Jehoahaz was the king of Israel. Jehoahaz was the son of Jehu, the Israelite commander who assassinated his king and became king in his place. The Bible makes it clear that Jehoahaz’s reign was characterized by evil because he sinned in the same way that Jeroboam did—by allowing idolatry to be practiced throughout Israel. Because of this, the Lord allowed the Arameans under Hazael and Ben-hadad to gain supremacy in the region and oppress Israel.Though the Bible doesn’t make clear exactly how, God provided a deliverer for Israel against the Arameans when Jehoahaz “sought the LORD’S favor … for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel” (2 Kings 13:4). This deliverer may have been an Israelite leader, or it may have been another leader, such as the king of Assyria, who attacked Aram and caused them to withdraw from Israel. Nevertheless, the people of Israel continued to practice idolatry. The extent of Aram’s power over Israel during Jehoahaz’s reign can be seen by the fact that when he came to power, all of Gilead (the entire eastern half of the country) had already been lost to them during the reign of Jehu, his father (2 Kings 10:32–33).