HE DEPARTED WITHOUT BEING DESIRED

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: II CHRONICLES 21




INTRODUCTION:


  1. In the Bible are recorded many births and many deaths.
  2. Many men died surrounded by loving family and friends.  There was much weeping and mourning.
  3. First Samuel 25:1 says, "And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah."
  4. And I Samuel 28:3 says, "Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him..."
  5. "And all Israel had lamented him..."
  6. What a great contrast we see here in our text, which records the death of King Jehoram.  None lamented him. Nobody cared for him while he lived, and nobody missed him when he died.
  7. "Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired" (II Chron. 21:20).
  8. In modern vernacular, some would say, "Good riddance to bad rubbish!"  The people of Judah were glad to get rid of him.   His was a life utterly wasted.
  9. King Jehoram was the oldest son of King Jehoshaphat (II Chron. 21:1-3).
  10. King Jehoshaphat was a good and godly king, but he made some mistakes.  His biggest mistake was cultivating a close friendship with Ahab, the wicked king of Israel.
  11. Jehu the seer rebuked king Jehoshaphat because of this unscriptural alliance with King Ahab. Jehu said to him, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD" (II Chron. 19:2).
  12. However, Jehu did acknowledge that Jehoshaphat was a man of God, and so he added, "Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God" (19:3).
  13. One of the tragic results of Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab was the marriage of his oldest son with Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab (21:6, 13).
  14. Second Chronicles 21 is a sad chapter.  And the saddest verse is verse 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."
  15. King Jehoram was denied the privilege of being buried in the sepulchres of the kings.
  16. There was no crying and lamenting and mourning at his funeral service.  There were no family members to weep at his bedside when he died (21:18, 19). That's because they were all dead (21:4, 14).
  17. All except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons (21:17b).  He was spared in order to preserve the kingly line (cf. 21:7).   Jehoahaz is also known as Ahaziah (22:1).
  18. Through the house of David, and through the lineage of Jehoahaz (Ahaziah) would come the promised Messiah.
  19. Regarding the death of King Jehoram, there was "no burning for him" (21:19).  This refers to the custom of burning various kinds of sweet spices around the corpse (cf. 16:14).
  20. This morning we will consider four reasons why King Jehoram died without being desired.

 

I.   HIS GREED LED HIM TO MURDER HIS OWN BROTHERS (21:1-5).

II.  HIS FOOLISHNESS LED HIM TO CHOOSE THE WRONG WIFE (21:6).

III. HIS REBELLIOUSNESS LED HIM TO A LIFE OF FAILURE (21:10).

IV. HIS IMPENITENCE LED TO THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (21:12-20).

 

I. HIS GREED LED HIM TO MURDER HIS OWN BROTHERS (21:1-5).

  1. Cain, the first murderer, killed his brother Abel. But Jehoram killed all six of his own brothers (21:4; cf. 21:2), "and divers also of the princes of Israel."
  2. He was already king.  In fact, he reigned as coregent with his father during his father's final years. Second Kings 3:1 says he reigned twelve years.  Second Chronicles 21:20 says he reigned eight years.  That is because he reigned four years with his father.
  3. But though he was already king, and though his father had given great gifts of silver, and gold, and precious things, Jehoram still wasn't satisfied.
  4. Proverbs 27:20 says, " Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied."
  5. Jehoram was not satisfied.  Perhaps he was fearful that one of his brothers would attempt to make a claim for the throne.
  6. The Biblical Illustrator says, "It is impossible for us to be satisfied in any condition where we have not a consciousness of right, a sense of Divine favor, a hope of a bright future, and the pulsation of holy loves."
  7. Jehoram had none of that. He was a cruel, vicious, cold-blooded murderer and so was his wicked wife Athaliah (cf. II Chron. 22:10).
  8. Jehoram and Athaliah probably wanted Jehoram's brothers out of the way so they could not oppose Jehoram's policies of Baal worship (21:6, 11-14).

 

II. HIS FOOLISHNESS LED HIM TO CHOOSE THE WRONG WIFE (21:6).

  1. It is often the case that children tend to copy the weaknesses of their fathers, and not their strengths.  King Jehoshaphat's friendship with wicked King Ahab resulted in his oldest son marrying Athaliah, the ungodly daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
  2. The Bible teaches that Queen Jezebel was an evil influence over her husband King Ahab. First Kings 21:25 says, "But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up."
  3. Now with her daughter married to the king of Judah, Jezebel was able to control both kingdoms -- Israel and Judah.
  4. Jezebel's evil influence is seen in II Chronicles 21:11-13.  Jezebel and Ahab led Israel into Baal worship. Now Baal worship was being promoted in Judah through their wicked son-in-law, King Jehoram.
  5. Proverbs 19:14 says, "A prudent wife is from the LORD."
  6. Many of us can say "Amen!" to that.
  7. But unfortunately a wicked wife is not from the LORD. Proverbs 5:5 says, "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."
  8. Athaliah was wicked just like her notorious mother Jezebel.

 

III. HIS REBELLIOUSNESS LED HIM TO A LIFE OF FAILURE (21:10).

  1. Proverbs 13:15 says, "The way of transgressors is hard."
  2. Second Chronicles 21:10 states that the reason God allowed King Jehoram to lose control of Edom and Libnah was "because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers."
  3. We saw last week in our study of Ezra and his trip to Jerusalem that Ezra told the king of Persia, "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him" (Ezra 8:22).
  4. This happened to the northern kingdom of Israel. And it eventually happened to Judah.
  5. Moses warned the children of Israel this would happen if they forsook God (cf. Deut. 29:18-29).
  6. We can only wonder how much time America has left.  America is under the judgment of God for many reasons:
  7. America has forsaken God.   Religious apostasy has ruined most of the churches and Christian colleges.
  8. America supports the murder of innocent babies. Nearly 50 million babies have been murdered here in the USA since the Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.
  9. America is under the judgment of God because America has accepted the sin of homosexuality. I read in the paper the other day that Sonny and Cher had a daughter who became a lesbian. Then she had a sex-change operation and married her girlfriend. That is an abomination.
  10. Mayor Bloomberg is urging Republican state senators to get on "the right side of history" by approving Governor Cuomo's so-called "gay marriage" bill.
  11. If Mr. Bloomberg understood the Bible, he would know that it is he who is on the wrong side of history.  If the mayor would take time to read the Bible he could see how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the very things he and Gov. Cuomo are aggressively promoting.
  12. America is becoming increasingly wicked and ungodly. A Lower East Side art gallery has dirty pictures entitled "Porno Paintings," visible to anyone walking by on Orchard Street. Parents are upset because their children can see the smut as they pass by on their way to and from school.   But the sleazy owner of the gallery defended his pictures by saying, they are no longer smut. "Porn is the norm," he said.
  13. I hate to say it but America is getting so bad that perhaps "porn is the norm" today.  Certainly rock music (which is musical porn) has become the norm.  Even in many backslidden churches!
  14. Porn seems to be the norm on many television shows and Hollywood movies.
  15. Jeremiah 5:7-9 says, "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.  They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
  16. Almost every morning when we pick up the newspaper, it's a new sex scandal involving some high profile politician -- President Clinton, Al Gore, John Edwards, Gov. Spitzer, Gov. Paterson, Gov. McGreevey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor Giuliani, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and on and on it goes.
  17. They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife" (Jer. 5:8).
  18. Second Peter 2:14 describes them as "having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin."
  19. America is also under the imminent judgment of God for its betrayal of Israel.  The recent announcement that Israel "must act boldly to advance a lasting peace," ignores the fact that Muslims have stated time and time again that they will not cease fighting till Israel is annihilated.
  20. Benjamin Netanyahu said, "If Muslims lay down their arms, there will be peace with Israel. If Israelis lay down their arms there will be no more Israel."
  21. And Israel is now being pressured to give up the West Bank, the Gaza strip, and East Jerusalem, and go back to the 1967 borders (before the Six-Day War which took place in June 1967) is just the latest in a series of steps designed to bolster the Muslim terrorists and weaken Israel's security.
  22. Genesis 12:3 says, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee."  If we betray Israel, God will surely become a second-rate nation.
  23. Which brings us to our final point.

 

IV. HIS IMPENITENCE LED TO THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (21:12-20).

  1. The prophet Elijah ministered during the early years of King Jehoram's reign.  In II Kings 2:11, we see Elijah translated by a whirlwind into heaven in a chariot of fire.
  2. This letter Elijah wrote to King Jehoram may have been one of the last things he did before he took his trip to heaven (II Chron. 21:12-15).
  3. Elijah is often referred to as a "non-writing prophets."  This simply means that unlike Isaiah and Jeremiah and some of the other prophets, Elijah did not write any books of the Bible.
  4. But he could write as we see here in II Chronicles 21:12.  It is quite a strong letter to write to a king, but apparently it did not lead King Jehoram to repentance.
  5. Elijah condemned King Jehoram for his idolatry and for murdering his six brothers, who were better men than himself (21:13).
  6. It is quite likely that King Jehoram received this letter after Elijah had already been transported into heaven.   Perhaps Elijah wrote it and then gave it to Elisha, with instructions to give it to King Jehoram.
  7. In any event, the letter was like a message from heaven for the wicked king.
  8. I have heard of wayward children receiving letters from their mothers and fathers, after their parents had died and gone to heaven. The messages are often received as if they were sent from heaven, and sometimes this results in genuine repentance.
  9. But King Jehoram did not repent. He was a hard sinner, determined to continue in the path of sin and shame.
  10. Elijah referred to three great kings in his letter: David, Jehoshaphat, and Asa (21:12). These men were not perfect. They had their flaws and they made mistakes. But they had a heart for God.
  11. Rather than following in the godly footsteps of David, Jehoshaphat, and Asa, Jehoram chose to follow the example of wicked King Ahab (21:13).
  12. The Bible says you reap what you sow, and thus King Jehoram was judged by God for his wicked ways (21:14-20).
  13. The Jameison, Faussett, and Brown Commentary says, "His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects."
  14. King Jehoram suffered for two years with this painful bowel disease, until he finally died and went to hell, where the suffering is far more severe.

 

CONCLUSION:

  1. Referring to Jehoram's horrible death, Adam Clarke said, "This must have been occasioned by a violent inflammation: by the same death perished Antiochus Epiphanes, and Herod Agrippa... He was hated while he lived, and neglected when he died; visibly cursed of God, and necessarily execrated by the people whom he had lived only to corrupt and oppress."
  2. There is a sad poem.  I do not know who wrote it, but apparently it could have been written by a sinner like King Jehoram.
  3. I lived for myself, for myself alone,

    For myself and none beside,

    Just as if Jesus had never lived

    And as if He had never died.



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