The forest of kings and chronicles
The Ahab tree
As I was reading Kings, there was a line that caught my attention:
“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” - 1 Kings 21:29 ESV
Why is disaster delayed to Ahab’s son’s days?
One would think if Ahab is repentant, God would relent (Jonah 3:10), otherwise if he is not, disaster would strike immediately.
For further context:
- Ahab humbles himself in response to judgement pronounced by Elijah the prophet, for his complicit role in the assassination of Naboth for his vineyard (1 Kings 21).
- The judgement is fulfilled in 2 Kings 9 after Ahab’s death, when Jehu is appointed king in a drive-through (covert, quick) anointing, and instructed by Elisha the prophet to strike down the entire house of Ahab.
The forest of kings
Since Kings and especially Chronicles can be quite dry at times, I found it helpful for my own attentiveness to track the succession of kings in Judah (the tribe that split from Israel) and (the rest of) Israel. The first time I tried this, it was out of curiosity whether kings who were righteous lived longer. More recently, in light of my curiosity regarding Ahab’s house, I had a second go analysing the “houses” of Judah and Israel - that is, how frequently does the throne leave the family?
Some quick tips if you’re trying this yourself:
- Some kings have multiple names e.g. Joram/Jehoram.
- Some names refer to different people e.g. there is an Ahaziah ruling over Israel, and a different Ahaziah ruling over Israel.
- Kings and Chronicles have minor differences in their reporting of a king’s reign. I assume it’s a rounding issue.
Israel
| King | Who | Righteous? | Reign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeroboam | Evil | 22 years | |
| Nadab | Son | Evil | 2 years |
| Baasha | Evil | 24 years | |
| Elah | Son | Evil | 2 years |
| Zimri | Evil | 1 week | |
| Omri | Evil | 12 years | |
| Ahab | Son | Evil | 22 years |
| Ahaziah | Son | Evil | 2 years |
| Joram/Jehoram | Ahab’s son | Evil | 12 years |
| Jehu | Right | 28 years | |
| Jehoahaz | Son | Evil | 17 years |
| Jehoash | Son | Evil | 16 years |
| Jeroboam | Son | Evil | 41 years |
| Zechariah | Son | Evil | 6 months |
| Shallum | N/A | 1 month | |
| Menahem | Evil | 10 years | |
| Pekahiah | Son | Evil | 2 years |
| Pekah | Evil | 20 years | |
| Hoshea | Evil | 9 years |
Judah
| King | Who | Righteous? | Reign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rehoboam | Evil | 18 years | |
| Abijah | Son | Evil | 3 years |
| Asa | Son | Right | 41 years |
| Jehoshaphat | Son | Right | 25 years |
| Jehoram | Son | Evil | 8 years |
| Ahaziah | Son | Evil | 1 year |
| Athaliah | Mother | Evil | 6 years |
| Joash | Ahaziah’s son | Right | 40 years |
| Amaziah | Son | Right | 29 years |
| Azariah/Uzziah | Son | Right | 52 years |
| Jotham | Son | Right | 16 years |
| Ahaz | Son | Evil | 20 years |
| Hezekiah | Son | Right | 29 years |
| Manasseh | Son | Evil | 55 years |
| Amon | Son | Evil | 2 years |
| Josiah | Son | Right | 31 years |
| Jehoahaz | Son | Evil | 3 months |
| Eliakim/Jehoiakim | Son | Evil | 11 years |
| Jehoiachin | Son | Evil | 3 months |
| Mattaniah/Zedekiah | Uncle | Evil | 11 years |
Patterns
Righteousness and longevity
It’s a common refrain in Kings to sum up a ruler’s reign with “he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” or “he did what is right in my eyes”. Analysing the table, generally speaking, the latter lived longer, though not always. For me, it’s reassuring evidence of the wisdom of a passage like Psalm 1 (or Deuteronomy 17:20 addressed specifically to kings), even if it doesn’t hold perfectly yet.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; - Psalm 1:1 ESV
However, even the kings who did what is right stumbled. So many kings started well, but didn’t finish well. They grew complacent. They came to depend on themselves and looked to foreign alliances for their security. It’s a warning for us to heed. But also a reminder that there are no perfectly righteous human rulers - our hope for a righteous, just and kind ruler should remain focused on Jesus.
Idolatry is trusting in created things rather than the Creator for our hope and happiness, significance and security. - New City Catechism Q17
Destroying houses
It’s striking how stable the succession of kingship is in Judah (virtually uninterrupted!), compared to Israel, as this judgement spoken to Ahab shows:
And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. - 1 Kings 21:22 ESV
For context:
- In 1 Kings 14:10-12, the prophet Ahijah pronounces judgement on Jereboam’s house for his evil. In 1 Kings 15:25-30, his son, king Nadab is murdered, and so too their family.
- In 1 Kings 16:3-13, the prophet Jehu pronounces judgement on Baasha’s house for his evil, and after his death, his son king Elah is murdered and so too their family.
- Likewise, the prophet Elijah pronounces judgement on Ahab’s house for his evil, and after his death, his sons, king Ahaziah and king Joram are murdered and so too their family.
There is a clear pattern in Israel, where God cleans the royal house out during the time of the sons of evil kings. I don’t know why God delays judgement to the next generation. But it’s clear from further reading that their sons are equally guilty, having sinned themselves, and so we see God’s just judgement, through his foreknowledge of their children’s wickedness, against Jeroboam, Baasha and Ahab.
…in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.” 2 Chronicles 25:4 ESV
We also see God’s mercy and propensity to relent, as evidenced in Ahab, as is offered to us through Jesus.
And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” - 1 Kings 21:27-29 ESV
…Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. - Joel 2:13 ESV
Preserving houses
The pattern is broken in Jehu’s house. Firstly, he is the only Israelite king recorded as doing right in God’s eyes! (Despite tragically turning away from God later in his reign.) Secondly, God preserves 4 generations of evil following Jehu. Turns out, this was in fulfilment of his word.
And the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” - 2 Kings 10:30 ESV
Understanding how God’s justice and faithfulness operates in Israel begs the inverse question - why was the house of Rehoboam in Judah spared from the same disaster, despite many evil kings?
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 7 Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. - 2 Chronicles 21:5-7 ESV1
In God’s faithfulness to his promises, he tolerates and preserves the Davidic line, and intervening2 such that there would be some level of righteousness in Judah but not absent in Israel.
And from Matthew 1:11, we can trace the genealogy of king Jesus from the last righteous king of Judah, king Josiah, who comes to stop the cancerous, corrupting sin inside us all - not by cleaning out our house, but by his work at the cross.