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C hronicles – E Z R A – N E H E M I A H
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of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s
daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. But the Lord
did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with
David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining
like a lamp forever.
During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and
crowned their own king. So Jehoram went out with his full army and all his
chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but
he went out at night and attacked them under cover of darkness. Even so,
Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah
also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram
had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. He had built pagan
shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem
and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.
Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter:
“This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: You
have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or
your grandfather King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have been as evil as
the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah
to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even
killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. So now the
Lord is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives,
and all that is yours with a heavy blow. You yourself will suffer with a
severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels
come out.”
Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near
the Ethiopians, to attack Jehoram. They marched against Judah, broke
down its defenses, and carried away everything of value in the royal palace,
including the king’s sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah,
was spared.
After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. The disease grew worse and worse, and at the end of two years it
caused his bowels to come out, and he died in agony. His people did not
build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.
Jehoram was t hirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in
Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in
the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
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