Thursday, August 18, 2016

II Chronicles 21: The Saddest Epitaph

"He departed with no one's regret" (vs. 20).

That statement, in regard to the death of King Jehoram, reminds me of a funeral I once did for a man in a former community.  As is my custom, I met with the family to get more information about the deceased and prepare for the memorial service.  When I asked his loved ones what they remembered about their husband and father, what made him special or what they would miss most about him, they just stared blankly back at me.  "There was really nothing special about him," they finally said.

I was blown away.  I resolved then and there that those who know and love me in this life would never issue such a devastating verdict.

Jehoram was a lot like that man.  As a king, he fared very poorly.  He lost territory to the surrounding nations like Edom and Libnah.  He suffered military defeats to the Philistines and Arabs who had even come from as far away as Ethiopia to sack Judah.

Jehoram was a grave disappointment to the true followers of God.  Elijah, for instance, scolded him with a letter for following after the ways of Ahab of Israel.  Jehoram had made high places in the hill country of Judah and had led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness.  Elijah was also displeased that Jehoram had killed his brothers upon his ascension to the throne to keep them from challenging him.

The prophet issued a negative judgment on Jehoram and Judah for his sins: "See, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out, day after day, because of the disease" (vs. 14-15).

Elijah's words came to pass.  "After all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.  In course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his ancestors" (vs. 18-19).  His people buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.  What a disappointment.

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