Read 2 Chronicles 22
Ahaziah King of Judah
22 The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.
3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. 5 He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.
7 Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.
Athaliah and Joash
10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
Go Deeper
This chapter finds the people of Jerusalem deciding to take their chances again on an heir of David, so at the age of 22, Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, is named king. And while much of the story resembles other Old Testament stories, where a wayward or wicked king wages unjust wars or have relatives killed in revenge (both of these things are true in this chapter as well), the crux of the passage seems to land not necessarily on Ahaziah, who only reigned for one year, but on his mother, Athaliah.
As the daughter of King Ahab of Israel, she came from a dynasty that worshipped other gods and “did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). The chronicler tells us that his wicked ways were the result of Athaliah’s influence on the young king, that she influenced him to be evil and turn away from God. And we can see further evidence that this is true, as in verse 10, the Chronicler tells us that she proceeds to have her grandsons and any possible heirs executed, so she can become queen.
Although today, we are not executing grandchildren or intentionally conditioning our children for evil, this passage (as well as the next chapter) serves as a reminder to parents, that sin, as well as a lack of intentionality, can affect our children as well as the generations that are to come who we will never see. Deuteronomy 7:9-10 says “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. But those who hate Him He will repay to their face by destruction.”
Through God’s relentless pursuit and the faithfulness of Jehu, who God anointed to destroy the house of Ahab, and Jehosheba, who hid the true heir to the throne for six years, Israel comes back to obedience to God. God uses families as one of the strongest pathways of discipleship to bring up future generations of believers. The command for couples to be fruitful and multiply was not just a physical command to grow a society, but to multiply the priesthood of all believers. If you are a parent, you are the primary discipler of your kids! It is your most important role as parents, upon which the promises are everlasting.
Questions
- If you are a parent, what steps do you take regularly to influence your kids for the kingdom of God? If you are not a parent, how can you influence the next generation?
- What habits or sin patterns are present in your life that creates the opposite influence?
- What are some practical things we can implement to move away from habits that may harm future generations?
Did You Know?
The protection of Joash saved the line of David. Check out this note from Enduring Word‘s David Guzik:
Though Ahaziah was a bad king who made evil alliances, he was still a descendant of David and the successor of his royal line. For the sake of David, God remembered His promise and spared this one young survivor to the massacre of Athaliah. The line of David was almost extinguished and continued only in the presence of a small boy named Joash, but God preserved that flickering flame.
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6 responses to “2 Chronicles 22”
Someone wrote as a title for this chapter “when hope is hidden”. It most likely felt that God was maybe, abandoning them. All these kings but a few did wrong in the sight of the Lord. BUT GOD kept the lineage going but through one single thread.
Can you imagine the waiting? 8 years here, six years, 1 year, just waiting but seeing no hope.
BUT GOD
“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert,” (Isaiah 43:19)
How do you respond when you feel “hope is hidden”? God has told you, or revealed to you but you see no evidence, do you give up and go back to what the world is saying?
BUT GOD
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus, (Philippians 1:6).
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass, (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, (1 Peter 1:3-5).
God I am so thankful for Your love for me. Thank You for making a message out of my messes. God You never stop working even when I dont see or feel You. Thank You for Your word to give me the encouragement to know that You are completing that good work in me until the day of Christ Jesus. Thank You for showing me how Your love will not be separated rom me by Any One Thing. Thank You for my inheritance which is imperishable that is reserved in heaven for me. God I believe that the good work You have started in me will be perfected until the day of Christ. God today, in these minutes of this day, I am going to praise You for all. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory in the heavens.(Psalm 8) in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil Wickham has a new song about Psalm 8 that I love. https://youtu.be/19ro3FpsgXY?si=YgxHkJtLeB4gSZ7V
Facing our giants or when we feel our hope is hidden
We read of 2 polar opposite women in this chapter. Athaliah, a destroyer, and Jehosheba, a protector. Even in the most heinous circumstances God still is sovereign and provides a way to maintain the lineage of David’s family on the throne. As a mom of 7 and grandmother of 17, it’s a sacred calling and holy ground to shape lives for eternity.
Very interesting!
11 “Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him.”
So interesting that within this highly dysfunctional family there were remnants of righteous individuals! Princess Jehosheba demonstrated tremendous courage in the face of the evil of Athaliah. And Joash was not even her son, but a nephew!
Love this part of the story. Joash’s story.
Despite human plans, God’s purposes prevail. Ahaziah’s downfall was part of God’s judgment on the house of Ahab.
Proverbs 19:21 reminds us, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.”
The Sovereignty of God in History