JEHORAM: king of israel and Judah.

There never were two kings by the name of Jehoram, who ruled both Israel and Judah around the same time, but only one, and he was Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, who had married Athaliah the daughter of Jezebel and Ahab.

Ahab, the King of the 10 Northern tribes of Israel with his wife Jezebel, had two children, Ahaziah and his sister Athaliah. Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Southern Judah, married Athaliah the daughter of Ahab, and Athaliah named their first son ‘Ahaziah’, after her brother.

Jehoshaphat and Ahab were allies and when King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead, Ahab was struck by an arrow and died later on that night, after which his Son Ahaziah inherited his father’s throne and ruled Israel for two years, before falling from a balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria, and finally died from his injuries, and Jehoram, the son-in law of Ahab with Athaliah his wife, ruled Israel for four years, before his father Jehoshaphat the King of Judah died.

Having ruled Israel for four years, Jehoram then ruled both Israel and Judah from Samariah and Jerusalem for another eight years. After ruling Judah for eight years and Israel for 12 years, Jehoram gave the rulership of Judah to his 22 Years old son Ahaziah, who, with his mother resided in Jerusalem. Sometime later, Jehoram king of Israel and his son Ahaziah king of Judah joined forces in a war against King Hazael of Syria, in which Jehoram was wounded and he returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his badly infected stomach wounds.

By this time, Ahaziah had ruled Judah for near on 12 months and he later went to Jezreel to visit his father Jehoram, where his father was killed by Jehu who was to become King of Israel, King Ahaziah saw what had happened and fled in his chariot, not to Jerusalem where the people hated him, but toward the town of Beth Haggan, where he was wounded by Jehu’s men, but he managed to get to the city of Megiddo in the land of Samaria, where the Israelite authorities handed him over to Jehu’s men who killed him

As soon as King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learnt of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed. Only Ahaziah's son Joash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half-sister. She took him and his nurse into a bedroom in the Temple and hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. For six years Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple, while Athaliah ruled Judah as queen in Jerusalem.

But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple, where he made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash and gave them the following orders: “When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace; another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards. The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king. You are to guard King Joash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed.”

The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him — those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty. He gave the officers the and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple, and he stationed the men with drawn swords all round the front of the Temple, to protect the king. Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Joash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. He was surrounded by the officers and the trumpeters, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the temple area, so he ordered the army officers: “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

TO BE CONTINUED.