[0:00] Amen. 2 Chronicles 21, 7-20.
[0:34] So, if you remember, this is following the reign of Jehoshaphat, where Jehoram, his son, has ascended to the throne. He was co-regent with his father for some time.
[0:48] After his father dies, Jehoram strengthens himself. And the first thing that he does after he strengthens himself is that he kills all of his brothers. His brothers were not really perceivably a threat to him.
[1:03] As a matter of fact, they would have been a help. We'll see that in just a moment. But we began to look at the destructive influence of wickedness that was introduced into our lives this past Wednesday night. Because kind of the caveat for why Jehoram did that was because he was walking in the ways of King Ahab, or after the house of Ahab.
[1:22] For verse 6 tells us, for Ahab's daughter was his wife. That is that alliance with Jehoshaphat made with Ahab in the kingdom of the north by marrying his son to Ahab's daughter.
[1:35] And again, we don't want to re-preach that message. But ultimately, what we're seeing is that the enemy is using that sinful alliance to get into the Davidic lineage.
[1:45] And so we see really havoc is wreaked upon the family of David. And the enemy not being the enemy of man, but Satan himself. And one of those aspects is Jehoram kills off all his brothers.
[1:59] And then his wife, Athelia, will actually reign for a while after he dies and kill off... Actually, after his son dies. Kill off what she thinks is every remaining seed of David.
[2:14] But there is this one child that's hid in the temple. So again, we just see the goodness of God there. So we'll finish that chapter up, picking up in verse 7.
[2:24] So verse 6 tells us, Verse 7, Verse 7, and his sons forever. In his days, Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves. Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him, and he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Limnah revolted at the same time against his rule because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot and led Judah astray.
[3:19] Then a letter came to him from Elijah, the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord God of your father David, because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family who were better than you. Behold, the Lord is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great calamity, and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels until your bowels come out because of the sickness day by day. Then the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians. And they came against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the king's house together with the sons and his wives so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. So after all this, the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness. Now it came about in the course of time at the end of two years that his bowels came out because of his sickness, and he died in great pain, and his people made no fire for him like the fire for his fathers. He was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and he departed with no one's regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. Don't you see this evening, the welcomed end of Jehoram, the welcomed end.
[4:50] We said that it is a very sad epithet when it says that he departed with no one's regret. The chronicler, looking back on the history of the nation of Israel as a whole, but in particular the Davidic lineage of Judah, is now highlighting this reign of one of its wicked kings and acknowledges that when he died, no one was really sad about it, no one was upset about it, but rather they were really pleased that that time of reign was over. They didn't make any fire. They didn't do any of the customary, respectful things. He did get buried, but he did not get buried in the tombs of the kings.
[5:29] No one was sorrowful. Rather, it was a welcomed end to a time of wickedness. Now, we know that this is not the last bad king of Judah, nor will it be the last bad king until they go into the Babylonian captivity, but what we see here is this is one man's havoc that he's wreaking upon the people against their will, if you will, because following the reign of Jehoshaphat, his father, his father had done such righteous deeds. He had made some mistakes. Surely he had made this alliance with Ahab and married his son to Ahab's daughter. He had also tried to enter into a further alliance in which they built ships to go look for gold and ophir rather than relying upon what the Lord God was doing to him. There were a couple of mistakes because he was not perfect, but yet what we also see is the good things which Jehoshaphat did, and he restored the rightful understanding of the word of God. He sent scribes and judges and rulers throughout the land so that they would be taught the word of God, and he brought about this renewed interest in worship, and then he is followed by his son who does such wickedness, and we see that the wickedness which he does is very destructive, and it is really a burden upon the people as well because they welcome the end of his reign rather than mourning the end of his reign.
[6:50] In contrast, Jehoshaphat reigned for a number of years, and there's this great fire, and this mourning, and this sorrow because this king who did so much right is no longer there. But what we see is it's really not about the people. We are highlighting the faithfulness of God here as well. So I want you to see just a number of things. First, we see the dependability of the word of God. The dependability of the word of God. Look at what it says. After telling us everything wicked that Jehoram does, at least the most wicked parts, in which he killed his brothers, and he was doing things as the house of Ahab, for Ahab's daughter was his wife.
[7:32] It tells us in verse 7, yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. In spite of all the wickedness, in spite of all of the chaos that's going on, in spite of the reality that not only will he kill his brothers, but he will begin to lead the nation in idolatrous worship, yet the Lord was not willing to destroy him completely. And it is not that God is just loving kind, that is chesed, and gracious, and merciful. It is there's a reason why the Lord is not willing to destroy the house of David, and it tells us because of the covenant which he had made with David. So the reason the Lord is merciful and kind and gracious and patient is because of the covenant which he has made with David. Now, Jehoram is of the lineage of David. He as an individual will be held accountable, but there could have been the moment in which the enemy had gotten his way, and the entirety of the Davidic lineage would have been wiped out, and there would have been destruction upon the land, but that would have made it impossible, at least seemingly impossible, for God to fulfill his covenant promises. But we looked at this Wednesday night, and one of the most telling things is that God is faithful to his covenant even when God's people aren't faithful to him. That the faithfulness of the word of God and the certainty of the promises of God are stronger and greater even than the sinfulness of man. That does not mean that man won't be judged for his sins, because Jehoram most definitely is judged for his sins. We see really in kind of grand detail, gory detail what the chronicler wants us to know how he died. He is judged for his sins, but in the grand scheme of things, the sins of the individual does not stop the promises of the word of God.
[9:27] In the New Testament, we are told that when we are faithless, he is faithful still, not just towards us, but towards his word and towards his covenantal promises.
[9:40] Because God's word is certain, it is true, it is steadfast, it is unchanging, and the promises of God can be counted on. Now that's good news.
[9:53] And it's good news for us, because the reality is, when we open up the Old Testament, we see God making these unconditional covenants, right? And he extends these covenants to undeserving men and women.
[10:08] And God maintains these covenants in spite of, and often in light of, the actions of these men and women. Over and over again, God is faithful.
[10:21] The first unconditional covenant we meet is what we call the Adamic covenant, or the covenant made with Adam and Eve in the garden, where the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. It does not say, because Adam and Eve will be right, or righteous, or because they would do, because he is doing it in light of the wrong, which they have just done.
[10:39] Then we have the Abrahamic covenant. He makes this covenant with Abraham when he calls him out of the land of the Ur, the Chaldeans. Sometimes we have this tendency to put Abraham on a pedestal, so Abraham must have been doing what was right. And we forget that where God called him from was really the seat of idolatrous worship in all of the world.
[10:56] So more than likely, Abraham was a paganistic idolater. And God called him to himself and entered into a covenant with him.
[11:09] Now, he called him. I love this reality is that when Abraham tried to halfway obey, when God called him to leave his land and his family and to come follow him, and then he would enter into it, God renews that covenant.
[11:20] We get this further when we read in Stephen's defense in Acts chapter 6, as he, shortly before Stephen is martyred, it tells us that after Terah, Abraham's father died, then God gave the Abrahamic covenant.
[11:35] That he went so far and he stopped halfway, and it wasn't until after Abraham's father died, which, by the way, he was supposed to leave behind at the Ur of the Chaldeans, then God enters into that covenant agreement and says, I will make of you a great nation, because he finally has his man where he wants him.
[11:53] And then we can progress further and further along. We see the Davidic covenant. You say, well, pastor, you skipped the Mosaic covenant, but the Mosaic covenant is a conditional covenant. It is, I will be your God and you will be my people if, that's a good one for you, by the way, Thomas, it is a conditional covenant.
[12:10] If you obey my laws. But that is not the Davidic covenant, which is unconditional, because God puts no if in there. God puts none of that.
[12:21] There is another one in which he does not put an if, right? And that is our salvific covenant, the covenant that we have in Jesus Christ, that he calls us to himself, and he redeems us and saves us.
[12:32] It doesn't say, if you get your act together. You say, well, it says whoever has faith in him, right? Well, where does faith originate from? That's a great discussion throughout history.
[12:45] Is faith a work or is it a gift or how is it given? Is that something I have to garner on my own when Christ answers that? No one comes to the Father lest he be drawn, right? And no one is drawn unless it's through me.
[12:55] So we understand that it is God who originates all of that within us. So we see this because there are times living out our covenantal relationship in which we will stumble and fall.
[13:06] And it does not give us excuse to stumble and fall. But unless we are reminded of the fact that God's word is dependable, then the enemy will tell us that it is useless.
[13:17] But it is the dependability of the word of God that reassures us. How do I know that I am saved? What assurance do I have of salvation?
[13:31] Not because I always feel like it. Not because I get goosebumps every time. But because the word of God says so.
[13:42] And that's enough. Not because every question is answered. But because the word of God declares to me that whoever believes in Jesus Christ as Lord shall be saved.
[13:59] I am basing it upon the dependability of his word. Not the dependability of man. Not the dependability of man.
[14:09] So we see here in this text. That the word of God is dependable. Secondly, we see as a result of this destructive influence of wickedness.
[14:21] And really the reason the end of Jehoram was welcomed among the people. Is we see the diminished witness that is a result of this. It says in his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah.
[14:33] And set up a king over themselves. So it was during his days that it happened. Some point all the way back to the book of Genesis. Where you remember there were these two brothers.
[14:45] And one went in and pretended to be like the other. Because his mother clothed him in goat's hair. And cooked his father's favorite food. Right? Remember when Jacob went in and stole Esau's blessing. And Esau came in later. And he had went out to the field. And he cooked all this food.
[14:56] And here's the hairy man with all the food. And he says, Father, is there nothing left for me? And his father looks at him and says, Surely you will be a servant of your brother. Right? You will serve him. You will be under.
[15:06] He will rule over you. But the day will come when you will finally break his yoke from over you. And you will be free. Some see that being fulfilled right here. Because the descendants of Esau are the Edomites.
[15:18] And now he finally breaks free. Some also see the reality here. Because it tells us that to this day. At least when the text was written. And it says it also in 2 Kings chapter 8.
[15:30] That the Edomites were sovereign to this day. They were not under the rule of Judah. That when the chronicler was writing this. Why he put that kind of saying to this day. Also reintroduces the fact to us.
[15:42] That no king has arisen yet. To fulfill the prophetic imagery of Numbers. Chapter 26. In Numbers chapter 26. Where you have the prophecy.
[15:53] Speaking of the scepter. The star that shall arise. We've looked at that before. Actually chapter 24. Numbers chapter 24. Where we have the star that will arise out of Judah. It tells us that he will reign over Edom.
[16:04] And since no king has arisen. That is reigning over Edom. Surely the promised Messiah has not yet come. But one thing that we understand.
[16:14] If we just take it at its face value. Is that it was during the reign. Of Jehoram. That now some of the region around them. That was so secure. Because no one revolted against Jehoshaphat.
[16:27] For the fear of the Lord was upon them. The people started to revolt. Now it's kind of confusing. When they translate it over into the English. Because it appears from our text here. That Jehoram kind of defeated this.
[16:38] It says and he arose by night. And struck down the Edomites. Who were surrounding him. And the commanders of the chariot. So it's like well they revolted. But he put them back down. But if you reconcile this. With the passage in 2nd Kings chapter 8.
[16:49] It tells us that he did not really. Put down the revolt. He just merely defended himself. That it was in the middle of the night. That they came around him. And he was able to spare his own life.
[17:00] And the reason we know. That he didn't put down the revolt. Is because of the very next sentence. That to this day. The Edomites have a king set over themselves. So rightfully understanding. Now what they used to possess.
[17:12] They no longer possess. And it says and also. At that time. There's another revolt. It says then Libna revolted. At the same time. Now Libna is one of those cities.
[17:24] That is near. The outskirts of the reign of Judah. But you also need to know. That if you go and read. In the division of the land. That Libna was a city of Levites.
[17:36] Or a city of priests. Now that's kind of telling. Because it tells us. Why they revolted. They are a city given. Or one of the cities. Given to the Levites. It's a Levitical city.
[17:47] They revolted. Why? At the same time. Because he had forsaken. The Lord God of his fathers. So now. This city of priests. Or this Levitical city.
[17:58] Says. We don't want to have anything to do with you. Are you beginning to understand. Why now. Though it was a welcomed end. Because he's losing ground. And just as we said.
[18:08] At the beginning. This move. To slay his brothers. Might have appeared. On the surface level. To be advantageous for him. Really comes back. To bite him. Because his brothers.
[18:19] Were in possession. Of fortified cities. And all of these fortified cities. Would have been located. On the outskirts of Judah. Which by the way. Is also the territory. He's losing. Had the wickedness.
[18:30] Not moved him. To destroy his brothers. Who were. Ruling. In these fortified cities. Maybe. Just maybe. His land. Would have been. A little bit more secure. But that's the thing.
[18:40] The enemy does with us. Right? When wickedness comes in. It causes us. To make decisions. That we think. Will help us. In the long run. But in reality. They are harmful. And destructive to us. Because. They cause us.
[18:51] To lose witness. And diminish witness. Rather than to. Regain witness. Everything. That Jehoshaphat. Had gained. Now seems to be going down. It is a diminished witness.
[19:01] Why? Because God's. Hand of protection. Is no longer. Resting upon them. Because he will not be mocked. He will maintain. His word. But he will not be mocked.
[19:14] And he will not allow. The testimony. To continue. Unabated. And the writing. Is on the wall. And the influence. Is being felt.
[19:25] It is. Losing. Some of the outskirts. Of the rain. Third. We see a delivered warning. Then.
[19:37] It tells us. Because by the way. Jehoram. Was the first king. Of Judah. To actually build. Places of idolatrous worship. After the division.
[19:47] Of the kingdoms. It says. That he. Made high places. In the mountains of Judah. And caused the inhabitants. Of Jerusalem. To play the harlot. And led Judah astray. Much like Ahab did.
[19:59] He's walking in the ways. Of Ahab. And it tells us. In verse 12. Then a letter came to him. From Elijah the prophet. Now you have to be careful. There are some Bible. Scholars.
[20:09] And even good ones. Bible translators. That will tell you. That this letter. Is a posthumously. Delivered letter. That it had to be. A prophetic writing. Of Elijah. But Elijah is very much alive. During the reign.
[20:21] Of Jehoram. As a matter of fact. To say. That it's a letter. From Elijah posthumously. Is kind of. Tell him. Because he never dies. Right. But this is even.
[20:31] Before he is caught up. By the chariots of fire. This would have probably been. One of the last things. Elijah did. Before the chariots. Came and carried him away. This is the only.
[20:43] Mentioning of Elijah. In the book of Chronicles. First or second Chronicles. And the reason is. Is because Elijah's ministry. His prophetic ministry. Focused primarily. On the northern kingdom.
[20:54] He didn't have much to do. With the southern kingdom. He was a prophet. In the northern kingdom. He was that. Voice crying in the wilderness. Even though the kingdom. In its darkest days. During the reign of Ahab. When it seemed like.
[21:05] There was nothing to do. With the Lord God. God was not. Without witness. And now. That same prophet. Speaks to the southern kingdom. Of Judah. To the Davidic lineage. Of Jehoram.
[21:16] To the. One of the true king. And he has a warning. For him. And the reason. It is Elijah. Is because he's acting. Just like Ahab. Now there is. Probably a prophet.
[21:27] The minor prophet. Obadiah. Probably prophesied. During this time. And if you go read. The writing of Obadiah. It has a lot to. It's just one chapter. And it deals primarily. With Edom. And that's more than likely.
[21:38] Why he was. It's the destruction of Edom. That comes. At the coming of the. Restoration of the kingdom. Which points back. To Numbers 24. But. It really.
[21:49] We don't know. Of any other prophet. Just offhand. That would have been. Prophesying at this time. To the southern kingdom. But we do know. That Elijah sends one letter. And he gives this warning. But Elijah's letter.
[22:00] By the way. Is not a call for repentance. Sentence. Elijah's letter. Is a proclamation. Of sentence. He does not call him.
[22:11] To repent. He declares him. What's going to happen. It is a declaration. Of judgment. It says. Then a letter came to him. From Elijah the prophet. Saying thus says. The Lord God of your fathers. Because you have not.
[22:22] Walked in the ways. Of Jehoshaphat your father. In the ways of Asa. King of Judah. But have walked in the way. Of the king of Israel. And have caused Judah. In the happiness of Jerusalem. To play the harlot. As the house of Ahab. I play the harlot. And you have also killed.
[22:33] Your brothers. Your own family. Who are better than you. Behold. The Lord is going to strike. Your people. Your sons. Your wives. And all your possessions. With a great calamity. And you will suffer.
[22:44] A severe sickness. A disease of your bowels. Until your bowels come out. And because of the sickness. Day by day. There. Is the delivered warning. One of the last things.
[22:56] That Elijah does. And he doesn't even. Personally show up. But God has his voice. Even when the city of priests. Are pulling out. And it seems like.
[23:07] The word of God. Is being silenced. He always. God. We say this. God always has his man. Or woman. Right? God always has his person. And he writes this letter.
[23:18] And sends it. Now he is raptured. Very early. During the reign. Of Jehoram. But at least. He is moved. To write this one letter. And it declares.
[23:29] The judgment. That is about to come. And our first point. Was what? The dependability. Of the word. So what God. Is declaring. Through Elijah. Will surely happen. Just as dependable.
[23:40] As he is. To keep his promises. For good. God is also. As dependable. To keep his promises. Of judgment. This is why God. Can't be mocked.
[23:52] Because he will. Keep his word. So then finally. We see. The displayed wrath. How will God.
[24:02] Keep his word. It says. He displays his wrath. In this way. Then the Lord. Stirred up. Against Jehoram. The spirit of the Philistines.
[24:12] And the Arabs. Who bordered. The Ethiopians. In his sovereignty. God is free. To use. Any.
[24:23] And whatever. Means. He sees fit. For his purposes. And we need to understand that. That even. These foreign nations.
[24:35] In his sovereignty. He who has the. Heart. Of the kings. In the palm of his hands. And turns them. Whichever way he wants. Is free to use.
[24:47] Whatever. Whoever. Whoever. Whenever. And however. For his purposes. Now the sovereignty of God.
[24:58] Is a thing. If we just pause. For just a moment. That on the surface level. Sounds like. Okay. I love the reality. Of the sovereignty of God. Until you realize.
[25:09] That his sovereignty. Really is overall. The good and the bad. And that he is controlling. Now does that mean. That he causes all the bad things. No. But that means.
[25:20] That none of the bad things. Are outside of his control. And we have to wrestle with that. I mean. Just in reality. We have to wrestle with that. That he has been sovereign.
[25:32] In the most. Horrid times in history. Just as much. As he is sovereign. In the. Grandest times in history. But.
[25:42] Because he is above. And beyond all. He is not confined. To move. According to. How we think he should. And here. He stirs the hearts.
[25:53] Of the kings. And the spirit of the kings. To be used. As judgmental tools. And he does it. In such a way. That they come against Judah. And invade it. And carry away. All the possessions. Found in the king's house.
[26:04] Together with his sons. And his wives. So that none of his sons. Was left. Except. One. The youngest one. Jehoahaz. And the reason. The youngest one is left. Is simply because.
[26:15] God is preserving. The lineage. Because of the covenant. But the wrath of God. Is displayed. In how he moves here.
[26:27] It says. And after all this. Because now he's lost. All physical possessions. Now his house. Has been looted. Now. Jerusalem. The city. Has been ransacked. And not only. Is he losing influence.
[26:38] On the outskirts. Of his reign. Now even the capital city. Is. Has been ransacked. And God is displaying it. And so after all this. The Lord smote him. In his bowels. With an incurable disease. And he lives in pain.
[26:50] And he came around. The course of time. At the end of two years. That his bowels came out. It's a very. Grotesque picture. Right. And he died. In great. Pain. And it says.
[27:04] That they didn't make a fire. For him. He was 32 years old. He became king. He reigned eight years. That's the reign. Of his. Independent reign. That's not the years. He was co-regent. With his dad.
[27:15] That's just the reign. The time. Those eight years. Of the time. He reigned independently. And he departed. It tells us. With no one's. Regret. They buried him.
[27:27] And it was a welcomed. End. To the reign of Jehoram. But in that, we see that God is faithful, right? He's faithful to keep his word for the good and for the judgment.
[27:43] He's faithful to use whatever means he sees fit to keep that word and to maintain it. And that the enemy really is not the end all be all of all circumstances.
[27:54] The enemy does not get his way. That God, in his omnipotent sovereignty, still pushes forward. We have not yet found the king we're looking for.
[28:09] We won't find him. We say this over and over. Every time we get into the historical writings of the Old Testament, we have to remind ourselves the king we're looking for is not here. So we don't get caught up.
[28:20] And man, look at how much they messed up. No, we want to get caught up. If we're going to get caught up in anything, carried away in anything, look at how faithful God is in spite of man.
[28:32] And look at how in control he is. In spite of the fact that the enemy is attacking and battling and waging war and trying to thwart the plan of God for the redemption of mankind.
[28:44] And yet God is using different means and different people and different nations to bring about his purpose. And through it all, there's this preservation of the lineage so that we finally find that king when we open up the gospels.
[28:59] And we're waiting on that king to come back today. Why? Because of the faithfulness of God. He is true to his word.
[29:11] As certain as the king was coming the first time, it is doubly certain that he is coming the second time. We've seen that reality before that there are about as twice as many prophetic utterances of Christ's second coming as there are to his first coming.
[29:29] And if God fulfilled every one of them with his first coming, we should be doubly sure that he will fulfill every one of them at his second coming. Because God is faithful.
[29:41] Does man always get it right? No. But he does. And we see that recorded for us here in 2 Chronicles 21, verses 7 through 20. Let's go Lord in prayer.
[29:51] We'll be through. We're done just a little bit early. But let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. For it is in your word that we find the reality that you are steadfast.
[30:09] You are faithful and true. Lord, at times man is so unstable. So moved by circumstances.
[30:24] But yet your word is true and consistent. It meets us where we're at. Lord, just as steadfast as you are in your promises for good, we also understand you are steadfast in your declarations of judgment.
[30:39] So we want to walk humbly before you. And we want to acknowledge you. As Lord and Savior. And we want to mold and shape our lives to become more and more like you.
[30:53] We want to put ourselves in your hands and say, here we are, Lord Jesus. Do with us as you see fit. We do pray as we move forward throughout this week. There are going to be things that are being done. We pray for those that are recovering.
[31:05] We pray for those that are sick. We pray for our loved ones, family members. Lord, I know throughout this body there are a number of great needs. And we look to your word for comfort.
[31:17] We look to your word for certainty. And we look to you to be the great physician. We pray that whatever our hands would be put to this week, that it would be for the sake of the kingdom.
[31:30] That as a church we would walk before you, acknowledging you and lifting you on high in the community you've placed us in. Thank you for the opportunity we have to be together.
[31:41] Thank you for the opportunity we have to go out from here. Lord, as we come to be in your presence, we know that you also send us out from your presence. So, Lord Jesus, we thank you that we get to be your ambassadors in this world that you've put us in.
[31:55] May you be glorified through it. We ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you, guys. Really appreciate your time this evening.