually rejected him.