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