May 16, 2024

To confuse things, Ahab and Jehoshaphat named their children the same names! It has taken me a couple of days of reading this scripture to finally figure it out, likely only because of the Holy Spirit and some help from Matthew Henry's commentary. 

Joram, Ahab's son, reigned in Israel when Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram, was made king of Judah. Jehoram was as bad as the kings of Israel, really bad, probably because Ahab's daughter was his wife! We have to be careful of who becomes the mothers of our children; they have a lot of influence on how a child is raised and what they become as adults. God didn't destroy them because he had promised David he would always have a successor until the kingship ended with Jesus, the one and only true King and a light forever. David had subdued the Edomites, but Jehoram stirred them up by trying to destroy them, but they revolted and became the enemy of Judah forever, even to this day. 

Jehoram's son, Ahaziah, succeeded him. Having Ahab's daughter as a mother, he was doomed to follow in the footsteps of Ahab.  Joram, king of Israel, teamed up with Ahaziah to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, at Ramoth-Gilead. Ahaziah was wounded in battle and went back to Jezreel to recover. Joram went and visited him—two evil kings consulting together. Even Jesus had evil in his "lineage." He was related to Ahab! Good people can come from bad people; Jesus exemplifies this truth. 

Jesus’ lineage in Matthew:

and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, Matthew 1:8 ESV. 

And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. 2 Kings 8:16