Mistakes Live On
2Ch 18:1 Now
Jehoshaphat had riches and
honour in
abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.
“Ok
Ok, tell me whatsa bothering you, Vinny”
The
construction crew the church had hired were aware something was not right. The
problem was apparent by the time they were working on the second story. There
had been two crucial mistakes made. First the foundation was only 9 feet thick
and secondly the ground on one side was too soft.
The
conversation above occurred 842 years ago. The mistakes that were made have
lasted for centuries and are well known to the millions who visit the Leaning
Tower of Pisa every year.
Fortunately
most of our mistakes die with us. But some outlive us and impact future
generations. Harry Firestone accidently dropped a rubber compound on a hot
stove and discovered how to vulcanize rubber, which resulted in his making a
fortune in the tire business. We still benefit from his mistake.
Unfortunately
most mistakes do not end as well as Harry’s did. The U S Supreme Court has made
some tragic mistakes. Roe v. Wade has resulted in millions of abortions, which
continue to today.
Today
I want to talk about how some bad decisions can last longer than we do. It is
bad enough that we suffer from some mistakes we make, but even worse when our
mistakes create problems for people when we are gone. A perfect example of long
term consequences for a mistake is found in the story of Jehoshaphat and his
buddy Ahab.
Our
somewhat cryptic opening verse mentions the relationship between Jehoshaphat
and Ahab. Who were these guys? Well they were both kings. Ahab was king of
Israel, after the kingdom was divided. Jehoshaphat was King of Judah.
If you
recall some Bible history you know there was never a good king in Israel. But
Ahab was not your run of the mill bad king. He was exceptional.
1Ki 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the
sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
He was the worst of the bad. He was an idol
worshipping, murdering creep of a king.
Now Jehoshaphat on the other hand was an OK kind
of king of Judah, which had some great kings and some duds as well.
2Ch 17:3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat,
because he
walked in the first ways of his
father David, and sought not unto Baalim;
So why would a good king who followed the Lord
want to be friends with a super evil king like Ahab? I have no idea. But they were
friends. You might want to read about him starting about 2 Chronicles 18.
Jehoshaphat decided to go see his buddy Ahab. Ahab prepared a big barbecue party
and invited Jehoshaphat to join him in going into battle against their mutual
enemy, the Syrians. Ahab was killed in the battle and Jehoshaphat narrowly
escaped.
Did Jehoshaphat learn his lesson? No! Next he
joined Ahab’s son in a boat building venture.
2Ch 20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah
join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 2Ch 20:36 And
he joined himself with
him to make ships to go to Tarshish:
Ahaziah was Ahab’s son. God sent a storm and all
the ships were wrecked on their maiden voyage.
Eventually Jehoshaphat died, and his son,
Jehoram, became king. And that should have ended the mistakes that Jehosaphat
had made being buddies with wicked Kings from Israel. But it didn’t.
The continuing problem was that Jehoshaphat must
have taken some of his sons with him when he spent time with Ahab. That
resulted in the marriage of his son, Jehoram, to Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah. So
how is that a problem?
2Ch 21:6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel,
like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he
wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
Jehoram, the king of Judah, became as bad as the
kings of Israel. The mention of his marriage to Ahab’s daughter is not just
some trivia to satisfy our curiosity. It explains how the son of a pretty good
king turns out to be a jerk. His wife is the daughter of Ahab. And who was Ahab
married to; Jezebel, the foulest woman in scripture.
You can read the story for all the details, but
the high lights are as follows. Jehoram probably listened to his wife and
killed all his brothers so he would not have to worry about some coup.
2Ch 21:4 Now when Jehoram was risen up to the
kingdom of
his father, he strengthened himself,
and slew all his brethren with the sword, …
Jehoram was so bad God finally killed him slowly with an
incurable disease.
2Ch 21:15 And thou shalt have great sickness by
disease
of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by
reason of the sickness day by day
So his son Ahaziah becomes king. When Ahaziah is killed
one of his sons would become king, except for one little problem. Their grandma
had all her grandchildren killed (except one) so she could take over and reign in Judah. She actually did reign for six years!
2Ch 22:10 ¶ But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw
that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house
of Judah.
Those were her grandchildren. What else would you
expect from a daughter of Jezebel?
There are more twists and turns in the story,
but the main point is Jehoshaphat started the whole thing by being friends with
someone he should not have been hanging around with.
Decisions we make today may live beyond us. Most
of us are willing to suffer for our own mistakes. Few of us want our mistakes
to continue to following generations. But they often do. Spiritual mistakes
usually do. Let us learn to avoid spiritual mistakes so children and
grandchildren do not suffer because of our sins of omission or commission. Selah!
Ex 20:5 …visiting
the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me;
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