1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them. 3 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel. 5 So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.
6 Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
7 Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
8 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
9 And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.
10 In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.
12 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with all his accomplishments and his might, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13 And Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
REFLECTIONS
Written by Stephen Shead
The books of Kings have been following the parallel stories of the kings of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Today we return to the north, with the reigns of Jehu’s son and grandson over Israel.
Jehu was the one whom God had raised up to end the dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel, who had made Baal-worship the national religion. It seemed like Jehu would be a “good guy”. But instead of turning Israel back to the Lord God, he replaced Baal-worship with older idols. The very first king of the northern king – Jeroboam son of Nebat – had set up two golden calf statues, one at the southern end of the kingdom (in Bethel) and the other at the northern end (in Dan), and got all the people worshiping them instead of the Lord.
Jehu, his son and his grandson went back to “the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit” (v 2, 11). The regime change merely swapped one type of godlessness with a different type.
In lots of ways, the nations of Israel and Judah under the old covenant were unique, so we need to be careful about comparing modern nations with them. But especially this week with the US midterm elections, it got me thinking about our hopes for political parties and elections. It’s good for Christians to be actively involved in politics, and some governments do more damage than others. But as much as you want things to change, we need to remember that every change of government will be from one sinful regime to another. None of them are Christ’s kingdom. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen is our Senior Minister.