2nd Chronicles 22 NO POWER Occasionally there comes on to the page of history a person in a place of leadership who vacillates, is indecisive, finds it hard to know what to do, so looks for others to tell him what to do. In the case of this Ahaziah, his mother was his chief counselor. All his other counselors were more or less sycophants under her domination and so all the counsel he received was wicked and evil - really it seemed she was determined to rid the nation of any vestige of worship to the one true God. Her idolatrous heart ruled her evil mind to do, and promote evil. Perhaps Ahaziah was afraid to oppose her, or perhaps he had been taught so well by her that he accepted wicked counsel without hesitation. We have to be careful who we take counsel from. Not everyone is openly opposed to scriptural practices and principles, but time must be given to consider counsel given as to whether it is based on God's word or some other agenda that may be hidden.
A bad mother who was a bad parent who had bad parents herself cannot be counted on to give good counsel unless she has been born again by the Spirit of God. The influence of Ahab, long dead, still lived on and had expanded from Israel to Judah. A leader may have bad advisers who give bad counsel, but he is responsible for implementing any action by virtue of the position he is in. Each person is responsible for his or her own actions. No one can make me do what I know to be wrong. It is up to me to decide if I am willing to pay the price of doing right, or if I will act on bad advice "in order to keep the peace."
The affinity between the leaders of the northern and southern tribes was close enough that over time leaders had the same name - not at the same time, but indicating a significant affiliation. Ahaziah early in his reign also joined Jehoram of Israel in a war in which his uncle, Jehoram, was seriously wounded. In a visit to show interest and perhaps solidarity, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and they both died the same day in Samaria.
Just because one is from a God-fearing family in one's background, does not make him immune from the righteous justice of God upon him for his iniquity. Because one's grandfather was a good leader and had a good reputation among the people, does not mean we can avoid the consequences of our actions. Ahaziah had God-fearing forbearers, but he lived by the advice of a bad mother, who influenced other bad counselors from Samaria to give bad advice, and he died a violent death in Samaria one year into his reign.
Because of the respect people had for Jehoshaphat, his grandfather, Ahaziah was buried in Jerusalem. He was a powerless king who ruled for one year. It was unlikely that his subjects even knew him because he had gone north and ultimately died there. Bad counselors lead to bad advice. Bad advice leads to bad decisions. Bad decisions lead to bad actions. Bad actions lead to bad results. The people didn't like his father Jehoram. They hardly knew him. Now they were "fair game" for an evil woman, Athaliah, the king's mother to take over leadership. And she did.
Her wickedness knew no bounds. She killed her own grandchildren and al family connections. She was controlled and manipulated by Satan to seek to stop the line of David through which our Lord Jesus Christ would come. There was one woman relative she did not kill who was married to the high priest. God had placed Jehoshabeath in the right place "for such a time as this." How good it is of God to not allow the wickedness of man to thwart His divine purposes of grace. God has His people all over the world in the place of His choosing, doing His will and waiting for His time to do what He wants in His time. Powerless men cannot stop the power of God as it reaches out to others through the Gospel of His grace.