2 Chronicles 21:1 "Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead."
2 Chronicles 21:20 "Thirty and two years old was he when he
began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without
being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the
sepulchres of the kings."
This morning, I use the first and the last verses of this particular chapter
concerning Jehoram, king of Judah. He was the oldest son of Jehoshaphat and had
six brothers. King Jehoshaphat had left all of his sons in a very good position
as far as earthly wealth. He left them much silver and gold and also gave them
fenced cities. But Jehoram was the oldest, so Jehoshaphat gave him the throne
of Judah. The first thing Jehoram did was to kill all his brothers. He then
built high places in the mountains where idolatrous worship and activities
occurred. He had married the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. Apparently she
influenced him against the ways of the Lord and he followed in the way of the
world. To say Jehoram was a wicked king would be an understatement.
The surrounding nations rose up against him. The Edomites revolted against him.
It would be safe to say Jehoram was not "the most popular man in
town". It would be tempting to just pass over Jehoram and go to the next
king, but we are studying all the kings and the manner in which their actions
affected the nation - both positive and negative. For Jehoram, it's sad to say
that his time of reign seems to be nothing but negative for him and for the
nation. Because he was disobedient to the things of God, there came great
judgments against him. The Lord sent a great plague against his household.
Jehoram had a terrible sickness in his bowels which eventually killed him. The
Philistines and the Arabians were stirred against him to fight.
I am going to finish this devotion with an analogy that is often used at
funerals. On every tombstone there are two dates: the date of birth and the date
of death. Between those two dates is a dash. That dash represents the testimony
concerning our lives. We cannot control the date of birth nor the date of
death. We can, by God's help, make a difference during the time of the
"dash". We read concerning Jehoram, "He reigned in Jerusalem
eight years, and departed without being desired." Can you imagine? No one
wanted anything to do with Jehoram when he died. What a waste of a
"dash". May God help each of us, by His grace and mercy, to do
the very best we can during this time on earth.