2 Chronicles 22:1-12

We all have influences in our lives.  Some influences are positive while others are negative.  Jehoshaphat was a good king who loved the Lord and served him with his whole heart.  However, he married a daughter of Ahab and took another daughter of Ahab to marry his son.  His son’s wife, Athaliah had a great deal of influence over him which is one of the reasons that Jehoram was such a wicked king.  Now Jehoram is dead but his wife, Athaliah continues to have a great amount of influence over her son, Ahaziah, the new king of Israel.  This influence that the daughters of Ahab had on the kings of Judah was terrible and the source of much pain and suffering in Judah.  We need to be very careful about the influences that we allow to be a part of our lives.  It is especially true that we need to be careful about who we marry.

AHAZIAH WAS CORRUPT: Ahaziah was the youngest son of his father, Jehoram and his mother, Athaliah.  All of his other brothers had been killed by the invasion of the Philistines.  He was corrupted by his mother and continues to pursue a relationship with the wicked son of Ahab also named Jehoram like his father.  He was so corrupt that the Lord allowed him to reign for only one year.  During his short reign his mother was his counselor and she was a very wicked woman.  When our hearts our corrupted by sin it becomes very hard for us to be able to see the dangers that we face and the heartache we cause through our disobedience.  Sin is very dangerous and it leads to death.

ATHALIAH WAS CRUEL: When Ahaziah died, his mother Athaliah was afraid that she would lose her position of influence over the kingdom so she proceeded to kill all her grandchildren so that she could reign as queen over Judah.  I am sure that Jehoshaphat did not have this in mind when he started and alliance with Ahab through marriage, but it is exactly what happened.  I cannot imagine the cruelty of a grandmother going and killing all of her grandsons out of a lust for power.  Sin, when allowed to remain unchecked, in the heart of man is can breed a corruption that goes beyond what we could ever imagine.


JEHOSHABETH WAS COURAGEOUS: In the midst of this spiritual darkness of corruption and cruelty shine the courageous light of Jehoshabeth.  She was also a daughter of Jehoram and Athaliah, sister to king Ahaziah but she lived under the influence of her husband, Jehoiada who was the priest.  When she saw that her mother was killing all of the potential kings of Judah she did not consider the danger to her own life but stepped forward to hide the new born baby, Joash from his grandmother.  If Jehoshabeth had been discovered we don’t need much imagination to figure out what would have happened to her.  God was faithful to protect her and Joash.  When we face a sinful and corrupt world, God calls on us to be courageous and stand up against the sin and take action to bring it to an end no matter how dangerous that might be to us. 

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