2 Kings 13:1-9--Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

2 Kings 13:1-9
English Standard Version

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel
13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. 4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 (Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. 6 Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) 7 For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.

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A little more than halfway through the reign of Joash, king of Judah, a new king comes to the throne in Israel (the northern kingdom).  His name is Jehoahaz, and he is the son of Jehu.  He reigned from the capital city of the northern kingdom, Samaria, for 17 years.  Unlike his father Jehu, Jehoahaz did what was evil in the sight of the LORD because he followed in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (worshiped the golden calf idols that Jeroboam said were their gods who brought them up out of the land of Egypt).  This caused Israel to sin as well because they followed the lead of the king and worshiped these idols as well.  Because of this, the LORD's anger burned against the northern kingdom of Israel, and He continually gave them into the hand of Hazael, king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadaad the son of Hazael.  This was part of the curses of the Law from the book of Deuteronomy that was meant to get the attention of the people, because they were always supposed to win when they went to war if they were seeking the LORD's instruction on if they should go to war, and if they were obeying the Law.  They were doing neither at this time, so the LORD gave them over to their enemies to try to call them back to Him, but they were hard-headed and hard-hearted.

Finally, they cried out to the LORD for relief and He heard them, for they were still His people, and He still loved them, even though they constantly rebelled against Him.  Just like in Egypt, the LORD saw their suffering and gave them a deliverer (the word "savior" is used here) to deliver them from the hands of the Syrians.  Then the people of Israel returned to their homes and lived in relative peace, but they would not depart from the sin of Jeroboam, and Asherah were allowed to remain in Samaria as well--these were idols in the worship of a fertility goddess.

Because of all the war and the number of times that Israel had been defeated by Syria, the army of Israel was reduced in size to only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers.  Anyone calculating the odds of Israel winning a battle against Syria would say it was impossible or would take a miracle for them to win, but that's exactly what the LORD did when He raised up a deliverer for them so that it was clear that He was the one fighting for His people and that the battle belongs to the LORD.

This is all that the book of the kings has to say about Jehoahaz, king of Israel.  The rest of his story is told in the book of Chronicles.  So Jehoahaz died and was buried among the kings of Israel in Samaria, and his son Joash reigned in his place.  This is a different Joash than the king of Judah, but they had the same short name and the same long name, so next time we will talk about the reign of king Jehoash of Israel who will be king of Israel when Elisha the prophet died (what we'll talk about the day after tomorrow).