Ahaziah

2 Kings 8:24‑27; 2 Kings 9:27‑29; 2 Chronicles 22:1‑9  •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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(Jehoahaz or Azariah)
Sustained by Jehovah
2 Kings 8:24-27; 9:27-2924And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. 25In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. 26Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 27And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. (2 Kings 8:24‑27)
27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. (2 Kings 9:27‑29); 2 Chron. 22:1-91And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. 3He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. 4Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction. 5He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians smote Joram. 6And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick. 7And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. 8And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them. 9And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 22:1‑9)
For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. Psalm 48:44For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. (Psalm 48:4)
Ahaziah must have reigned as his father’s viceroy during the last year of the latter’s sickness. This is evident from a comparison of 2 Kings 8:2525In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. (2 Kings 8:25) with 9:29. He was the youngest and only remaining son of Jehoram (2 Chron. 21:1717And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. (2 Chronicles 21:17)). “Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign.” (“Forty and two” in 2 Chron. 22:22Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. (2 Chronicles 22:2) is doubtless a transcriber’s error. His father was only forty at his death.) “And he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter [or granddaughter] of Omri king of Israel. And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab” (2 Kings 8:26-2726Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 27And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. (2 Kings 8:26‑27)). His mother, in some way or other, escaped the fate of the rest of Jehoram’s wives (who were carried away captive at the time of the Philistine-Arabian invasion), and “was his counselor to do wickedly.”
2 Chron. 22:44Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction. (2 Chronicles 22:4) seems to give a slight hint that his father Jehoram repented during his last sufferings, and had broken away somewhat from the house of Ahab; “for they were his [Ahaziah’s] counselors after the death of his father to his destruction.” His father’s death removed the check, and he at once united himself with his mother’s relatives in their sins and warfare. “He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead.”
This friendship cost him his life.
And the Syrians smote Joram [the king of Israel].And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him in Ramah [or Ramoth], when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah [Ahaziah] the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick. And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab (2 Chron. 22:5-75He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians smote Joram. 6And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick. 7And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. (2 Chronicles 22:5‑7)).
Ahaziah saw his uncle Jehoram slain in his chariot, and tried in vain to make his escape from the hot-headed Jehu. “He fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David” (2 Kings 9:27-2827But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. (2 Kings 9:27‑28)).The account in Chronicles says, “he was hid in Samaria.” There is no discrepancy here, for when he fled to the garden house (Bethzan), he escaped to Samaria (or the kingdom of Samaria) where were his “brethren” and the princes of Judah. Thence, followed by Jehu, he was pursued to the hill Gur, and slain. “And when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart” (2 Chron. 22:99And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 22:9)). His being the grandson of Jehoshaphat was all that saved his body from being eaten by unclean dogs, like the bodies of his great-aunt Jezebel and her son Jehoram.
“So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.” And with these cheerless words the record of the reign of Ahaziah closes. He was the seventh from Solomon, and the first king of Judah to die a violent death. His name is the first of the royal line omitted in the genealogy of Matt. 1. The first of the three names given him, Jehoahaz—“whom Jehovah helps”—is markedly at variance with his character. This may be the reason why he is called by that name only once in Scripture (2 Chron. 21:1717And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. (2 Chronicles 21:17)).
He died at the early age of twenty-three. It was not part of Jehu’s commission to slay the king of Judah, but he was found among those doomed to destruction and consequently shared their fate. And God’s call to His own in that system of iniquity where the spiritual Jezebel teaches and seduces His servants is, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:44And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4), italics added). Oh that all God’s people might even now lay this call to heart, and separate themselves from that which is fast shaping itself for its ultimate apostasy and doom!