Back to 2 Chronicles, I observed before that Judah had three good kings in a row (if you count Asa, who had a good start and a bad finish). But, in the spirit of “you’re only as good as your last play,” Jehoshaphat gets four chapters, starts and ends well, and then his son Jehoram:
Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Their father had lavished them with gifts—silver, gold, and other valuables, plus the fortress cities in Judah. But Jehoram was his firstborn son and he gave him the kingdom of Judah. But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. GOD considered him an evil man. (2 Chronicles 21.2 – 5, MSG)
Not a good guy, he starts by killing his brothers and then marries into the Ahab dynasty. He was so bad that his story ends:
He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. (2 Chronicles 21.20, ESV)
Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah, another bad king:
The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king. Raiders from the desert, who had come with the Arabs against the settlement, had killed all the older sons. That’s how Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, but reigned only one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. He lived and ruled just like the Ahab family had done, his mother training him in evil ways. GOD also considered him evil, related by both marriage and sin to the Ahab clan. After the death of his father, he attended the sin school of Ahab, and graduated with a degree in doom. (2 Chronicles 22.1 – 4, MSG)
All this got me thinking about good and bad kings…father to son to grandson, etc. Beginning with David (good), we have Solomon (good start, bad finish), Rheoboam (bad), Abijah (good), Asa (good start, bad finish), Jehoshaphat (good), Jehoram (bad), Ahaziah (bad). If we abbreviate G = good, B = bad, H = half good/half bad, we have:
GHBGHGBB – see the pattern?
No? Maybe you don’t see the pattern because there is no pattern!
As parents, some of us work hard to do the best we can to raise godly offspring. Some parents aren’t godly themselves and try to raise good people. Some parents don’t much care about their kids at all. Etc., etc. And some kids turn out good and some not so good.
And in my experience, there’s no apparent relationship. I know A LOT of godly people with one or more kids off the rails. And I know a few fathers who made no pretense of being Christ followers whose kids turned out beautifully.
I’m proud of all four of my kids who range in age from 51 to 44 as of this writing, and when I’m in a situation where someone tries to give me credit, I say, “I can’t take credit for any good that they’re doing, and I sure don’t want to take any blame when they mess up!”
It goes back to Genesis 3: Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment with a perfect God as their father, and then went off the rails (it’s called original sin). If we learn anything from our reading about the kings, it’s that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18.19, ESV)