Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.

2 Chronicles.– Bible Study Nine

There are many examples in the Old Testament that show how marriages displeasing to God, and unions formed with ungodly nations, can bring great destruction.
Let us meditate on one such example.
Jehoshaphat was one of the finest kings to rule the land of Judah. He brought spiritual reforms to the nation and appointed Levites to teach the Word of God among the people.

However, one mistake he made in his family affected generations. During his reign, Ahab ruled Israel. His wife was Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, who worshipped Baal. According to 1 Kings 16:31, Ahab and Jezebel turned Israel into a land that followed Baal completely.

Even after knowing all this, Jehoshaphat gave his son Jehoram in marriage to a woman from Ahab’s family. That woman was Athaliah. She did not lead her husband Jehoram in the ways of God but turned him toward works that displeased the Lord (2 Chronicles 21:6). Jehoram died at the age of thirty-eight, and after him, his son Ahaziah became king. Ahaziah walked entirely according to his mother Athaliah’s counsel. She advised him and led him into evil. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord just as the house of Ahab did, for they became his counsellors after his father’s death—and this led to his destruction (2 Chronicles 22:3-4). Ahaziah died within a year.

After his death, Athaliah claimed the throne. She led both her husband and her son away from God and into idolatry.
To secure her power, she killed her own grandchildren—Ahaziah’s heirs, especially the male children—so that she alone could remain on the throne. She was more cruel than her mother Jezebel. The Bible shows us, even 2000 years ago, how dangerous the lust for power can be.

Another satanic scheme was hidden behind these events. Satan knew that the Redeemer of the world would come through the lineage of David. Therefore, he used Athaliah to destroy that royal line. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, rescued Joash—the son of Ahaziah—who was about to be killed, and preserved the link through which the Savior was to come.

Thus we understand how dangerous Jehoshaphat’s one wrong decision in his son’s marriage became. Even in the New Testament, God does not approve of marriage relationships with unbelievers.
Paul clearly writes in his epistle:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?
What communion has Christ with Satan?
Or what accord has a believer with an unbeliever?”
— 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

Therefore, we must be careful in our families, especially regarding marriage. Wrong decisions can affect both our children and future generations. The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah stands as a powerful warning for us.