Keeping Track of the Kings: Part III Ahaziah, Joram

I8 Ahaziah

Ahab's son, began reign in 17th year of Jehoshaphat, reigned 2 years.  After the death of his father Ahab in the war against Aram,  Ahaziah takes the throne.  He fell through the latticework in an upper room injuring himself.  In the beginning of 2nd Kings, Ahaziah is in the process of consulting the prophets of Baal about his future, when Elijah intervenes.  An angel of the Lord told Elijah to meet the messenger going to seek false answers, so he does.  When Ahaziah asks who is intercepting the messenger and learns it is Elijah, he sends three different groups  of 50 prophets to summon Elijah. The first two groups were consumed by fire from Heaven.  The captain of the third group humbles himself before Elijah, and at this point, an angel of the Lord appears to Elijah again and tells him to go to Ahaziah and to not be afraid.

A few intial observations:

Elijah Bringeth Fire from Heaven,
James Tissot, 1896-1900

*Ahaziah's consultation of the false prophets was a natural extension of being raised by Ahab and Jezebel.   Like father, like son.

*Also like Ahab, Ahaziah rejects the words of God's prophets in favor of false yes men...even to the extent that in the face of supernatural miracles (the destruction of the groups of 50) he remains firm in his plans against His prophets, and thus against God.

* It's about God's timing--not man's and about the humility of heart, not orders.  It was certainly not about Ahaziah's timing, but not about Elijah's timing either. 

Nice application from the Biblical Illustrator:

"That calamity or affliction alone is not sufficient to lead,  men to repentance. Sometimes it is thought that by means of adverse circumstances men can be brought to God; but it was not so in the ease of Ahaziah." -T. Cain

Regarding Baal:

"The real name of this Syrian deity was Baal-zebul ('Lord of life'), but the Jews called him Baal-zebub ('Lord of flies') in derision. By the time of Christ, this deity had become a symbol of Satan." -BBC 

A question:  how does the BBC determine that the angel is a "pre-incarnate Christ"? 

1:13-16   Only when the third captain humbly acknowledged Elijah's power and pleaded for mercy was the prophet instructed by the angel of the LORD (Christ in preincarnate appearance) to go and speak with Ahaziah. Elijah fearlessly told the king that he would not recover because he had treated the Lord with contempt by consulting Baal-Zebub. -BBC

References from the BKC regarding the "Angel of the Lord" and the preincarnate Christ: 

The Angel of the Lord found the maidservant in the desert at a spring… beside the road to Shur (cf. Gen_25:18) on the way to her homeland, Egypt. This is the first reference in the Old Testament to “the Angel of the Lord” (lit., “the Angel of Yahweh”). This Angel is identified with Yahweh in Gen_16:13, as well as in Gen_22:11-12; Gen_31:11, Gen_31:13; Gen_48:16; Jdg_6:11, Jdg_6:16, Jdg_6:22; Jdg_13:22-23; Zec_3:1-2. And yet the Angel is distinct from Yahweh (Gen_24:7; 2Sa_24:16; Zec_1:12). Thus “the Angel of the Lord” may refer to a theophany of the preincarnate Christ (cf. Gen_18:1-2; Gen_19:1; Num_22:22; Jdg_2:1-4; Jdg_5:23; Zec_12:8). 

Looking at just a few of these references---I see the point and intricacy of the issue---need more time to think through/research--ha!

And if the slew of J names is not confusing enough:

1:17, 18   When Ahaziah died, he was succeeded by his brother, Jehoram (later referred to as Joram), because he had no son to wear the crown. Judah at this time had a co-regency composed of Jehoshaphat (2Ki_3:1) and his son, who was also named Jehoram.-BBC

I9 Joram/Jehoram

Ahab's son, reigned 12 years (852-841 B.C.)

The war against Moab was fought by three kings--the King of Israel, Jehoram; the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat; and the King of Edom. Moab

On Moab:

Moab, under Mesha its king, rebelled against Israel after Ahab died. The death of the Israelite king encouraged Mesha to throw off the burden of taxation that Omri (Ahaziah’s grandfather) had imposed when he had brought Moab under Israel’s control (cf. comments on 1Ki_16:21-24). This rebellion was not effective at first but the fact that it began in Ahaziah’s reign may suggest that Mesha considered Ahaziah a weaker king than Ahab. -BKC

Mesha Stele

"The stone was discovered intact by Frederick Augustus Klein, an Anglican missionary, at the site of ancient Dibon (now Dhiban, Jordan), in August 1868, having been led to it by a local bedouin. Before it could be seen by another westerner, the next year it was smashed by local villagers during a dispute over its ownership. A "squeeze" (a papier-mâché impression) had been obtained by a local Arab on behalf of Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, and fragments containing most of the inscription (613 letters out of about a thousand) were later recovered and pieced together. The squeeze and the reassembled stele are now in the Louvre Museum." -Wikipedia

Detail from the Mesha Stele, "Moabite Stone"
circa 840 BC of King Mesha---Louvre, Paris

It's an odd war of sorts. King Joram (Ahab's son) and King Jehoshaphat again unite forces, along with the King of Edom.   The King of Edom is involved because of their path of travel:

"They decided to march down the west side of the Dead Sea, east through Edom, and north to Moab. Since the king of Edom was a vassal of Jehoshaphat at this time, his help was enlisted in the war."  -BBC

This time against the King of Moab, Mesha, who is a sheepbreeder. They consult Elijah who predicts rain and victory.  The contingent is successful and the Moabites fearfully view the pooled water as blood.   In desperation, Mesha offers his oldest son as a sacrifice unto of the city walls.  At this point, the Bible states:

"When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land." -2 Kings 3:26-27

It's an odd ending to what would have been a resounding victory. The Mesha stone reports things differently.

Joram & Elisha

Elisha helps the King of Syria's commander, Naaman, recover from leprosy.  At this point, we see that King Joram has little regard for Elisha as he believes Naaman's presence is more about another Syrian attack (2 Kings 5).  Here Joram seems quick to respond in fear:


"And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me."  2 Kings 5

J5-Jehoram 

Jehoram was Jehoshaphat's son--co-reigned with his father, married to Ahab's daughter, reigned for 8 years. When Jehoshaphat passed away, Jehoram killed all of his brothers and some of the leaders.  All an ominous beginning to the story of this generation.  The text clarifies that his line was allowed to continue because of God's decision to honor the line of David.

"It is significant that the prophet God sent to announce judgment on Jehoram was Elijah (v. 12). Elijah’s ministry was to condemn Baalism in Israel, but God sent him to Jehoram because Jehoram shared the same guilt as the kings of Ahab’s house. This is the only record we have of a prophet from the Northern Kingdom rebuking a king of the Southern Kingdom. All the other prophets God sent to the Davidic kings were from Judah." -Constable's Notes

2 Kings 8 relates how Edom revolted under Jehoram's reign to gain their independence.  Tellingly, when Jehoram leads a night attack, his men desert him and run to their homes.