It’s a sad thing when a righteous father begets a wicked son, right? If we had wicked fathers with good sons then the opposite happens. Jehoshaphat was a good king but made the serious mistake of an alliance with Ahab. Even worse, Jehoshaphat allowed his son Jehoram of Judah to marry the wicked Athaliah. We can read in 2 Chronicles 21 the bad influence that the House of Omri (or referred to as the House of Ahab alternatively) had on him. 2 Chronicles 21:6 says that Jehoram of Judah walked in the ways of the House of Ahab, because the daughter of Ahab, Athaliah, was his wife.
Elijah was termed as “Oh my enemy!” by Ahab in 1 Kings 21. It was all about Naboth’s vineyard which Ahab lusted after. 2 Chronicles 21:4 even mentions the dastardly deed was to murder all his younger brothers. Some of the princes of Israel were also murdered. Was this a plot by Athaliah? It seems to be it considering that Athaliah would later murder the House of David, even her own grandchildren from Ahaziah. Such a wicked event later had a letter from Elijah. How could Elijah have sent it? We need to understand that the Bible has topical and chronological arrangements.
The Apologetics Press seems to offer the answer that I might be looking for:
Interestingly, King Jehoram of Judah is actually mentioned in 1 Kings 1:17—before Elijah is translated into heaven. This verse certainly establishes the fact that Jehoram was alive during the time of Elijah and likely hints at the co-regency of Jehoram and his father King Jehoshaphat (cf. 2 Kings 8:16-24),6 which admittedly may cause some confusion when attempting to make precise chronological judgments regarding certain events in Kings and Chronicles.
Even if the events in 2 Kings 1-8 are recorded in a more strict chronological order, however, and Elijah had actually left Earth prior to Jehoram’s independent reign as king began, there still is no proven contradiction between these passages and what the chronicler recorded about Elijah’s letter to Jehoram. Second Chronicles 21:12 does state that “a letter came to” Jehoram “from Elijah the prophet,” but notice that the text does not say that Elijah personally delivered the letter. One simply cannot prove that the text is implying that Elijah was still alive. It could very well be that the prophet Elijah wrote a prophetic letter about King Jehoram’s future sickness and death, which was delivered to the king (perhaps by Elisha) years after Elijah left the Earth. If uninspired people who pass from this life can leave letters and other forms of communication for family members to read (or watch) after their deaths, could a divinely inspired prophet not have arranged for a letter, which he wrote long before, to be delivered at a particular time after his death? To ask is to answer.
Some people feel that the letter was written before Elijah’s ascension and before the incident. Many times, a prophet is told to deliver a message about what was about to happen. Elijah was given the message that Ahaziah of Israel wouldn’t get well but die instead of sickness. Elijah was told by God Himself that the House of Ahab was destined for ruin. It’s most likely that Elijah himself was told that Jehoram of Judah was about to do that dastardly deed. Later, Elijah would be succeeded by Elisha. I’ll be trying to slow down (for now) since I’m tackling the kings of the two kingdoms.
Jehoram of Judah is mentioned sometime before the ascension. It’s possible that the ascension of Elijah happened after the letter was written. My personal position is that Elijah was still around when the dastardly deed happened. However, the letter, in my opinion, was only read after Elijah had left the Earth for Heaven. I think this letter was far more personal than anything. Maybe, Elijah was given ample time to write the letter before the ascension.
The curse was foretold and Jehoram of Judah would later get struck with an incurable disease. Later, we also read that Jehoram of Judah’s sons were later carried into exile all except Ahaziah who is also known as Jehoahaz. I’m inclined to believe that the desecration of the LORD’s temple happened during Jehoram of Judah’s time. I believe that these sons were so wicked that they broke down the Temple of the LORD to build an altar for Baal-Hammon, at their mother’s command.
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