The Trouble With Unholy Alliances

For the better portion of 1 and 2 Kings, we have looked at the troubles sin and national apostasy has brought on the Northern kingdom of Israel while Judah in the South has remained in the background. We remember that Judah and Benjamin stayed loyal to the house of David while the 10 northern tribes of Israel followed the detestable ways of the nations around them, barely staying in existence at times and being constantly saved by God's prophets. 

Now in 2 Kings 9, the southern kingdom will have to be saved from the northern kingdom's evil ways. God does this, not because they deserve it but because He is faithful to His promises. And that matters for you and me. But let's look at what happens first.

2 Kings 8:16–17 (ESV) In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

We are introduced to a new king in Judah named Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. The numbers in this passage are ominous as he only reigned 8 years. Jehoshaphat was a righteous king who tore down altars and sought to restore righteousness to the nation of Judah. He reigned for 25 years. The parallel accounts of 2 Chronicles reveals the extent of his reforms. The account of 1 Kings specifically mentions this:

1 Kings 22:46 (ESV) And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa.

In sum, Jehoshaphat was a righteous reformer and as a result, God blessed him abundantly with riches and honor. Yet his son Jehoram will not follow his father's lead. We pick the story back up in 2 Kings 8...

2 Kings 8:18 (ESV) 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.

The son of the righteous Jehoshaphat departed from God's word and his father's example. He instead followed the evils of perhaps the Bible's most wicked king. Why? Because he married his daughter. 

Never underestimate the bad influence a pagan can have on a Christian in marriage. I warn young people regularly of these dangers. The sexual union of man and wife is strong as God intended it to be. But the ruler of this world (Satan) will regularly use that union to topple people's faith by luring them into unholy alliances in marriage. Case in point - it was his wife, not his father that decimated Jehoram's spirit. 

Now this alliance will weaken Jehoram as Edom will revolt from Judah and attack. The chapter summarizes Jehoram's defeat:

2 Kings 8:21 (ESV)  Then Joram passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home.

Having chariots was a sign of wealth for an ancient nation. But when unrighteousness is in the heart, it doesn't matter what's in your hands. Jehoram is humiliated by Edomites. And the hits keep coming in the chapter: 

2 Kings 8:22 (ESV) So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

What's worse, the son of Jehoram, Ahaziah will also marry into Ahab's family and lead the nation of Judah into further disrepute. This is the problem with unholy alliances. They have a way of wearing down your defense against the enemy and destroying whatever strong life you once enjoyed.

This post may not be very "Happy" but my prayer is that it makes you holy. Your future is too important to God. I share this so that it's important to you.

Now you may be married to someone with unbelief and divorce is not the answer as 1 Peter 3 and 1 Corinthians 7 shares. But here is some hope. God will not abandon YOU and His promises are yours in Christ Jesus in spite of your marital situation.

We read in the middle of this sad account these words:

2 Kings 8:19 (ESV) Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

God kept His promise to David even when David's own descendants walked away from the Lord. The Lord will keep His Word over you. He will protect you and strengthen you. And I pray you know it and feel it every day.