Morning Light – December 14th, 2015: Rejecting the Counselors of Ahab

Morning Light – December 14th, 2015
Today: [2 Chronicles Twenty-Two] Rejecting the Counselors of Ahab. The line of kings in Judah comes under the influence of the now destroyed house of Ahab. Ahaziah rules in Jerusalem surrounding himself with the counselors of Ahab. Ahab is now dead but his flatters against king Jehoshaphat continue to seduce his sons that rule after him. Eventually Ahazariah meets his end and Athaliah – a queen from the house of Ahab rules and attempts to extinguish the line of David.
[2Ch 22:1-12 KJV] 1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his 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. 2 Forty and two years old [was] Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also [was] Athaliah the daughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. 4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counselors after the death of his father to his destruction.
After the death of Jehoram (Jehoshaphat’s son) they made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead. Jehoram died of disease during an ongoing invasion from Arabia. The Arabians killed all of the sons of Jehoram just as he had killed all of his brothers the sons of Jehoshaphat in order to secure his own reign. Ahaziah was the only surviving son and became king in place of his father. His mother was from the house of Ahab and walked in the ways of Ahab. She influences Ahaziah to adopt Baal worship as his father did. Ahab’s house and reign have been overthrown by Jehu and apparently surviving members of his court flee to Judah and become the king’s counselors.
One of the most important decisions in life is with respect to choosing your counselors. Ahaziah chose counselors from the failed court of Ahab. There was something he saw in Ahab that he wanted to replicated in his own rule without bearing in mind the end of Ahab and how he was destroyed. When someone presumes to be your counselor or mentor always look at their life. 1 Th. 5:12 says we are to know those who labor among us. When someone speaks into your life they can only speak from their experience. All they can impart to you is what they have walked in. Do you want your life to look like theirs?
Many times when under pressure we just want to get some output and we make the mistake of telling all our troubles to anyone that would listen. This is a big mistake. Learn to be a gatherer of information not a dispenser of information. Don’t tell everyone what is going on in your life even when they ask direct questions. Knowledge is power and people’s opinions of your life can constitute a spiritual force that can work against you and be used by the enemy to confuse you and misdirect you with respect to God’s will.
In Ahaziah’s case he completely overlooked the destruction and devastation of Ahab’s house and chose to listen to the same people who counseled Ahab and Jezebel.
5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and the Syrians smote Joram. 6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick. 7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. 8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.
By the direction of Ahab’s counselors Ahaziah goes out to war with Syria with the Jehoram the son of Ahab. The battle does not go well and Ahaziah goes to inquire after Jehoram’s health after being wounded. Jehu discovers him and his retinue and kills all of them including the king. Because Ahaziah listened to the counselors of Ahab he was destroyed. Never assume because someone counsels you that you have to do what they say. Ultimately you are the person that has to live with your decisions. It is easy for someone to say what you should do in any particular situation but always consider the end of those who are speaking into your life and the end result of their counsel in the lives of others. If you are unsure then you have chosen a counselor perhaps that you should not be relying on. Just because a person counsels you or more than one person doesn’t mean you are not accountable. You are accountable for the decisions you make even when they are influenced by others. Ahazariah is an example of this who paid with his life.
9 And 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. 10 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. 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. 12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.
Ahazariah was a wicked king but was buried with honor because he was in the line of Jehoshaphat who served the Lord with all of his heart. This may be true but always remember that it was the compromising ways of Jehoshaphat that opened the door for his children to walk in they ways of Ahab. Jehoshaphat allowed his sons to intermarry with Jehoshaphat and on several occasions went to war and got involved in business with the northern kings overlooking their ungodliness. The destruction that came on Judah after Jehoshaphat’s death lies squarely upon Jehoshaphat’s shoulders because he would not draw the line of separation between himself and the ungodliness in his neighbor’s to the north.
Now that the king is dead only Joash remains as a very young boy. The king’s mother from the court of Ahab seeks the child’s life but he is hidden in the temple. Athaliah the queen kills every member of the house of David and the line of the king’s hoping to establish rule for herself. The blood line of Jesus himself hangs but a mere thread in the life of a stripling boy hidden in the temple of God.