What is the meaning of 2 Chronicles 22:5? Ahaziah also followed their counsel • Ahaziah, king of Judah, lets the voices around him steer his steps. Earlier we read, “He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother counseled him to do wickedly” (2 Chronicles 22:3). • The influence is unmistakably corrupt: Athaliah (his mother) and the house of Ahab (his relatives by marriage). Compare 1 Kings 21:25, where Ahab is singled out as one who “sold himself to do evil.” • Scripture repeatedly warns against accepting ungodly guidance: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1) and “The companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). • By recording that Ahaziah “followed their counsel,” the text spotlights personal responsibility. Though pressured, he chooses disobedience, illustrating James 1:14: temptation becomes sin when desire is embraced. and went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel • Ahaziah’s partnership with Joram marks Judah’s continued entanglement with Israel’s apostate dynasty. Jehoshaphat once made a similar alliance with Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (2 Chronicles 18:1-3); the son repeats the father’s mistake but without Jehoshaphat’s godly heart. • 2 Kings 8:28-29 runs parallel: “He went with Joram … to wage war.” The Chronicler underlines how history is looping, yet the lesson was ignored. • The New Testament echoes the danger: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). Sinful alliances rarely stay neutral; they draw us deeper into shared rebellion. to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead • Ramoth-gilead had long been a flashpoint (1 Kings 22). What Ahab failed to secure decades earlier, Joram now attempts again—and drags Ahaziah into the fray. • Hazael’s rise was foretold to Elijah (1 Kings 19:15-17). God had warned that Hazael would be an instrument of judgment; ignoring divine warning, the two kings rush headlong into his sword. • The setting exposes priorities: instead of restoring worship in their nations, they chase territorial gain. Jesus later asks, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). But the Arameans wounded Joram. • The turning point comes swiftly. “The Arameans wounded Joram” (2 Chronicles 22:5). God’s sovereignty surfaces in battlefield chaos; things unravel exactly as prophesied. • 1 Kings 19:17 had predicted Hazael’s blade; 2 Kings 9:14-24 shows how Joram’s wound sets the stage for Jehu’s arrival and the extinction of Ahab’s house. • Galatians 6:7 sums up the principle: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap.” Joram sows rebellion; he reaps injury and, soon, death. Ahaziah’s own downfall follows (2 Chronicles 22:7-9). summary Ahaziah’s choice to heed ungodly counsel links him to a doomed alliance, draws him into a needless war, and places him under the sweep of God’s judgment aimed at Ahab’s line. The verse stands as a sober reminder that: • Listening to wicked advice leads to wicked actions. • Partnerships with the unfaithful pull us toward their destiny. • God’s prophetic warnings come to pass, often in the very places we think we can secure ourselves. For every believer the call is clear: seek counsel rooted in God’s word, refuse alliances that compromise obedience, and trust that the Lord’s purposes—never ours—will ultimately prevail. |
    |