2 Chronicles 22
by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin

It’s amazing what a difference a generation can make. After Jehoshaphat seemingly walked with God, fearing the Lord above men and calling God’s people to trust in the Lord, his own son sharply turns away from the Lord dying a dishonorable death and to no one’s regret, while his grandson reigns only a year before being put to death at the hands of the Lord. From heaven’s perspective, God’s election certainly takes first place in understanding these mysteries, but from the human perspective it also seems as if there were chinks in Jehoshaphat’s armor that certainly divided his interests between God and Mammon. The fact that he joins hands with the king of Israel in a shipping venture in aspiration of great wealth and actually names two of his sons after the king of Israel says quite a bit about where his heart lies. It also says quite a bit about the milieu in which his son and grandson are raised.

In the grandson’s case, the text specifically says that Ahaziah’s counselors were his undoing, including his primary counselor Athaliah, his mother, who is of the house of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. We know that we cannot change the past, but I can’t help but wonder how Jehoshaphat’s grandson would have turned out if Athaliah wasn’t in the picture. Of course, without Athaliah, there would be no Azariah, which is why conjecture from our finite perspective is usually not all that helpful. But still, it seemed that the writing was on the wall for two generations. If only Jehoshaphat had not given his pledge to the king of Israel, so much would have turned out differently. Is this what God means when he says that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons to the third and fourth generations? Perhaps, but if so, then the other aspect of that promise is also seen in this text, for God also says that he will show his steadfast love to thousands of those who love him and keep his commandments.

In this case, even though Athaliah is both the wicked counselor that leads to her son’s undoing, and is also the murderer of almost all of his close relatives, her nemesis is another young woman, Jehoshabeath, a true daughter of the king who in faith and love hides Joash, the infant son of Ahaziah and preserves the bloodline of the promised Son of David. It would be through the preservation of this infant’s life that eternal life would come to many through his promised descendant Jesus. And even in the intervening years, many godly men would rise up in that bloodline and love the Lord with all their hearts. Truly, the Lord is a God that is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness that He does not wipe out Jehoshaphat’s line given his inconsistencies and hypocrisies but rather proves His own faithfulness to His covenant again and again despite the failings of those in covenant with Him.