GOD PRESERVES ONE DESCENDANT

Passage: 2 Chronicles 22:1-12

Key verse: 11a

NIV

Ahaziah King of Judah(A)(B)

22 The people(C) of Jerusalem(D) made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders,(E) 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[a] 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(F) the ways of the house of Ahab,(G) 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[b] son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead.(H) The Arameans wounded Joram; 6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramoth[c] in his battle with Hazael(I) king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah[d] 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(J) 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,(K) 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(L) 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(M) 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(N)

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,[e] 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,[f] 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.

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Footnotes
  1. 2 Chronicles 22:2 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 8:26); Hebrew forty-two
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:5 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram; also in verses 6 and 7
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:6 Hebrew Ramah, a variant of Ramoth
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 8:29); most Hebrew manuscripts Azariah
  5. 2 Chronicles 22:11 Hebrew Jehoshabeath, a variant of Jehosheba
  6. 2 Chronicles 22:11 Hebrew Jehoshabeath, a variant of Jehosheba
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Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 (A)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with (B)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[a] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, (C)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[b] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, (D)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, (E)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 (F)And when Jehu was (G)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 (H)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. (I)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, (J)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 (K)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,[c] 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[d] 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.

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Footnotes
  1. 2 Chronicles 22:2 See 2 Kings 8:26; Hebrew forty-two; Septuagint twenty
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:7 Hebrew was from
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:11 Spelled Jehosheba in 2 Kings 11:2
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:11 That is, Joash
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. King Ahaziah's brief reign (1-9)

Before Jehoram's painful death, raiders came and killed all his sons except for one. Ahaziah, his youngest son, survived. When Jehoram died, Ahaziah was made king, and he reigned over Judah for 1 year. Like his father, he followed the wicked ways of Ahab instead of seeking the LORD. God brought about his downfall by the hands of Jehu who was purging Israel of Ahab's family.

2. One descendant is preserved (1

-12)

After Ahaziah's death, his mother Athaliah seized control and sought to destroy all the remaining members of the royal family. With great courage, Jehosheba, a daughter of King Jehoram, stole the young prince Joash away and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. He was the sole survivor of the line of David. In this way, God fulfilled his promise to maintain a lamp for the house of David and his descendants. No amount of deception and wickedness can ever prevent God's wonderful plan of salvation from moving forward.

Prayer: Father, no matter what evil surrounds us, we know that your word will always prevail.

One Word: The word of God is unstoppable!