Verses 1-6, “Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the Arabians into the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. He also followed their advice, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.”
Even though Jehoshaphat was a godly king, he arranged the marriage of his son to a daughter of Ahab in order to make an alliance with Israel. God warned them not to make covenants with the ungodly for precisely this reason. Exodus 34:16, “...and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.” Clearly Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram was influenced by his ungodly wife (the daughter of Ahab), and also their son Ahaziah would suffer the consequences. His mother advised him to do wickedly. Not only that, but Ahaziah kept his father's counselor's after his death, who led him through their counsel to destruction.
Psalms 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Ahaziah’s reign lasted only one year and was not blessed by God. Consider this the next time you are tempted to take advice from ungodly people. Following ungodly counsel will lead to your certain spiritual death; therefore, we should do all that we can to safeguard our faith by avoiding them.
Verses 7-12, “His going to Joram was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s downfall; for when he arrived, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. And it happened, 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, that he killed them. Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, 'because,' they said, 'he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.' So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom. Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. 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 being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.”
God allowed and used Jehu to cut off the house of Ahab, including Ahaziah, so that there would be no one left to reign as king. Out of respect for his father (Jehoshaphat) who was godly, they did at least show respect to him by giving him a proper burial. Then his mother saw an opportunity to rule as queen, and killed all the royal heirs that were left after Jehu executed the sons and nephews. Only she did not know that Ahaziah’s sister, Jehoshabeath, hid one of his sons in the house of the Lord for six years. This should remind us that when people take matters into their own hands, God can stop them from succeeding, even in the most severe and evil plans. Thankfully, He always preserves a remnant. You can never thoroughly take matters into your own hands, because although we have free will, God has a sovereign will that cannot be thwarted.
Ahaziah so badly wanted to be connected with the northern kingdom of Israel, and therefore would suffer the same judgement. Many Christians desire to be part of the world so much, but they fail to see that they too will suffer the same judgement that will come upon the rest of the world. Why would we ever want to yolk up with them? Even within the church there are ungodly people who twist the truth and want you to follow their wicked ways. Knowing this, we must be on guard and hold fast to the truth of the word that will anchor us. Our desire needs to be humility now (which will make us look foolish to the world and we will suffer persecution from them), but exaltation will come later.
II Peter 3:14-18, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
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