Day 238..."Wicked counsel? How we treat people does matter"

Ahaziah succeeds his father but is also wicked. I am intrigued by the concept of "wicked counsel." In this context, we see counsel can be either good or evil. Is a person about as good as their counsel? When Ahaziah is put to death (due to the killing of sons) there is no successor. Athaliah, the mother, takes over in the void. Later, she will be overthrown and put to death in what she considers treason. Joash becomes king in a "tuck a king in a hideaway" story. Isaiah 41 continues a more upbeat message of hope..."I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it." Perhaps the most compelling teaching of treating the "least of these" well comes from the parable of the "last judgment." How we treat people does matter! This is clear in the parable of the "good Samaritan" and "Lazarus and the rich man."