2 Chronicles 21:1-20

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 21

Jehoram becomes king of Judah – 2 Chronicles 21:1-7

v1 Jehoshaphat died and they buried him with his *ancestors in David’s city. Then his son Jehoram replaced him as king. v2 Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael and Shephatiah. They were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. v3 Their father gave to them many gifts of silver and gold. He gave to them many precious things. He gave to them strong cities in Judah. But he gave to Jehoram the right to be king because he was the oldest son.

v4 Jehoram made himself safe as the king of his father’s *kingdom. And he made himself strong. Then he killed all his brothers with the sword. Also, he killed some of the leaders of Judah. v5 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. And he ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem. v6 He lived as the kings of *Israel did. His wife was Ahab’s daughter. So he lived as Ahab lived. And he did what the *LORD considered evil. v7 But the *LORD would not destroy David’s family. That was because of the promise that he had made to David. The *LORD had promised that David’s family would continue for all time.

Verses 1-7 Jehoshaphat died in 849 *BC and they buried him in David’s city. Jehoram, his son replaced him as king. He was 32 years old when he became the king. He ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem. But he had joined in the rule of his father about 8 years earlier. Joram had become king of *Israel in the second year of Jehoram’s rule (2 Kings 1:17). That was in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat’s rule (2 Kings 3:1).

Jehoshaphat had 7 sons. He gave to each son strong cities and many precious things. He left Jehoram in Jerusalem in control of the *kingdom. Jehoram had shared the rule with Jehoshaphat for some years. So, there should have been no competition for the role of king. But as soon as he had control, Jehoram killed his brothers. Also, he killed some of the leaders of Judah.

Jehoram was not a good king like his father. He followed the ways of Ahab. His wife Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. When he made an agreement with Ahab, Jehoshaphat had arranged the marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah.

The *LORD did not destroy Judah because of his promise to David.

The *LORD punishes Jehoram – 2 Chronicles 21:8-20

v8 During Jehoram’s rule, Edom refused the rule of Judah and they chose their own king. v9 So, Jehoram went to Edom with his officers and all his *chariots. The soldiers of Edom surrounded him and his *chariot officers. But during the night, he got past their army. v10 From then until now Edom has refused the rule of Judah. At the same time, the people in Libnah city *turned away from Jehoram. This was because he had *turned away from the *LORD, the God of his *ancestors. v11 Jehoram also built high places to *worship gods on the hills in Judah. He caused the people in Jerusalem to *sin. And he led the people in Judah away from the *LORD.

v12 Then Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the *prophet. Elijah wrote, ‘The *LORD is the God of your *ancestor David. The *LORD says, “You have not lived in the manner of your father Jehoshaphat. You have not lived as Asa, king of Judah lived. v13 But you have lived as the kings of *Israel lived. You led Judah and the people in Jerusalem to *sin against me. You did the same as Ahab and his family did. Also, you killed your brothers, your father’s sons. They were better men than you. v14 So now the *LORD will strike your people with a hard blow. He will punish your children, your wives and everything that you own. v15 You will have a terrible disease in your inner parts. The disease will get worse each day. In the end, it will cause your inner parts to come out.” ’

v16 The *LORD caused the *Philistines to be angry with Jehoram. Also, he caused the Arabs who lived near Cush to be angry with Jehoram. v17 So the *Philistines and the Arabs attacked Judah. They carried away all the wealth of Jehoram’s palace. And they took away his sons and his wives. But they left Jehoram’s youngest son, Jehoahaz.

v18 After this, the *LORD brought upon Jehoram a disease in his inner parts. Nobody could cure this disease. v19 He was sick for two years, and then his inner parts came out because of the disease. He died in terrible pain. The people did not make a fire in his honour as they had done on behalf of his *ancestors.

v20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem. Nobody was sad when he died. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the graves for the kings.

Verses 8-11 The nation called Edom was south and to the east of the Dead Sea. Since the time when David ruled, Edom depended on *Israel and then on Judah. There were some internal troubles in Edom and the king of Edom died. Then the people in Edom chose their own king. He decided to free Edom from the rule of Judah.

Jehoram took his army to fight against Edom. After a long and hard day, the army stopped for a night near a town called Zair (2 Kings 8:21). Jehoram and the *chariot officers were in a separate camp from the rest of the army. It seems that the guards did not do their job very well. During the night the army of Edom got to the camp of Jehoram and the *chariot officers. But Jehoram and the *chariot officers were able to get past the army of Edom.

The rest of Jehoram’s army ran away. They went back home. Jehoram could not make Edom obey him again. At the same time, the people in Libnah city got free from the rule of Judah. Libnah was a city to the south and west of Judah.

The failure of Jehoram was because he had *turned away from the *LORD. He had built again the high places to *worship false gods. He led the people away from the God of their *ancestors. He caused them to *worship foreign gods.

Verses 12-15 The *prophet Elijah was active in the time of Ahab, Ahaziah and the start of the rule of Joram. (See 2 Kings 1:17.) He *prophesied in the northern *kingdom, called *Israel. Joram became the king of *Israel in the second year of Jehoram’s rule in Judah. The second year of Jehoram’s rule was also the 18th year of Jehoshaphat’s rule (2 Kings 3:1). Some time before the *LORD took Elijah from the earth (2 Kings chapter 2), he wrote this letter to Jehoram. So that was after Jehoshaphat died in 849 *BC.

This is what Elijah wrote. Jehoram was a wicked king. He was not like Jehoshaphat or Asa. He lived the same as Ahab and his family. He caused Judah to *turn from the *LORD to the false gods of *Israel. He killed his brothers. So, the *LORD will punish him. The *LORD will punish Jehoram’s people and family. Jehoram will have a terrible disease that will in the end spill out his inner parts.

Verses 16-20 Because of his evil ways, the *LORD used the *Philistines and the Arabs to punish Jehoram. They attacked Judah and they took away Jehoram’s wealth and family. But they left his youngest son, Jehoahaz. Another name for Jehoahaz was Ahaziah.

This was probably a border attack and it did not reach Jerusalem. Jehoram’s palace was probably a palace in the south of Judah. Jehoram’s wife, Athaliah and his youngest son, Ahaziah were probably in Jerusalem. So, the *Philistines and the Arabs did not take them.

Then Jehoram became sick with a disease that the doctors could not cure. The disease got worse during a period of two years. In the end, his inner parts burst out. He died in terrible pain. So, all that Elijah wrote in his letter happened.

At the age of 40, the king died. He had ruled in Jerusalem for 8 years. When he died, nobody was sad. The people did not give any honour to him. They did not make a fire for him. And they did not bury him in the graves of the kings.

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
chariot ~ a kind of cart that soldiers use to fight. Horses pulled it.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Philistines ~ people who lived to the south and west of Judah. They were a nation that fought with the *Israelites.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes false prophets tried to speak a prophecy.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.