Rehoboam, the first king of Judah, was evil. He and his cousin Maakah had a son named Abijah, who succeeded him as king and was also evil. With God’s help, Abijah killed half a million Israelites.¹

The next king of Judah was Abijah’s son Asa, and he always did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Asa brutally oppressed his own people, led them to steal building materials from the king of Israel, and imprisoned people when they criticized him. He took money from God’s treasury and used it to pay the king of Aram to fight against God’s people Israel. God was displeased with this, because he had wanted to fight against Israel himself. So then Asa developed a severe foot disease, and he died two years later.

Asa’s son, King Jehoshaphat, was devoted to the ways of the Lord, and he always did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just like his father. He allied himself with Ahab, the evil king of Israel, and with Ahab’s evil sons.

Jehoshaphat had seven sons, and his firstborn Jehoram, who nobody liked, succeeded him as king of Judah. Then Jehoram murdered all his brothers for some reason. Jehoshaphat’s evil son Jehoram married Ahab’s wicked daughter Athaliah, and their son Ahaziah became the next evil king of Judah.

The end.

The moral of the story

Don’t do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Do what is actually right.