Jump Start # 1679

2 Chronicles 21:20 “He was thirty-two 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.”

Our verse today is about Jehoram, one of the kings of Judah. He was not a good king, and not a good person. When he became king, he ordered the assassination of all of his brothers and some of the rulers of Judah. He married Ahab’s daughter, the king of Israel, which influenced him further into idolatry. God wasn’t pleased with this king. His own people revolted. He was stricken with a deadly disease that God had prophesied was coming. For two years he suffered. At the end, his bowels came out and he died in great pain. When he died, he wasn’t given the honor like other kings. He died, as our verse states, with no one’s regret. This reminds me of the scene from the Wizard of Oz, when the wicked witch melts away and her guardsmen sing, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead, which o’ witch, the wicked witch.” They rejoiced at her departure.

There are some things to notice about King Jehoram.

  He lived forty years, but wasted the time that God gave him. He was in the position to help others. He was in a role of leadership. He could have, but he didn’t. He helped the nation spiral downward. A forty year old dying, seems young, but he had eight years to do something. In those eight years he bowed to false gods and killed his own family. God had enough. Give this man a dozen years, and things would not have turned around. There are those all around us who walk in the shadows of Jehoram. They waste a lifetime doing nothing. Their world is spent on doing what they want to do, ignoring others, and not being a participant in the greatest work on earth, God’s kingdom. How sad to witness a life wasted.

He hurt his family. Jehoram killed his brothers so that they would not be rivals to the throne. Instead of reigning in goodness, his was a reign of terror and fear. What Jehoram did to his family others are doing today verbally and mentally. They are destroying their families. The criticism, ridicule, tension, abuse is crippling their families and setting the young hearts and minds on a course to continue this destructive dysfunction.

  He left no positive legacy for others to follow. All of us leave footprints for others to follow. My fellow preachers need to realize this. Someday, another preacher will be replacing them. That’s the nature of things. How you conduct yourself can make it easier or harder on the next guy. Some come in with great demands and leave in such a hurry or leave in a mess that it makes things difficult for those who follow. Some churches have a sour taste about young preachers because they have had bad experiences with one after another. Young children will grow up and you may be the first preacher that they remember. What impression are you leaving, Mr. Preacher? For Jehoram, when he died, no one regretted it. They found relief when he was out of the picture. What a terrible way to live. If people can’t wait for you to die, you are not doing something right.

  He ignored the opportunities for good. Jehoram received a letter from Elijah, God’s prophet. THE ELIJAH. Can you imagine getting a letter from Elijah. The letter contained word of coming bad news. Elijah was in the area. Jehoram could have sat down with Elijah and learned. He could have changed his ways had he allowed God’s prophet in his life. Isn’t this scene repeated today? We don’t have prophets, but we have men and women of God. A godly, faithful grandpa in the family. Does anyone allow him to influence them? Is the family falling apart, with miserable marriages, overcome with worry and materialism, and there sits grandpa with his Bible opened in his lap, and everyone ignores his godly influence. Week after week, that old man of God will assemble with God’s people, yet the rest of the family is too busy and too selfish to think about God. Then grandpa dies. The family gathers for a funeral. They call the preacher that grandpa knew and loved. They hear about a godly man and a godly life, but as soon as they leave the cemetery, the family is finished with grandpa, and his faith. How sad to see so many families like this. Right among them is a living example. They close their eyes to it. They don’t want anything to do with it, never realizing, like King Jehoram, their ways could change and even be better if they listened and followed the ways of God. I have preached these kinds of funerals. I look at all those family members and think why haven’t you ever come to worship? Why is all of this talk about death, Heaven and the Bible so foreign to you? And when one of them dies, they have no idea who to call to preach the funeral. They have no one in their circle of friends that is a Christian. They start calling churches, any church, just to find an available preacher, so he can preach them into Heaven. So, so sad. Elijah sent a letter to Jehoram. For eight years he could have sat at the feet of Elijah. He didn’t.

  His choices put him in trouble with God. That’s the same for all of us. Our choices—whether to follow God or to ignore God, will determine where we spend eternity. It doesn’t matter whether you are a king, or a servant, we all have a choice with God. It doesn’t matter what education opportunities you have. It doesn’t matter what history you have. We each have a choice with God. Follow Him or ignore Him—but those choices come with consequences both now and later. You can’t live like a sinner and die like a saint. No one is preaching you into Heaven. You have chosen Heaven by following God and glorifying Him.

Jehoram died and no one regretted it, not even God. What a sad commentary on a selfish and empty life. Isn’t it time that you started making some wise choices in your life? Isn’t it time for you to make a spiritual difference for others? Isn’t it time for you to walk with the Lord and do what He wants you to do?

Roger

Jump Start # 1307

2 Chronicles 21:20 “He was thirty-two 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.”

  We have been looking at the kings of Judah in our Jump Starts. What a fascinating and lesson packed journey this has been. So far we have looked at Asa, the first good king of Judah. His son, Jehoshaphat, was also a good king. Now we come to the next generation, the oldest son of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram was made king of Judah. Our verse today tells us much, but not everything. This one wasn’t good. He wasn’t like his father or his grandfather. He was wicked, violent, suspicious and died a horrible death at the young age of forty. He only reigned eight years. It was indeed, eight long years.

Jehoram married the king of Israel’s daughter. This happened to be the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. It’s hard to imagine more terrible in-laws than those two. They were a living nightmare. Jezebel forged her husband’s signature, executed the prophets of God and lived without a heart and a soul. Jehoram married into this family. I can only imagine what his parents must have thought.

Once Jehoram became king, he had his six brothers executed. He killed his own family. He built idols throughout the land and led the nation away from God. The Lord was so angry with Jehoram that He led the Philistines to invade Judah. They captured Jehoram’s children and wives and led them all away, except for the youngest. Had it not been for a promise God made to David, this blood line would have ended. God keeps his promises. The Philistines ransacked the palace and carried away many valuables. Finally, God smote this wicked king with an intestinal disease. He was afflicted for two years. He was in great pain. His bowels came out. UGH! Then he died.

Our passage adds two huge explanation points to the end of this wicked reign. First, he was not buried in the tombs of the kings. He wasn’t allowed where David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat were resting. He didn’t belong in the hall of fame. He didn’t get a star on the sidewalk of honor. He was buried elsewhere. The writer doesn’t even tell us where. And that leads to the second explanation point.

He departed with no one’s regret. That’s what the text says. Finally, he’s gone. No one regretted his death. No one missed him. The crowds would have sung, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead…” What a terrible finality to his life, no one cared. He reaped what he had sown. He’s was gone and no one missed him.

I expect that Jehoram wasn’t the only one to die without regret. A person who lives to themselves, is mean, cruel, abusive and without mercy or compassion, will not have a line standing outside the funeral home waiting to come in to show their respects. No one will show up. What a terrible end to a terrible person. I have a friend who is now just about finished with his journey here. I had a prayer with him today. I looked into his eyes thinking that this may be the last time until we are both on the other side. There are many things I wanted to say, but he was tired and it wasn’t the right situation with others there. I believe he knows. I will miss him. There will be regrets. I do not want to see him go. This is so different than the situation with the wicked Jehoram.

Jehoram got me thinking about different situations. Regrets or no regrets.

Sometimes people can enter our lives and depart without regret. There are some people who are just like sandpaper. No matter what’s going on, they just have a way of rubbing things raw. They can stir up things on a calm day. They pester, pick, prod, and bug a person to death. They wear you out with all their questions. They are experts at handing out guilt. They can take a perfect day and ruin it. They can take a good mood and make is sour. When they leave, I generally have a headache. They depart without any regret.

There are some situations in life that can be very stressful and hard on us. These things strain us and tug on our hearts. They consume a ton of energy and we find the bulk of our prayers being directed to this situation. Finally, things get better. Finally, it’s over. What a relief. No regrets that it’s over. No wishing to return to that situation again.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul described a repentance that is without regret. It is a repentance according to the will of God. There is no bragging about “the good ole’ days,” of sin and looseness. There is no telling tall tales about adventures of drinking, running around and being godless. No sir. Not here. This repentance doesn’t have regret. Those days were sinful, shameful and wrong. It is embarrassing to bring those things up. If we could do it all over, we’d choose better, wiser and godlier. Without regret.

Jehoram reminds us in the opposite way of how important it is to make a difference in the lives of others. Jehoram destroyed most people in his life. He was bad, cruel and mean. How fitting that his bowels fell out. A disgusting end to a disgusting person. On the other hand, we need to mean something to others. We need to allow others into our hearts. We need to make them feel comfortable calling us, asking us, or bouncing things off of us. People shouldn’t feel threatened by us. They shouldn’t feel like we are going to judge them. Most of us can look into our past and see incredible people who were there for us. They gave us a chance. They believed in us. They stood with us. They supported us. Today, we are better because of what others have done for us in the past. Now, it’s our turn. It’s our opportunity to be there for the teenager, the widow, the new family, those that are struggling. It’s our turn to make a difference and to help others on their journey.

I don’t think anyone ever said to Jehoram, ‘I couldn’t have made it without you.’ Not to Jehoram. I doubt anyone ever referred to him as a BFF. Not Jehoram. Most ran from him. Most did not want to get in his way. He left a trail of misery and finally died in misery. He crushed people with his thumb and the God of Heaven, in turn, put Jehoram under His divine thumb.

Would anyone miss you if you were no longer around? Would your church family miss you? Would the people at work miss you? Obviously, your family ought to miss you, but beyond your family, are you leaving footprints for others to follow? Are you helping others out. Are you being useful in the kingdom?

Some day we all will depart. What then? Jehoram wasn’t missed. Will you be missed? Are you doing what you can for others? Are you holding up your end of things?

We need to think about these things. We can start making changes, even today.

Roger

Jump Start # 831

2 Chronicles 21:20 He was thirty-two 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.

Our passage today sums up the work of Jehoram, one of the kings of Judah. He inherited his reign from his father. He quickly executed all his brothers so there would be no rival or threat to the throne. He did evil and was not walking with the Lord. The Philistines raided his palace, kidnapped his family and looted the treasures of his palace. The Lord further struck Jehoram with an incurable bowel disease. He had it for two years. He died in great pain with his bowels coming out. Why we are left with these details are not known, other than to show the Lord’s disgust with this person.

Our verse tells us of the reaction of the people when he died. There doesn’t seem to have been any national mourning. He was not buried among the kings. In fact, from our verse, today, when he died, no one regretted it. No one was sad to see him go. What a sad legacy and shocking statement to how people feel about someone and the work one has done.

No one regretted. They were glad he was gone. It reminds me of a song from the Wizard of Oz, “Ding dong the witch is dead, which ole’ witch, the wicked witch.” I expect this king was not the only one to die with no one’s regret.  There are reasons for that.

• A selfish life will do that. Pushing your way upon people, using people, abusing people may get you to the top of the heap, but it’s a sure way to ruining relationships and making people hate you. When such a person leaves a company, no one regrets it. Rude may make T.V. shows, but it doesn’t win friendships.
• A mean life will do that. Some people are mean. They look mean. They talk mean. They intimidate and are bullies. There has always been bullies at school. Some continue on with that all of their lives. They become bullies at work. They become bullies at church. They scare people, threaten people and force their ways. They dominate meetings and no one dare challenges them because they will be attacked and destroyed. Nasty to the core are some of these bullies.

• A godless life will do that. Ever been to a ballgame where you witnessed a drunken display of ignorance? Loud, obnoxious, rude, offensive and thinking nothing of the people around him, such godless people ruin a good outing. Some want to flaunt their sinfulness in front of others. When they leave it is without regret. It is a relief when they are gone.

This king’s legacy has become a text book in how not to treat people.  He failed in life and when he was gone, everyone was glad. Some are glad when certain people simply leave a room. What a contrast to someone like Titus, who refreshed the spirit of a tired apostle Paul.

All of this makes us wonder how people view us. Are they glad when we come into a room or do they dread seeing us? Is there no regret when we leave or is there sadness when we are gone? How you treat others determines all of this. Judgmental spirits that only point out faults in others will lead to no one regretting your departure. Kindness is a characteristic found throughout the N.T. It is not being soft or weak. It is not ‘unmanly” to be kind. Jesus was kind. God is kind. Being a jerk is not cool, it is being a fool.

The king died without anyone’s regret. How sad. What a wasted opportunity and life. Make sure you are not repeating this story in your own life. Make a difference in the lives of others. Be that fresh breath of air that people need. Restore. Build up. Encourage. Strengthen. You will find many opportunities to do that, even today.

Roger