Beware of Bad Friends and influences. (2 Kings 8: 16-29)

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is an in-depth, daily study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes: Beware of Bad Friends and Relatives. (2 Kings 8: 16-29)

Parents warn their children about the friends they keep. Youth leaders warn teenagers about relationships. And Scripture itself says that  “bad company corrupts good character.”

 Why?

Because relationships are powerful. They can lift you toward Christ… or quietly pull you away from Him.

 Today, we’re stepping back into a passage that reads almost like a case study in the danger of unhealthy influence. Two kings. Two family lines. Two tragic stories. And in both cases, the downfall didn’t begin on the battlefield… it began at home.

Transcript

Beware of bad friends and Relatives. (2 Kings 8: 16-29)

If you’re a parent — or if you’ve ever been a child — you’ll know this truth instinctively: the people closest to us shape us the most.

Parents warn their children about the friends they keep. Youth leaders warn teenagers about relationships. And Scripture itself says that  “bad company corrupts good character.”

Why?

Because relationships are powerful. They can lift you toward Christ… or quietly pull you away from Him.

Today, we’re stepping back into 2 Kings chapter 8  and into a passage that reads almost like a case study in the danger of unhealthy influence. Two kings. Two family lines. Two tragic stories. And in both cases, the downfall didn’t begin on the battlefield… it began at home.

So let’s open the text together….

16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years

We’re told that “Jehoram son began his reign in Judah.”  

Now, Jehoshaphat — his father — was a good king. A godly king. A man who, despite his flaws, genuinely sought the Lord.

You would think that growing up under a godly father… serving alongside him as co‑regent for five years… watching him lead the nation… would shape Jehoram into a faithful man.

But it didn’t.

Verse 18 tells us why

He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 

There it is.

The hinge.

The turning point.

The quiet, relational drift that became a national disaster.

Jehoram didn’t follow his father’s example. He followed his wife’s influence, and she was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.

And if you know anything about Jezebel, you know that this is not going to end well.

Instead of leading Judah toward the Lord, Jehoram dragged the nation deeper into idolatry. He even murdered his own brothers to secure the throne. A good father couldn’t outweigh a destructive marriage. A godly heritage couldn’t compete with a godless influence.

And that’s the first warning in this passage:

Bad relationships can undo the best foundations.

We often imagine ourselves as independent thinkers — immune to influence. But Scripture, experience, and human nature all say otherwise.

Years ago, I read a short article called “Like Glasses, People Come in Pairs.”  

The idea was simple: people rarely operate as isolated individuals. We are shaped, profoundly, by the people closest to us. Their attitudes become ours. Their fears become ours. Their values become ours.

And sometimes, their sins become ours.

Jehoram is Exhibit A.

He had a godly father… but an ungodly spouse.

And the spouse won.

So today, as we walk through this passage, I want you to keep one question in mind:

Who is shaping you?

Not who should be shaping you…

Not who you wish was shaping you…

But who actually is.

Because 2 Kings 8 is going to show us, painfully, what happens when we let the wrong people steer our hearts.

Relationships shape us — often more than we realise. And because of that, Scripture repeatedly calls us to walk in wisdom.

If you’re dating someone, and the people who know you best have concerns… pause. Pay attention. Ask why. Sometimes the people around us, especially those who’ve walked with the Lord longer can see things we can’t. They may notice patterns, attitudes, or spiritual mismatches that aren’t obvious when emotions are involved.

Because the truth is simple:

We live in relationships, and relationships influence us, spiritually, emotionally, morally.

And that influence begins with the person closest to you: your spouse.

So, lt me advise you, if you’re Single… Marry a believer.

Scripture is clear: “Only in the Lord.”  

Not because God wants to restrict you, but because He knows the power of spiritual unity — and the danger of spiritual division.

But What If You’re Already Married to an Unbeliever?

That happens. And the Bible speaks directly to it.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:

If your unbelieving spouse is willing to stay with you, don’t leave them,  because your presence sets them apart.

It doesn’t save them,” but is sets them apart, it places them in the sphere of gospel influence.

Peter adds in 1 Peter 3, that You can win your spouse over by the way you live.

Not guaranteed — but possible.

But there’s another side of that because influence works both ways.

A believing spouse can influence an unbeliever toward Christ…

but an unbelieving spouse can also influence a believer away from Christ.

And that’s exactly what we’re seeing in 2 Kings 8.

Jehoram didn’t draw his wife toward faith, she pulled him toward idolatry.

Jesus Himself warned about this dynamic. In Luke 14 He says:

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children… he cannot be My disciple.”

Strong words.

But “hate” here doesn’t mean hostility — it about priority.

It means: If you’re going to follow Me, I must be your first authority.

Just like an apprentice must listen to the master craftsman… a disciple must listen to Christ above every other voice, even the voices they love most.

So even if you’re married to an unbeliever, you don’t have to be shaped by their unbelief…. Christ must remain the centre.

Back to 2 Kings.

Jehoram followed his wife into idolatry, and the consequences were immediate:

He did evil in the sight of the Lord.

He weakened the nation spiritually.

And he weakened the nation politically.

But then comes a surprising line — a bright thread of hope woven into a dark story.

🌟 God Is Faithful Even When We Are Not

Verse 19 says:

Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Jehoram was unfaithful.

But God remained faithful, because God keeps His promises.

And that’s true for us as well.

If you’ve trusted Christ, your salvation rests on His faithfulness, not yours. 

But as a Father, God still disciplines His children.

And that’s exactly what happens next.

20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 21 So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time. 23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

(2 Kings 9: 20-24)

Edom — a nation previously subdued under Jehoshaphat , revolts.

Jehoram tries to respond, but he’s spiritually weak… and now politically weak. He barely escapes with his life.

His leadership collapses because his spiritual life collapsed first.

And Scripture uses this moment to teach us something important. That sometimes God’s discipline shows up as weakness.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says that some believers who mishandled the Lord’s Supper experienced:

Weakness, sickness, even premature death

Now obviously not all weakness or illness is discipline, sometimes you just need a good night’s sleep or a walk around the block. But some weakness is discipline and God’s loving correction to bring us back to Him.

Jehoram’s weakness as a king was God’s discipline.

Our weakness may be physical, emotional, or circumstantial — but the principle is the same:

God loves His children too much to let them drift without consequence.

So, we’ve just watched a king follow the influence of his wife instead of the example of his godly father. He plunged Judah deeper into idolatry, weakened the nation, and ultimately weakened himself. 

Scripture tells us he died painfully, and then his son reigned in his place.”

And that brings us to the second story in this passage — the story of Jehoram’s son.

A New King… With the Same Old Problem.

25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.

28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.

(2 Kings 8: 25-29)

This is where the chapter gets complicated, because the names overlap. There’s a Jehoram in the north and a Jehoram in the south. 

There’s an Ahaziah in the north and an Ahaziah in the south. 

A lot of Christians don’t even notice this. But to keep it simple, we’re now talking about Ahaziah, king of Judah in the southern kingdom and he began to reign in the twelfth year of the northern king. He iss twenty‑two years old and reigned for only for one year. 

And then verse 27 gives us the key:

“He walked in the way of the house of Ahab… for he was the son‑in‑law of Ahab.”

So, there it is again. Another king, another downfall and another destructive influence, this time, not a wife, but a father‑in‑law.

Jehoram followed his wife.

Ahaziah followed his wife’s father.

Different relationships, but same result.

The principle is simple:

The people you attach yourself to will shape your spiritual direction.

And this isn’t just an Old Testament idea. Paul makes the same point in the New Testament, and he makes it in one of the most important chapters in the Bible.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is defending the resurrection. Some in the Corinthian church were denying it. Paul confronts them and says,“If Christ is preached as risen, how can some among you say there is no resurrection?”

Then he argues logically: If there’s no resurrection, why risk your life for Christ? Why endure persecution? Why sacrifice anything? If there’s no resurrection, then: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

In other words, if this life is all there is, then live for pleasure.

But then Paul gives the warning — the famous line, “Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits.”

That’s not a quote from the Old Testament. Paul is quoting a secular playwright  called Meander who lived centuries before Christ. And he quotes him experts say to make sure that even the pagans understood this principle.

Evil is contagious and bad company corrodes good character.

If you surround yourself with people who deny truth, dismiss holiness, or mock obedience, eventually their attitudes will rub off on you.

And that’s exactly what happened in 2 Kings 8.

Ahaziah didn’t fall because of a political alliance. He didn’t fall because of military pressure. He fell because of family influence, because he married into the house of Ahab.

But all this isn’t Just History. It’s a Warning

It doesn’t have to be a spouse. 

It doesn’t have to be a father‑in‑law.

It doesn’t even have to be a relative.

It can be:

A friend, a co‑worker, a mentor, a dating relationship, a business partner, a social circle you’re involved in, a person you admire, a personality you follow online….

Anyone who pulls you away from Christ is a danger to your soul.

George Washington once said:

“Associate with men of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

Benjamin Franklin said:

“He who lies down with dogs rises up with fleas.”

So, even secular wisdom recognises the power of influence.

And also be aware that when a believer drift, God will discipline.

Ahaziah followed the wrong people, and he paid the price.

He went to war.

He was wounded.

He retreated to Jezreel to recover… but he never did.

He became physically weak,  just as Jehoram became politically weak.

And Scripture ties this directly to divine discipline.

Not all weakness is discipline, sometimes you just need rest, or better habits, or a doctor. But some weakness is discipline, God’s loving correction to bring His children back.

Ahaziah’s story ends with sickness and death, a tragic reminder that spiritual compromise always has consequences.

All right — I think the point has been made. If you had to summarise this entire passage in one sentence, Paul already did it for us in 1 Corinthians 15:33:

“Evil companions corrupt good habits.”

If someone asks you later what today’s episode was about, that’s your answer. Two kings in Judah — both of them spiritually derailed because they allowed the wrong people to shape their lives.

One followed his wife. The other followed his father‑in‑law. And both followed them straight into idolatry.

The principle is timeless: The company you keep will shape the character you keep.

But before we close, we need to make an important clarification.

Does This Mean We Avoid All Relationships With Unbelievers?

No — and Scripture is very clear about that.

Someone will inevitably say, “But Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.” And that’s true. He did. And we must.

Paul even says in 1 Corinthians 5 that if we tried to avoid all unbelievers, we’d have to leave the world entirely. 

You can’t isolate yourself from the world, and you shouldn’t. Parents can’t isolate their children either. But they can, and must, insulate them.

So, where’s the line to be drawn?

The Line Is Influence.

Here’s the principle I’ve taught for years:

The moment they begin influencing you more than you influence them, that’s the line.

You can have relationships with unbelievers. 

You should have relationships with unbelievers.

How else will they see Christ?

But you must guard your heart.

You must guard your habits and you must guard your spiritual direction.

Because influence is subtle, it’s slow and it’s powerful.

A closing illustration, more a fable really.,

A farmer was frustrated by crows eating his corn. So, he loaded his shotgun, crawled quietly through the field, and fired into the flock.

What he didn’t realise was that his friendly pet parrot, a sociable little bird who loved making friends had flown out to join the crows.

When the farmer gathered the fallen birds, he found his parrot wounded, wing broken, but still alive. He carried him home, and the children, horrified, cried out, “Father, what happened to Polly?”

Before the farmer could answer, the parrot croaked out his last  words:

“I was keeping… bad company.”

And that’s the message of 2 Kings 8.

Bad company can wound you.

Bad company can weaken you.

Bad company can derail you spiritually.

So, choose your influences wisely.

Outro:

Thank you for spending this time in the Word with me today.

In our next episode, we step into 2 Kings 9, where the theme shifts dramatically. There, we watch God raise up a new king, and with him comes a powerful reminder about God’s anointing, God’s calling, and God’s authority in our lives.

If today’s episode warned us about the wrong influences…

the next episode will encourage us with what happens when God Himself places His hand on someone.

I hope you’ll join me for that.