Moral Decay Can Happen So Fast

It's remarkable how quickly a relatively good and God-fearing society can fall into moral decay. After many decades of growing closer to God and following closely after His laws and, for the most part, enjoying His favor we see in this chapter how low Judah sinks within just one generation (really in about 9 years). Remember Asa reigned for 41 years and Jehoshaphat reigned for 25 years after him. So Judah had 66 years of godly rule with very strict attention to detail in terms of administration and following God's law. So Jehoram who God curses with an incurable disease starts Judah into it's decline with only 8 years of rule and his son, Ahaziah (equally wicked), only rules for 1 year afterwhich he is killed.

The next thing you know, his evil mother takes over and kills all of the royal seed she can find. We can only imagine how dispicable this woman was. Remember, she was the primary influence into the evil development of her son Ahaziah.

"...for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly" -- 2 Chronicles 22:3

You have to really stop and think about the day to day live in Judah during this period to grasp the swiftness of this decline. So many people who were born during the 66 years of good rule and only knew of life with a goodly king and strict adherence to God's law in the land. Now, in just 9 short years we come to the point in this chapter where this woman, Athaliah, slaughters all the royal sons and actually rules Judah for 6 years. She was the daughter of Omri (who was an evil king of Israel and father of the notorious Ahab). The spiritual state in Judah hit an all time low.

I've always been intrigued by the story of how Joash was hidden away in the temple for 6 years to escape death by the hand of Athaliah. This is a fascinating glimpse into the society of Judah during this time. But what speaks to me the most as I read this passage again is the speed with which this society fell into moral decay. It was so fast! It's a good lesson for us to always remember that spiritual death and destruction can occur in a flash. We have to be so diligent to guard against it.

The First Born Is Not Always the Best Choice

This chapter just speaks to me again about how important it is to properly prepare when passing the torch to the next generation. The contrast between Jehoram and his father, Jehoshaphat, is striking. What a glaring disconnect! This is a man, Jehoram, who wasn't fit to be any kind of leader with measurable authority, let along king. There is nothing notable about his 8 year reign. His only contribution was to cause Israel to fall out of favor with God and hurry along God's judgement of his people.

Why would Jehoshaphat, after spending so much his life seeking God's will and encouraging Israel to do the same, be so careless as to hand over the kingdom to such a wicked man? Only one reason is given -- he was the first born.

". . . but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn." -- 2 Chronicles 21:3

Jehoram is given full control of God's kingdom that both Jehoshaphat and Jehosophat's father Asa had so carefully administered and nurtured under God's guidance. His only qualification is that he was the first born of apparently many other more noble sons. We get confirmation of this from the prophecy from Elijah when he informs jehoram that God will curse him for his actions.

"Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah . . . and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself" -- 2 Chronicles 21:12-13

Clearly, being the first born is not all it's cracked up to be. Actually, if you look over the examples we have in the scriptures of men who were the first born in their families (e.g. Cain, Easu, Eliab, etc.) you quickly start to get the sense that maybe there's something here that God's trying to tell us. What really should matter in terms of succession is character, diligent preparation, and most importantly God's favor. This is a lesson that should reach to all great men and women when we take upon us the sober responsibility of passing the torch.

Trusting God for Prosperity

There is so much packed into this chapter 20 of 2 Chronicle. There are lots of images to ponder like the host of dead bodies which lay wasted in the wilderness and the 3 days it took the Israelite to remove the spoil from theses dead bodies. This must have been a grim sight! There is also much to gleam in terms of geography from the names of places mentioned and in terms of anthropology from the names of the inhabitants and the time lines given from Jehoshaphat's reign (we're told his age at the time he reigns and how long he reigns). Lots of lessons can be made of this. However, what sticks out to me as I read it today is the message -- trust in God.

"Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." -- 2 Chronicles 20:20

God honors this trust in him and says through the prophet, things like "stand ye still", "fear not", and don't "be dismayed". These are the direct results of trusting in God. A kind of calm results. No worries remain. This is complete trust. This is an important message for today because God has not changed and never will. He still wants us to trust Him this way.

It's also interesting that, at the end of the chapter, we are told of Jehoshaphat's joint venture with Ahaziah (who was a very wicked man) to build ships together and we see how God judges Jehoshaphat for this indiscretion by destroying these ships that he and Ahaziah had built together. This little side narrative doesn't seem to fit until you consider that fact that it kind of underscores the whole theme of this chapter -- that we should put our trust in God and not in the world around us. Did God want Jehoshaphat to prosper and perhaps build a fleet of trade ships? I don't see why not. Clearly, it was his partnership with a known evil man that brought about God's judgement. God wants us to prosper, but, more importantly, he wants us to trust him.