Isaiah's first significant acts as a prophet occurred when Judah, under king Ahaz, faced invasion from Israel and Aram Damascus ( Syria ) after refusing to join them in a revolt against Assyria, the dominant imperial power of the age.

Of notable importance is Isaiah 7: 14, where the prophet is assuring king Ahaz that God will save Judah from the invading armies of Israel and Syria ; the sign that will prove this is the forthcoming birth of a child called Emmanuel, " God With Us ".

In addition, Ahaz is specifically identified as " king of Judah.

Hezekiah (;, Ezekias, in the Septuagint ; ; also transliterated as Ḥizkiyyahu or Ḥizkiyyah ) was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah.

He ceased to pay the tribute imposed on his father, Ahaz, and " rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not ," but entered into a league with Egypt (; ).

Ahaz, king of Judah, at this crisis refused to co-operate with the kings of Israel and Syria in opposition to the Assyrians, and was on that account attacked and defeated by Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel (; ).

So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom of Judah was unmolested by the Assyrian power ; but on his accession to the throne, Hezekiah, who was encouraged to rebel " against the king of Assyria " (), entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt ().

* Ahaz, king of Judah ( 735 BC – 715 BC )

* 729 BC — Hezekiah succeeds Ahaz as king of Judah ( or 726 BC ).

* 726 BC — Hezekiah succeeds Ahaz as king of Judah ( or 729 BC ).

* 724 BC — Ahaz, king of Judah ( 740 BC – 726 BC ) dies.

Ahaz (; Akhaz ; ; an abbreviation of Jehoahaz, " Yahweh has held ") was king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham.

Ahaz was twenty when he became king of Judah and reigned for sixteen years.

In c. 732 BCE, when Pekah, king of Israel, allied with Rezin, king of Aram, threatened Jerusalem, Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help.

It bears the seal of King Ahaz of Judah, who ruled from 732-716 BC. Another important source regarding the historicity of Ahaz comes from Tiglat Pileser III annals, mentioning tributes and payments he received from Ahaz, king of Judah and Menahem, king of Israel

In c. 732 BCE, Pekah allied with Rezin, king of Aram, threatened Jerusalem, and Ahaz, king of Judah, appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help.

# Abijah ( queen ), the daughter of Zechariah ( 2 Chronicles 29: 1 ), who married King Ahaz of Judah.

Ahaz, against Isaiah's advice to seek the protection of God, invited the Assyrians to protect him, turning Judah into an Assyrian vassal.

" Thus declaring that the burnt offering of both animals and humans ( which may have been practiced in Judah under Kings Ahaz and Manasseh ) is not necessary for God.

Chapter 1: 1 identifies the prophet as " Micah of Moresheth " ( a town in southern Judah ), and states that he lived during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, roughly 750-700 BC.

King Ahaz's Seal which is a piece of reddish-brown clay that belonged to King Ahaz of Judah, who ruled from 732 to 716 BCE.

" The Hebrew inscription, which is set on three lines, reads as follows: " l ' hz * y / hwtm * mlk */ yhdh ", which translates as " belonging to Ahaz ( son of ) Yehotam, King of Judah.

It is stated in the first verse of the Book of Isaiah that he prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah ( or Azariah ), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah ().

The seal impression of Ahaz King of Judah

The inscription reads: “ Belonging to Ahaz ( son of ) Yehotam, King of Judah .” Given the process that created and preserved bullae, they are virtually impossible to forge.

When Pekah allied with Rezin, king of Aram to attack Ahaz, the king of Judah, Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help.

(; ) Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help.

However, Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III for help.

Ahaz, thus humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of Tiglath-Pileser against Israel and Syria.

After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, () Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and annexed Aram.

After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, () Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram and a large part of Israel, " including all the land of Naphtali.

After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram and territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in Gilead ( east of the Jordan River ) including the desert outposts of Jetur, Naphish and Nodab.

After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, () Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and annexed Aram.

# The full name of Ahaz of Judah, by which he is mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III

Thus Ahaz appears in a form corresponding to Jehoahaz in an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III.

* 733 BC: According to the Bible, Jerusalem becomes a vassal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire after Ahaz of Judah appeals to Tiglath Pileser III of the Neo-Assyrian Empire to protect the city from Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Aram.

Ahaz and Menahem of Israel ( Ephraim ) followed a pro-Assyrian policy and were therefore aligned against the coalition of Pekah and the Arameans that sought to withstand Assyria, thus explaining why Menahem felt insecure and sought to buy the support of Assyria.

Ahaz wishes to ask Assyria for help, but Isaiah, at God's command, takes his son Shear-jashub ( a symbolic name meaning " a remnant shall return ") and assures Ahaz that the two enemy kings will not succeed ( Isaiah 7: 3-9 ).

Isaiah 7: 1-8: 15, although set in the time of king Ahaz, apparently dates from the reign of Ahaz's son Hezekiah some thirty years later, and its purpose was to persuade Hezekiah not to join with other kings who intended to rebel against their joint overlord, Assyria.

A century later, in the time of Josiah, the prophecy was revised to present Ahaz as the faithless king who rejected God's promise of protection for Jerusalem and the house of David, with the result that God brought Assyria to devastate the land until a new and faithful king ( presumably Josiah ) would arise.

Some writers have proposed that Hezekiah served as coregent with his father Ahaz for about 14 years, beginning during 729 BC.

ny record such as that recognized these last four years for Jotham must have come from the annals of the anti-Assyrian and anti-Ahaz court that prevailed after the death of Ahaz.

When Hezekiah made reparation for the abominations of his father Ahaz, he invited all Israel to keep the Passover in the house of the Lord.

Isaiah points to the dreadful consequences that followed for Judah's northern neighbours, the kingdom of Israel and Aram-Damascus ( Syria ) when they rebelled in the days of Ahaz and brought the Assyrians down on themselves.

As for Immanuel, " God is with us ", Isaiah might mean simply that any young pregnant woman in 734 BCE would be able to name her child " God is with us " by the time he is born ; but if a specific child is meant, then it might be a son of Ahaz, possibly his successor Hezekiah ( which is the traditional Jewish understanding ); or, since the other symbolic children are Isaiah's, Immanuel might be the prophet's own son.

And he was also delivered into the hand of the King of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter ". In the prophet says clearly that a prerequisite for the fulfillment of the prophecy is that Ahaz stands firm in his faith.