8 Oct. King Jehoahaz is saved from the Arameans
“Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled for seventeen years, and he did what the LORD said was wrong.”
“Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. So the LORD was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.”
“Then Jehoahaz begged the LORD, and the LORD listened to him. The LORD had seen the troubles of Israel; he saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating them. He gave Israel a man to save them, and they escaped from the Arameans.”
“The Israelites then lived in their own homes as they had before, but they still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had led Israel to sin, and they continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.”
“Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except 50 horsemen, ten chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like chaff.”
“Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king in his place.”
(2 Kings 13:1-9)
Jehoahaz succeeded Jehu as King of Israel in 813BC. His seventeen year reign was unspectacular except for two things – he followed foreign gods and did what displeased the LORD, and he escaped from under the yoke of the Arameans with foreign assistance.
Like many of the kings before him, Jehoahaz followed the ways of King Jerobaoam (see 1 Kings 12:26-33). He worshipped idols like the two golden bull calves set up at Bethel and Dan; he worshipped Baal and Asherah, and promoted the worship of the Asherah pole which was left standing in Samaria (see 2 Kings 13:6).
As a result, for much of Jehoahaz’s reign, Israel was under the lordship of King Hazael of Aram (Syria), who conquered much of Israel, and treated the Israelites harshly as prophesied by Elisha (see 2 Kings 8:12).
But in 802BC, the LORD sent a leader who saved Israel from the Syrians. Although the Bible does not name this person, it is likely that the foreign assistance came from Pharaoh Shoshenk I, the King of Egypt, who pushed the Arameans back during a campaign ranging across Gilead and Bashan to the Jezreel Valley and the Plain of Sharon.
We know that the ‘saviour’ of the Israelites was probably the king of Egypt as his military successes across northern Israel are recorded on the southern outer wall of the Hypostyle Hall adjacent to the Bubastite Portal at Karnak Temple.
The photo shows Pharaoh Shoshenk's victory list at Karnak Temple.
You can read more about Jehoahaz and his son Jehoash @ https://thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/32-the-divided-kingdom-amp-journey-into-exile/pharoah-shoshenk-i-rescues-israel/