This Article: (5 Pages)
- 1. How Old was Ahaziah?
- 2. Daughter of Omri: Ahab blotted out
- 3. About Jehoshaphat
- 4. Ahaziah killed with sons of Ahab
- 5. Jehosphat vs Jezebel, Ahaziah &... Athaliah
5) Jehosphat vs Jezebel, Ahaziah & Athaliah
The accounts and interactions all fit together. Jehoshaphat was a contemporary of Ahab. When Jehospahat was 24 his son Jehoram was born. When Jehoram was elevated to be co-regent with his father, he was 32 and his father 56. The 32 year old Jehoram was co-regent at time of warfare when Jehoshaphat was allied with Joram, son of Ahab. Jehoram and Joram were contemporaries, and seem to have been of a similar age.
The generations match also as the wife of Jehoram king of Judah was Joram's sister, Athaliah.
But there is more evidence. The record in Kings, has a condemnation of Jehoram and his wife Athaliah very similar to the condemnation of Ahaz and his wife Jezebel.
he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children. (2King 8:18-19)
How evil was Jehoram? When Jehoshaphat dies at age 60, Jehoram clearly prompted by an evil faithless, power-grasping wife, kills all his brothers, all the other sons of Jehoshaphat. For this sin Elijah writes a letter,
'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 have 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 have 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 shall have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. (2Chronicles 21:12-15)
Jehoram's sons were all killed as the prophecy said. His oldest grown up sons were killed very soon after the prophecy was given when the Arabians invaded Judah leaving only Jehoahaz (which means 'Yah has seized', the same name as Ahaziah ('seized of Yah'). Then Jehu kills all the youngest of his sons after Joram's death at the time when he kills Ahaziah. When Jehoram died of a disease which Yahweh Elohim had sent in judgement, he was only 40 years old. The record is very clear. Ahaziah is the son of Jehoram and of Athaliah.
Two and twenty years old Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. (2Kings 8:26-27)
As Jehoram died at 40, his son Ahaziah could not have been 42 years old when he died! He must have been 22 years old. So why does the scribe of Chronicles write 42 years old? In context the passage in Chronicles, unlike the passage in kings, features one other person: Athaliah.
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his (Jehoram's) youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. Forty and two years old Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name Athaliah the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction. (2Chronicles 22:1-4)
Notice the word “they” in the Chronicles record. Ahaziah, it appears, is both son of Athaliah and son-in-law to the house of Ahab though having married a (grand?)daughter of Ahab, no doubt hand picked by his mother Athaliah from her family. In addition, we know it is impossible Ahaziah is much more than 22, being the younger (or least important) son of those slain by the Arabians (his father being 18 or 19 at his birth). The Chronicles record makes it clear that the real monarch was Athaliah. This again is consistent with Ahaziah being a young man, just turned 22. She was his counsellor. If Athaliah's husband was 40 at the time Ahaziah her son was turning 22, how old would Athaliah be at that time? Would 42 be reasonable?
It is not unreasonable to think the scribes were so unimpressed with Ahaziah's weakness and total subjection to his mother, they put his mother's age for the age of the monarch. Athaliah had sought power. Possibly she saw Jehoram as a way to achieve her proper place as the grandaughter of both King Omri and (likely as the daughter of Jezebel) the king of the Zidonians. She prompted her husband to kill his rival brothers. She would no doubt try to deny the prophecy given to her husband that she and her sons would be smitten. Ahaziah her son had survived and he was her way to continue to rule.
Then Jehu is anointed by Elijah, in one day Athaliah's brother, her son Ahaziah and possibly her children not yet grown up, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, and those that ministered to Ahaziah are killed, as well as her mother Jezebel. (Curiously if Athaliah was 42 years old, it is mentioned specifically that 42 of Ahaziah's sons and relatives and ministers died at the hand of Jehu). When the body of Ahaziah comes back to Jerusalem, to Athaliah, there is none left to either Ahab (her father) or Jehoram (her husband). There is no successor seen to Ahaziah.
So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. (2Chronicles 22:9-10)
We see that Athaliah is enraged, and openly seizes power in the same way she taught her husband, by killing all her rivals including, it appears, even her baby grandchildren. One might imagine that if there were any left of Jehoshaphat they would have died. There were no sons of Jehoram left, except Ahaziah's very young children. She kills even those, except that a sister of Ahaziah (possibly not a daughter of Athaliah) hid the baby Joash. But she does not prosper as Elijah said all the wives of Jehoram would be smitten, including the main perpetrator: Athaliah herself. She managed to seize power and hold it for six years, then she is smitten.
When she is smitten it is revealed that she had established Baal worship in Jerusalem.
Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. (2Chronicles 23:17)
Except for the discrepancy between 22 and 42 years in the two records, Ahaziah would be irrelevant. He barely reigned one year, and when he reigned his mother was the real monarch. But the contradiction, makes us stop and pause and consider. From Chronicles, and we are not dogmatic, it is possible we could understand, forty and two years old was Athaliah when she reigned through her son, introducing Baal worship and doing evil. She reigned one year and six years. In fact all of Athaliah's sons were Baal worshippers.
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim. (2Chronicles 24:7)
The detail that Athaliah was 42 years old at the time she began to rule through Ahaziah, apart from being logical, suggests two things: Ahab's alliance with Jezebel occurred early in the reign of his father Omri and Jehoram's alliance marriage with Athaliah was made within the first 7 years of Jehoshaphat's reign over Judah. We might tend to consider an earlier date for the marriage as Ahaziah was the younger son of at least 3 sons. If the alliance was formed from the first to the third year of Jehoshaphat's reign, then Jehoram his son was about 12-14 and Athaliah could have been about 14-16 years old. These ages explain how there were sons older than Ahaziah. At 14-16 she was old enough to be trained in the ways of her mother. She may have seemed to Jehoshaphat to be a compliant youth, suitable to be moulded. But it was Jehoram who was moulded, and because of that influence of Jezebel, through Athaliah, there was nearly none left to Jehoshaphat.
Except for this discrepancy we might not consider how Yahweh Elohim maintained his promise to David to give him always 'a light' (a son) in Jerusalem, despite those very sons' own failure. For Ahaziah was the only one left of many sons, and even he was appointed to be destroyed by Yahweh, and Joash was the only one left of the sons of Ahaziah not destroyed. In addition, it must be more than chance that Joash, before he was able to remember anything, was hidden from idolatry and given into the hands of Jehoiada the priest to bring up. There might be a tinge of derision for Ahaziah and his mother on the part of the scribe, by putting he was 42 years when everyone of that era, and everyone who might think about it afterwards, knew it was not his age when his power-grasping mother was mentioned in the same breath.
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, does hear? But thou, O LORD, shall laugh at them; thou shall have all the heathen in derision. (Psalm 59:7-8)
In the detail we see how Yahweh prevailed even though Jehoshaphat failed by making peace with the apostate Israel, in particular with Ahab who was marked for destruction due to his alliance with a woman promoting the absolute abomination of Baal worship. Jehoshaphat sought peace by a peace treaty with an enemy, which was not Yahweh's way. Jehoshaphat was rebuked, 'Should thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.' Ahab by his actions hated Yahweh.
Before understanding the depth of the connections it seems inexplicable how much effort was put by Yahweh into converting Ahab, when compared to Omri, yet his repentance was fleeting. The reason is clear when we know just how important the witness in Israel was in Judah because of the relationship of Ahab with Jehoshaphat and his family. Perhaps the marriage connection was part of the peace agreement, but the taking of Ahab's daughter in marriage by Jehoshaphat's son, was Jehoshaphat's truly great failure. When the boundaries are blurred between the worship of Yahweh and Baal, and tolerance of error begins, it ends in destruction of a generation.
The name Jezebel (Isabel) is given to those who are singled out for condemnation in Revelation 2:20. It seems that just as she comes to influence and brings Baal worship to Israel (and then through her daughter to Judah), Yahweh Elohim gives the great witness of the work of Elijah and Elisha and also great victories to Jehoshaphat. Athaliah set up the worship of Baal in Jerusalem within ten years of the great victory given by Yahweh to Jehoshaphat and Judah in the valley of Beracha. In the light of the evidence for Jezebel's role as representative of an arrogant apostasy, we can see why Jehoshaphat is given the great honour of being named in the place Yahweh chooses to plead with the nations. Jehoshaphat's name is mentioned twice in Joel 3. So to is Jezebel's Zidon,
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: (Joel 3:4-5)
The God of Israel will not have the place of his worship taken over by idolators of any sort.
Elijah speaks of the great struggle,
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, 'How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.'
And the people answered him not a word. (1Kings 18:21)
There at Carmel Yahweh pleaded and reasoned for the soul of his people lest they be scattered to the nations. He then gave evidence of his Great Power. Yet some did not believe. Yahweh will do the same with the nations at the valley of Jehoshaphat, he will plead and reason with them,
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3:2)
But many nations, despite the evidence, will not believe.
The events revealed by considering the two accounts of the age of Ahaziah show how Yahweh prevailed as Ahaziah was smitten as Elijah prophesied, within five years. Smitten also was Athaliah his mother, the real ruler of Judah at the time Ahaziah ruled. She was smitten just as Elijah prophesied, within 10 or 11 years of the prophecy. Despite the strong will of those from the idolatrous nations, the line of David continued as a witness, though not ruling after the Exile, until Joseph. Then a heir was given who would live and be always a light, because,
Yet Yahweh would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children (2Kings8:18-19)
For more see Earthquake in the days of Uzziah
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There was some footage placed on U-tube of 6 IDF soldiers dancing as a group on duty in Hebron, more often the scene of warfare as the city is a point of tension in Israel. It was swiftly taken down and the implication was that they would face discipline. If it is not considered good form that soldiers dance on duty, what would the world think of an army who goes into battle singing a love song? Which army? An army of Israel of course.
