The Failed King: Jehoram 2 Chronicles 21:1-20

Remember Vinko Bogatej? He was a ski-jumper from Yugoslavia who, while competing in the 1970 World Ski-Flying Championship in Obertsdorf, West Germany, fell off the takeoff ramp and landed on his head. Ever since, the accident has been used to highlight "the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" on ABC's "Wide World of Sports." Bogatej was hospitalized after the spill, but he recovered and now works in a foundry in Yugoslavia. Doug Wilson, a producer for ABC, interviewed him last year for a special anniversary edition of the show. "When we told him he's been on the program ever since 1970," says Wilson, "he couldn't believe it. He appears on television 130 times a year."

-A life of disobedience is a pathway to destruction

I. Jehoram Rejects God’s Blessings vv. 1-7

This morning, we are looking at another king of Judah, Jehoram

Jehoram is blessed in a lot of ways

He is the son of a godly king, Jehosophat

He inherits a kingdom that is marked by peace and prosperity

He has many brothers, but his father had the foresight to provide for each of them and spread them out to reduce the potential for conflict between them

However, this was not enough for Jehoram:

He seeks out his brothers as threats to his reign and killed all of them, along with some of the princes of Israel

He operated with the same mindsets that we fight today:

He did not trust God’s ability to provide security for him and his kingdom (lack of faith)

He could not be satisfied with all the Lord had done for him (discontent)

He viewed God’s blessings in the lives of others as a threat (envy)

How does this happen?

The chronicler makes a key point: He has married the daughter of Ahab (this is a good reminder to not be unequally yoked)

As a result, he walks in the ways of Ahab

Even with all of this, the Lord is patient and does not wish to destroy Jehoram; He will not destroy Jehoram for the sake of His covenant with David

There is a danger for us here, even as believers: we have been the recipients of God’s amazing grace, yet we live in a way that denies the gift we have received!

I have been guilty of ignoring gifts. I’m blessed with a really great team of folks that I serve with and around Christmas, we usually exchange some small gifts. One of our team members gave each of us a coffee cup with a few packs of hot chocolate mix in it a few years ago. I drink a lot more coffee than hot chocolate, so I decided to save it for a “special occasion”. It sat on my desk for month, then I got embarrassed and moved it off of my desk and into a storage area just off of my office. Truth be told, I was thoughtless. At this point, I’ve rejected the gift and in so doing, I’ve rejected the giver of the gift. Is it possible that we do that with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Romans 8:31–32

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)

II. Jehoram Ignores God’s Warnings vv. 8-15

God is a good father who will not leave His children alone when they are in sin and God speaks here in several ways:

He speaks through circumstances

Edom revolts (successfully) and for the first time in the history of Judah they are no longer in control of the situation

The turmoil should have caused Jehoram to turn to the Lord, but Jehoram does the opposite; he sets up places of pagan worship in the hill country of Judah and intentionally led people away from God

He also speaks through His prophet, Elijah

Elijah clarifies a few things

First, Elijah reminds Jehoram of the godly examples of his father and grandfather

Second, he addresses the specifics of Jehoram’s sins and the impact that they have made on others

He led the people away from God

He murdered his own family

Third, Elijah warns Jehoram of some specific consequences of his actions

The Lord will bring a plague on the people and everything under Jehoram’s command

The Lord will afflict Jehoram with a very specific kind of digestive tract disease that is going to be both grotesque and painful

The thing that I think we need to pay attention to here is really shocking: Jehoram just doesn’t seem to care

His sin is going to afflict the people, but he doesn’t care

His sin is going to impact his family, but he doesn’t care

His sin is going to cost his life, but he doesn’t care

We must understand the destructive nature of willful sin!

Kris Lackey thought he had hurricane-proofed his manuscripts. An English professor at the University of New Orleans, he had saved his fiction and papers (including the novel he had half-finished) via hard drive, flash drive, and hard copy. But as the murky waters continued to rise and he was forced to evacuate his home, he left his papers and computer equipment behind. Even so, he left them in high places—tables and bookshelves well out of harm's way. He was, by no means, expecting the 11 feet of water that completely besieged his house during Hurricane Katrina.

Returning more than a month later, Lackey found pages floating in mud, completely indecipherable, as well as what was left of his flash and hard drives. Nothing was retrievable. Nothing.

Proverbs 29:1

[1] He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,

will suddenly be broken beyond healing. (ESV)

III. Jehoram Experiences God’s Judgment vv. 16-20

The Lord did exactly what He promised

Jehoram faced the wrath of enemy armies from the Philistines and Ethiopians

They carried away his treasure

Worse, they carried away his sons and wives, except the youngest

Jehoram has no provision, no protection, and no progeny

Interestingly, the Lord deprived Jehoram of what he schemed so deliberately to achieve

He wanted to secure the kingdom for himself and his sons

Now, there may not even be a son to pass the kingdom along to

But on a personal level, God sent the judgment of illness on Jehoram He proclaimed

The end of Jehoram’s life was marked by two years of misery

He dies in an embarrassing, debilitating, painful way, and that became his legacy

The final word on Jehoram is tragic: “He died to no one’s regret”

Neither heaven nor earth mourned Jehoram

In spite of all that God blessed him with, the world was better off without him!

In his pursuit of greatness, Jehoram missed it completely!

Quiz time, folks--who invented dynamite? Do I hear the answer: Alfred Nobel! In fact in 1867, Nobel received U.S. patent number 78317 for his dynamic invention. That this explosive instead of being used peacefully for blasting the rocks during mining operations (as was originally nobly intended by Nobel) ending up as a destructive weapon used for destroying properties, limb and life was not this brilliant scientist’s fault at all. Yet all-too-surreal story behind the origin of Nobel prize would have us believe so!

BOOM...in 1888, Alfred had a dubious distinction of reading his own unflattering obituary! When Alfred's brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper mistakenly ran an obituary for Alfred, which called him the "merchant of death." It went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." This horrified Alfred. Not wanting to go down in history with such a horrible epitaph, Nobel created a will that soon shocked his relatives and led to establishment of the now famous Nobel Norwegian Committee which awards Nobel Prize "to all during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

Nobel's last will left approximately 94 percent of his worth to the establishment of five prizes in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The fact that Nobel prize has been awarded for several outstanding achievements which have made this strife-torn, ailments-infested World "a better place to live in" and also the fact that it continues to inspire several to put their best foot forward in various worthy pursuits stands as a shining testimony to a man who aspired to "live nobly even after his death" by recognizing and rewarding the noble deeds of his fellowmen.