Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the LORD. 

Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And the rest of the perverted persons, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land. 

There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king. Jehoshaphat made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not. And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.

I Kings 22: 41-53 NKJV

It is natural for children to learn from their parents’ teaching. The Lord says, “Train up a child in the way he will go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). The opposite also holds true: Train up a child in the wrong way to go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  I Kings comes to a close in a less than hopeful manner for Judah and Israel. We are introduced to two sons of two kings who become kings themselves on the occasion of their fathers’ deaths: Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat,* and Ahaziah, son of Ahab.

Jehoram learned only the sinful ways of his father-in-law** and not the faith of his father Jehoshaphat. He caused all of Judah to sin with him to the extent that Elijah the prophet wrote to him telling him that he would die of a terrible sickness because he did not walk “in the ways of Jehoshaphat [his] father” (II Chron. 21:12). 

Ahaziah followed his father Ahab in the worship of many gods and rejection of the true God of Israel, Jehovah. Neither king took their respective warnings from the Lord through the mouth of Elijah as an opportunity to call upon the Lord in repentance, but rather each went to their grave in unbelief. When Jehoram died, Scripture tells us, no one sorrowed for him in Jerusalem (II Chron 21:19-20). 

Fathers have a tremendous responsibility to their families. They are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. They are to teach their children the works of the Lord and instruct them in the most precious faith once for all delivered to the saints. They are to be examples for good to their children rather than evil. If I have learned anything in nearly ten years as a father it is that these things are much easier said than done. My best examples contain sin and the worst examples are only sin. What then can fallen fathers do as they seek to teach their children?

Confess your sins before the Lord and your children; delight yourself in the Word of the Lord; trust in Christ with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and pray without ceasing. Children figure out pretty quickly that their parents are not perfect. However, if parents pretend to be perfect and never acknowledge their own sin, children are well on the way to rebellion and rejection of their parents’ faith. Fathers and mothers must not be stubborn and proud before those who know them best but must repent to the Lord and acknowledge and apologize for the sins against their children or public sins against the Lord. Scripture does not tell us if Jehoshaphat ever confessed his sins of unholy alliances with Israel. Clearly, Jehoram learned to love the ways of those with whom Jehoshaphat aligned himself. 

The devil and his followers will certainly come after our children tempting them to reject the faith for many reasons, including the clear sins of their parents. What greater defeat of this snare than when our children can answer the doubts of the evil one with, “Yes, it is true, my father and my mother are sinners too who confess their sins before the Lord, acknowledge them before the world, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ of grace and mercy for the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life.” Let us not present to our children a false faith hoping in time to come they will discover the truth but rather let us reveal the true Christian faith and the life of repentance we are called to live.

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A note for wives and mothers: The focus on this devotional is on fathers as it is the focus of this portion of I Kings. Nevertheless, many of these lessons have direct overlap with mothers and wives. If you go further into the larger context of these two kings you will see the impact of wives and mothers for evil (Jezebel and Athaliah in particular) as well as for good (Azubah). May all men and women live lives of devotion to the Lord. 

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*Jehoram can be confusing in Kings and Chronicles because both Ahab and Jehoshaphat had sons named Jehoram (sometimes translated “Joram”) who became king. They also overlapped as kings for some time adding to the confusion. The shared names may have been due to the ungodly alliance between the two kings. 

** Jehoram was married to the daughter of Ahab (II Chronicles 21:6)

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