2 Chronicles 21-22 ~ And the Lord stirred up against

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2 Chronicles 21-22

2 Chronicles 21

Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.[a] 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

8 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

16 And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

18 And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.




2 Chronicles 22

22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two[c] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. 5 He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6 and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

7 But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.
Athaliah Reigns in Judah

10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him ^[Joash] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.



Footnotes:
Jehoram was a king of the Kingdom of Israel. (2 Kings 8:16, 8:25-28) He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. According to 2 Kings 8:16, in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, (another) Jehoram became king of Judah, when his father Jehoshaphat was (still) king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. The author of Kings also speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage, which can be confusing.



We wonder about the sins of the father being carried to the next generation. The passages are confusing. As we wonder on sins of the father.

What is not confusing - these people are indeed part of 'His Story.' Their lives recorded for us to see, what would be carried along, for us to hear His message to us - today. 

For millenniums, when David's Kingdom was split by Solomon's son, for taking bad advice, we hope even today for Israel to be united. It would seem ideal to have the Kingdoms of Judah and Isreal united by Jehoram. However, these kings were not even being mourned, for their lack of honor. Confusion resulted with surrounding wars - why -  because the Lord did not see goodness in their hearts. Not Good News. Just continued wars, with more unsettling news. We see this in our news today, our newspapers.

Yet, in Scripture, there is always an arrow pointing at something good. “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.”

If you were to condense the passages, with sons, and arranged marriages of nefarious kings related to Ahab, you would see peace came with seeking the Lord.

While this post is not a history lesson explaining the ins and outs of genealogy, one would see a road map to confusing times. Not a time a Kingdom would hope for, the sheer lack of stability.

The Scriptures tell us what to do when we are suddenly in a commotion, I've seen my loved ones do this:

Jeremiah 9:23
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches"

Proverbs 3:25-26
Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Psalm 37:,6
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

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Holy Week, before Easter, is not a time that I look forward to. There are years as I plan for Easter that Palm Sunday takes me by surprise. What to wear for Easter and throw in the progression of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, we as a Church Family, wave the branches for Jesus to be King. But Palm Sunday quickly becomes hearing all Jesus suffered for me.

The Old Testament, did not have Jesus proclaiming that He saw Satan fall from God's Kingdom like a bolt of lightning.

However, God has been with us since His Spirit hovered over the water's of creation in Genesis. Good people struggling against adversity to avoid evil.

Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him [Joash] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.

Jesus did not chunk out the people who forget that Palm Sunday isn't about your shoes. Jesus sat with the woman at the well. He reached into the waters, getting His Hands wet, for Peter immediately. And while it is so very painful to hear all Jesus did suffer, we have people like Jehoshabeath, who act and give justice because of His Holy Spirit, released into the world by all Jesus did for us.

Making this entirely possible:

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

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