He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Chronicles 21:6).

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly (2 Chronicles 22:2-3).

If you have been keeping up with the names of the kings, you will remember that Ahab was one of the most wicked kings of Israel. He gained such a reputation because of his marriage to Jezebel, the wicked Phoenician princess. So how was it that such a wicked king's daughter would marry Jehoram, a prince of Judah?

Well, Jehoram's father, Jehoshaphat, decided that he could heal Judah and Israel's age-old frateral bitterness and strife. So he made an alliance with Ahab, even giving his son, the crown prince, in marriage to Ahab's daughter. The only problem was that Ahab remained married to Jezebel and did not cease from doing wickedly. Jehoshaphat also did not follow God's prophetic warning against this alliance wth Israel, an enemy of God. 

As a result, Jehoram's wife corrupted him, inciting him to kill all his brothers and to turn from following the LORD. 

In the same way, when Ahaziah succeeded Jehoram as king of Judah, he also did wickedly because he was influenced by his mother, Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri, whose son was Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. 

Therefore, we have two (of many) examples of how a wicked wife and a wicked mother could corrupt a king and destroy a nation and how a godly king's alliance with a wicked king could doom the generations after him to judgment. We understand that family lineage is important, not because of racial or ethnic bias, but because of moral influence. Godly families tend to produce godly children. Ungodly families tend to produce ungodly children. 

Singles, be careful who you choose for a spouse. Parents, be mindful who you have influence and train your kids. And all of us should be careful who we choose as friends. Remember, it is far easier for the wicked to "bring down" the righteous than for the righteous to "bring up" the wicked. Do not be "unequally yoked"! (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) While we can be a witness for Christ to the godless, we must not be too entangled with them.

If we do not learn from the lessons of biblical history, we will be doomed to repeat their mistakes. 

He [Jehoram] walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Chronicles 21:6).

Ahaziah [Jehoram's son] was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. He did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction (2 Chronicles 22:2-4).

The influence of an ungodly wife was stronger than the influence of a godly father. This ungodly wife would then become an ungodly mother to influence her child to do evil. Of course we are speaking of Athaliah, the wife of Jehoram, the daughter of King Ahab, the granddaughter of King Omri, both very wicked kings of Israel. Remember also that Ahab had married Jezebel, who introduced Baal worship in Israel. Thus, Athaliah was a product of their marriage, as also was her wickedness.

It is not without reason that there is repeated mention of wives and mothers in the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah. A cursory study will reveal how influential they were on their husbands' and children's character. Although very little is mentioned of the godly influence of some,  there is much written with respect to their evil influence. They are the spiritual daughters of Eve, who gave the forbidden fruit to her husband, Adam, which imperiled the entire human race with a perpetual curse. They reflect the ungodly daughters of Cain, who turned the godly sons of Seth to become evil, so that God had to destroy that entire generation with a great flood. They follow in the footsteps of Canaanite women, who were influential enough to turn even wise Solomon to forsake his fear of God and go toward the folly of idol worship. Is it no wonder that when Satan afflicted Job, taking away his wealth and his children, he left Job's wife? She was the first one to encourage Job to curse God (Job 2:9). She was Satan's ally to make Job stumble.

Now, there are clearly examples of godly women in the Bible as well, but I mention some among the larger number of ungodly examples to highlight the strength of their influence in keeping with the message in our present reading.

Brothers, be wary of your wives and mothers and mother-in-laws, for they can be a powerful influence, whether for good or for evil. If God has blessed you with a godly wife and mother and mother-in-law, praise the Lord! Otherwise, understand that they can be a strong force for great spiritual harm to you and your children. 

Therefore, I encourage you to do this. While you may not be able to much influence your mother and mother-in-law, you can at least pray for them. But you can influence your wife by fulfilling your spiritual responsibility to her, which is to love her as Christ loved the church and instructing her in God's Word, just as the Lord commanded (cf. Ephesians 5:25-28). 

Women, know that you have this strong influence, particularly to influence in an evil way; therefore, I pray that God may grant you grace to submit to your husbands in everything as to the Lord (cf. Ephesians 5:22-24), to resist the Edenic curse to usurp your husband's authority, and to pursue purity and reverence for God (cf. 1 Peter 3:3). I would encourage you against spending any time in outward adornment, which our present culture dictates, but cultivate your inner beauty:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight (1 Peter 3:3-4).

Also, pursue faith, love and holiness with all propriety (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15). It is as you do these things with submission that you become the kind of spiritual partner to your husband as God has designed you to be, as well as the kind of godly example for your children. However, as you fail in these things, you can also become a great detriment to both your husband and your children. It ought to be no badge of honor that great and noble kings have fallen on account of the influence of your gender. 

Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest. (2 Chronicles 24:2 NLT)

But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice. They decided to abandon the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 24:17, 18 NLT)

We are told that while Jehoiada the priest was living, Joash listened to him. But after Jehoiada died, Joash listened to the ungodly leaders of Judah. How is it that the king that took such initiative to repair the Temple of the LORD would now so quickly abandon it? The impression one gets is that Joash rarely thought for himself, nor exercised any real authority, but relied on his advisers, whether Jehoiada the priest or the leaders of Judah. Thus, we read in the parallel account in 2 Kings that Joash only pursued what pleased the LORD because Jehoiada the priest directed him to do so. 

All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. (2 Kings 12:2 NLT)

Even when he tried to take initiative with respect to repairing the Temple of the LORD, no one listened to him, and he had to get Jehoiada's help to get things moving forward (2 Chronicles 24:4-6). And so when Jehoiada died, the most signficiant influence upon King Joash were the leaders of Judah, who led him to abandon the LORD and pursue idols. 

What do I learn from this? Many leaders make much ado about themselves and try to get people to follow them. So then, as long as the leader is good and leads them in a right way, those that they influence will also pursue the right way. However, when they are gone, then the people become aimless and lost until a new leader directs them. And if the new leader is evil or leads the people in a wrong way, the people still follow, because they have never learned to think for themselves, only to follow. 

Those of you that consider me any kind of a leader know that I've never encouraged anyone to follow me or even to follow my words, but I have always directed you to read and learn God's Word for yourselves and follow Him. For what good is it if you listen to me and follow me one moment and then, when someone more charismatic and more persuasive comes, you follow them. But if you learn the Word of God for yourselves, then you can evaluate everyone by that standard. Then you will not be moved by the strength of one personality over another but rather by God's truth. This is how Paul resolved the division and quarreling over personalities in the Corinthian church:

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. (1 Corinthians 4:6 NIV)

Both Paul and Apollos, as any other leader, were to be evaluated by the Word of God. Paul wisely pointed to God's Word and to Christ rather than to the strength of his leadership or the persuasiveness of his words. This is why he also wrote, 

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1 NASB)

Paul never says "Follow me." Athough some translations use the word "follow," it is a poor English rendering of a word that is more appropriately translated, as here in the NASB, "be imitators." Regardless of the translation, the context makes clear that Paul is not pointing to himself but to Christ, and that the Corinthian believers should follow Paul's example only as they see him following Christ. 

This is what I encourage every Christian leader to do. Don't set up a cult of personality around yourselves. This happens when you try to use your position of authority to silence any perspective that does not coincide with your own. It is the Lord we follow. And it is His Word alone that commands such loyalty. But when any leader defines his church or organization based on his own personal beliefs, rather than on Christ and the Word of God, then the church or organization can easily devolve into a cult of personality. 

Friends, I would enccourage you to take Paul's instruction to heart, and as God provides you the opportunity for leadership and influence, may you always communicate this attitude: "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ," or perhaps more appropriately, "Be imitators of me, only as I also am of Christ."

 This makes me question how I react when someone "forsakes" me. The command to "love my neighbor" goes right out the door when I feel wronged by someone.  That is why the Love of God is so much greater than any love that I could possibly have for someone. Even though the Lord instructed us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37) the truth is that God's love for us is greater than any love we could possibly give to Him.

Another sad, tragic story in the history of Israel is recoreded here in today's reading. Much of political turmoils were followed by Joash's reformation under the advice of the godly priest Jehoiadah, and it seemed nation of Israel was moving in a right direction. The death of Jehoiadah, however, left Israel vulnerable to influences of foreigner in the King's court, and Israel and her king backslided again into the wickedness. How we start our spiritual journey is important with no doubt but we can see how much more important it is to end it right. That's why the Scriptures keep telling us about perseverance, faithfullness, endurance, and patience. When apostle Paul said about love, the first character of love that he mentioned was patience in 1 Corinthians 13:1. Let us continue to persevere in our walk with Christ whether we feel like it or not, whether we are in a good mood or not, whether we are prosperous or not, whether the world around is as it shouold be or not, whether God works in our lives the way we want or not, whether His care and love is visible to our eyes or not! Have a great day today!