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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5 thoughts on “2 Chronicles 22”
John Wesley is credited with the quote “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” Even though there were good kings in Jehoram & Ahaziah’s lineage, scripture records failures where the people under their care never fully committed themselves to following the God of their ancestors. The godly kings failed to totally remove all pagan shrines from the land. This left the people vulnerable to accepting false ideologies and making wicked choices. I could make a list of things I’m tempted to tolerate, but do I want my children to embrace those things? Certainly not! God holds us accountable for our choices. May we rise up, stand firm, and raise a godly standard against evil that threatens our families, leaving no stone unturned.
BUT GOD, He always has a solution. Even when we make the wrong decision He can make lemonade out of our lemons. I as a parent have not always parented very well. I desired to but made many mistakes BUT GOD with His infinite wisdom, took my children and guided them. Are they all following Jesus? No not at this time BUT GOD answers prayers of a fervent mom and dad so I believe that the 2 that are not in great fellowship with God, one for sure is coming back and the other one is still a work in progress. What I glean from chapter 22 is I need to be on my knees more for my babies, even the one who is also fervently following Jesus fully. James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (5:16b ESV). Other translations say, “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (NIV) or “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (KJV). This is the verse that encourages us to cry out to God because He uses our prayers to change the world for us and our babies, grands or just fellow believers we need to be lifting up.
God I believe my children and grands are mighty on this earth. I believe they will be influential, successful for You God and will bring You honor and glory through their lives. I stand in the gap for the one who is in the holding pattern. I believe Your Word says You will pour out Your Spirit upon my offspring and Your blessing upon my descendants. So, I declare by faith that my child hears the voice of Your Spirit and the voice of strangers my child will not follow. I declare Psalm 91 protection over him and her. I break every stronghold right now in Jesus’ Name. God You know the trials that I have faced in watching my child go against Your Word, making poor and damaging choices. I ask today that You heal my heart and renew my strength to stand for my child in Jesus’ Name. For my children and grands I stand in the gap and pray Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. God protect them from wickedness, guide them to You through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You that when I speak to them that my words guide them to You. Thank You for all these things in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!
Amen!! His love heals. Prayer is powerful.
Amen! So powerful! Thank you for sharing.
Yes & amen!