2 Chronicles 21-22

2 Chronicles 21-22

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 21: Jehoram Slays His Brothers

                Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat ruled in his place. The sons of Jehoshaphat were; Azariah, Jehiel, Zehariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. Jehoshaphat gave all of his son’s great gifts of silver, gold, precious things and fortified cities. But Jehoshaphat gave Jehoram the kingdom, because he was the first born. Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, the first thing that he did once he became king was to kill all of his brothers and all the princes in his lands, so that he could have all the power. He ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem.

                Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just like the house of Ahab had done. His wife was one of the daughters of Ahab. Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord. But oddly enough the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the promise and covenant that he had made with David not to destroy his house.

                The Edomites decided that the did not want to live under the rule of Jehoram any longer, so they set out to make a king over themselves. So Jehoram went out with his officers and all of his chariots and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him by night, in revolt against his authority.

                A letter came to Jehoram from the Prophet Elijah, which read; “…Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.” (2 Chronicles 21: 12-15)

                The Lord also stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians against Jehoram and they came up to Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the kings house, and all of his sons and wives, only leaving behind his youngest son; Jehoahaz. After all of this, the Lord also struck Jehoram with an incurable disease of the intestines, which he died painfully 2 years later. No one was saddened by his death. The people did bury him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Chapter 22: Ahaziah Reigns in Wickedness

                The inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, the youngest of the king’s son to reign in his place. Ahaziah was 42 years old when he became king and he reigned only one year in Jerusalem. His mothers name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and the house of Ahab, because his mother advised him to do wickedly. Because of this, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Ahaziah followed their advice and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead where the Syrians wounded Joram. Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against the king of Syria. Azariah went down to see Jehoram Jezreel, because he was sick. This was sort of a setup, because God knew that he would go, and this would be Ahaziah’s downfall, because when he arrived, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, who the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

When Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, he killed them. Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. They killed Ahaziah and buried him; this left the house of Ahaziah without power over the kingdom. Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah upon hearing of her son’s death killed all the royal heirs in the house of Judah. While Athaliah was doing this, Jehoshabeath (the daughter of the king) took Joash (the son of Ahaziah) and hid him, so Athaliah could not murder him. Joash remain hidden in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.