36 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
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title = "2 Chronicles 21:8–20"
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date = "2025-03-12"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/2Chronicles21.8-20)
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Because of the evil deeds of King Jehoram, God brings about judgement on the land of Judah.
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His father Jehoshaphat had relied on the Lord when Edom attacked alongside Ammon and Moab.
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After the whole coalition army was destroyed, it appears that Judah made Edom a vassal state.
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During Jehoram's reign, Edom rebels and revolts, setting up their own king.
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Jehoram attempts to put a stop to it with his army, but is not successful.
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Verse 10 gives the reason explicitly that it is because he had forsaken the Lord.
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In large part, this forsaking took the form of idol worship, which he promoted among the people by setting up high places.
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His father and grandfather had worked to remove these religious sites so that the Lord would be worshiped in the way He had prescribed, and not any other god.
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Jehoram undid that work and led Judah astray into the idolatry that Israel had been committing for generations.
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Most of the time when the Lord pronounces judgement on someone, He sends a prophet to confront the people in person, but this time Elijah sends a letter.
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Elijah's ministry was in the northern kingdom of Israel, mostly during Ahab's reign.
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The timing is hard to judge, but it may be possible that this letter was delivered after Elijah was taken up in to heaven.
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The judgement Elijah's letter pronounces is very severe.
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It calls out Jehoram for leading Judah into idolatry and also for the murder of his brothers "who were better" than himself. (_v. 13_)
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Because of these evil acts, a great plague will come on the people, including his own house and family, and furthermore his own body will be stricken with a terrible disease.
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And so it came to pass: the plague on the people came in the form of the Philistines and Arabians raiding and pillaging the country.
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They encroached even into Jerusalem to the king's house, taking captive his wives and all of his children except for the youngest.
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"After this" (_v. 18_), Jehoram is stricken with a disease in his bowels, suffering in agony for two years before he dies.
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And no one is sad to see him go.
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He is not given the same honorable burial that his forefathers were given.
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He isn't even buried in the tombs of the kings of Judah.
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The people of Judah are just relieved to have that chapter of their history behind them.
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* * *
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Even when our own ways seem so right to us, grant us the grace to follow You instead.
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