2 Chronicles, Part II: Stop me if you've heard this before

Having killed his brothers and marrying Ahab’s daughter, Jehoram rules Judah and does what is evil. He benefits from the covenant between David and God, though—without it, it seems, God would destroy the house of David, including Jehoram.

Jehoram makes high places in Judah and leads its inhabitants into unfaithfulness. Eventually, he receives a letter from the prophet Elijah, who has been critical of Ahab, king of Israel. The letter accuses Jehoram of following in the ways of the northern kings and killing his brothers. For these acts, Elijah writes, God will bring a plague on the people and a harsh bowel disease on Jehoram (I’ll spare you the details). God also stirs up the Philistines and Arabs against Jehoram. They come up against Judah and steal away with the king’s possessions, wives, and children, leaving only his youngest son Jehoahaz. “After all this the Lord struck him in his bowels,” and Jehoram dies two years later.

The Chronicler reports that Jehoram is succeeded by “his youngest son Ahaziah.” Uh, didn’t he just write that Jehoahaz was his youngest son? Perhaps the names are just variations of each other? The NRSV notes don’t address this discrepancy, so who knows. Anyway, Ahaziah, too, walking in the ways of the house of Ahab, “for his mother was his counselor in doing wicked.” Like mother, like son, I guess. He also apparently followed the advice of counselors from Ahab’s house, and, as we already know, he teamed up with Jehoram of Israel against the Aramean king in Ramoth-gilead.

As ordained by God, Ahaziah’s downfall comes when he goes to visit the injured Jehoram after that ill-advised battle. En route, Ahaziah runs into Jehu, “whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.” Jehu kills Ahaziah, as well as his brothers, leaving no one to rule Judah. Jehu, having also inflicted the wounds that subsequently kill Israel’s Jehoram, takes over Israel.

In a story we encountered in 2 Kings, Ahaziah’s mom steps in for him, while the king’s daughter hides his son Joash. After seven years of hiding Joash, the priest Jehoiada enters an agreement with the commanders and others. The “whole assembly made a covenant with the king [i.e., Joash] in the house of God.” They proclaim him king and kill Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mom (and, presumably, Joash’s grandmother). The priest then makes a covenant between himself, the people, and the king “that they should be the Lord’s people.” To celebrate, they all go to the house of Baal and tear it down. Just like the looting I’m expecting in Chicago tonight, only much more pure. Do I sound bitter?