2 Chronicles 22
Most of the details of this chapter are also found in 2 Kings 8:25-29; 9:27-28; 10:13-14; 11:1-325In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. 26Two and twenty years old was 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. 27And 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. 28And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him 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 sick. (2 Kings 8:25‑29)
27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. (2 Kings 9:27‑28)
13Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen. 14And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. (2 Kings 10:13‑14)
1And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. 2But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. (2 Kings 11:1‑3).
Jehoram was the eldest of Jehoshaphat's sons; up to this point the kingly line, so to say, followed the normal path, but no descendant was left to Jehoram except his youngest son, Ahaziah. The inhabitants of Jerusalem make him king; thus divine order is encroached upon on every side. The lamp is about to go out, but God who had spoken through the prophets cannot lie. Did He not say, in speaking of Jerusalem: "There will I cause the horn of David to bud forth; I have ordained a lamp for Mine anointed" (Psa. 132:1717There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. (Psalm 132:17)). Alas! what a lamp was this offshoot of kings! Spared amidst a scene of murder and carnage, witness of God's terrible judgments on his father, should he not have lifted up his eyes to Jehovah and re-established contact with the God of Israel? Instead of this, he yields to all the bad influences surrounding him, without heeding the warnings from on high; he confides in his mother, Athaliah, daughter of Omri, an ambitious and cruel woman. "[She] was his counselor to do wickedly" (2 Chron. 22:33He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. (2 Chronicles 22:3)); as counselors he takes those of the house of Ahab who lead him "to his destruction." On their advice he forms an alliance with Joram, the son of Ahab. Ramoth-Gilead, a possession of Israel, had remained under the power of the king of Syria ever since Ahab's vain undertaking to recover it, in company of Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah's grandfather. Ahaziah does not hesitate to help the wicked (cf. 2 Chron. 19:22And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 19:2)), so estranged is his heart from the fear of the Lord.
But, if for Jehoshaphat it was a mistake, extenuated by the zeal he otherwise demonstrated for the Lord, this sin, shamelessly repeated despite the condemnation pronounced on Jehoshaphat by the prophet, here no longer has any extenuating circumstances. Joram, the king of Israel, wounded by the Syrians withdraws to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds. Ahaziah comes there to visit him and there he meets his end: "But his coming to Joram was from God the complete ruin of Ahaziah." He goes out with him "against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab." Joram dies, the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah and the princes of Judah are massacred by Jehu; Ahaziah flees to Samaria in an attempt to hide himself. He is discovered, chased, and wounded; he escapes to Megiddo, where he is once again discovered, brought to Jehu, and put to death (2 Chron. 22:99And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 22:9); cf. 2 Kings 9:27-2827But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. (2 Kings 9:27‑28)). His servants convey his body to Jerusalem where he was buried in the sepulchers of the kings, his fathers, for they said: "He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart" (2 Chron. 22:99And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 22:9)). The only testimony that can be accorded him, the only reason Jehovah refrains from delivering him up to the dogs like Ahab, is that God remembers his grandfather. It is on his account that grace is granted to this unworthy descendant, even though that grace is shown in his death, for his life had come to an end under God's judgment.
And now still another terrible scene of murder unfolds. Jehoram had massacred his brothers; Judah's enemies massacred all of Jehoram's sons but Ahaziah; Jehu kills Ahaziah and massacres all the sons of his brothers; finally Athaliah exterminates all the royal seed in order that she alone might rule. And despite it all, the lamp of the Lord's Anointed is not extinguished. In the midst of this scene of murder God preserves a feeble nursling who in the first part of his reign is a type of the expected Messiah. Preserved, as Jesus later would be at the time of the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem; hidden from every eye, as Jesus at the time of the flight to Egypt — thus Joash is presented to us. He arises in the purity of his childhood out of a condemned race, the only offshoot upon whose shoulder is laid the key of David, a root out of a dry ground; brought up from his youth under the eye of God in His temple, he appears to us like the One who said: "Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?" Thus Joash begins his career.
But let us note, he is at the same time the type of the Lord taking in His hands the reins of government of His kingdom. In the seventh year, the sabbatical year, the year of rest for the earth, he appears before the eyes of all. Until that moment Joash had been hidden for six years in the house of God, just as the Lord is hidden before His future manifestation. When the doors of the temple open, when He comes forth out of heaven which until then contains Him, He will be at once avenged on those who conspired against Him and universally proclaimed the true King of His people, the only One with the right to wear the crown.