I'm going to read the Chronicles
account because it gives a little bit more detail than the passage
out of 2 Kings chapter 8. 2 Chronicles 21. Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers. and was buried with his fathers
in the city of David. And Jehoram, his son, reigned
in his stead. And he had brethren, the sons
of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah,
and Michael, and Shethathiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat,
king of Israel. And their father gave them great
gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things with thin
cities in Judah. But the kingdom gave heed to
Jehoram because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was risen up
to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew
all his brethren with the sword. And Ivers also, the princes of
Israel, Now this was a wildly insecure man, and he was going
to destroy and kill anybody that he posed as a threat to his kingdom. A wildly insecure man. Jehoram was 32 years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And
he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house
of Ahab. For he had the daughter of Ahab
to wife and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord.
How be it? The Lord would not destroy the
house of David because of the covenant that he made with David. And as he promised to give a
light to him and to his sons forever. Now they deserve to
be destroyed. Without question, they deserve
to be destroyed, but they weren't for this one reason, because
of the covenant that had been made. Verse eight. In his days,
the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah and made
themselves a king. Then Jehoram went forth with
his princes and all his chariots with him, and he arose up by
night and smote the Edomites, which encompassed him and the
captains of the chariots. So the Edomites revolted from
under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also
did Libna revolt from under his hand 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 commit fornication and compelled Judah thereto. He was no different
than the kings of Israel. And there came a writing to him
from Elijah. Elijah himself sent him a letter. saying, Thus saith
the Lord God of David thy father, because thou hast not walked
in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa
king of Judah, but has walked in the ways of the kings of Israel,
and has made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring,
like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab. And you've slain
thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than
thyself. Behold, with a great plague with the Lord smite thy
people and thy children and thy wives and all thy goods. And
thou shalt have a great sickness by disease of thy bowels into
thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. Moreover,
the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines
and of the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians. And they
came up into Judah and break it and carried away all the substance
that was found in the king's house and his sons also and his
wives so that there was never a son left save Jehoihaz, the
youngest of his sons. Now one son was preserved, the
seed royal, the Christ is going to come through this son. I think that's glorious. This
one son was preserved because the Christ is going to come through
this son. And after this, the Lord smote
him in his bowels with an incurable disease and came to pass it in
the process of time. After the end of two years, his
bowels fell out by reason of his sickness. So he died of sore
diseases and his people made no burning for him like the burning
of his fathers. And that's not talking about
cremation, but when a king died, they would have a great bonfire
to celebrate that man's life. And this man, no, they didn't
do it. 30 and two years old was he when
he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years and
departed without being desired. Nobody cared that he died. As a matter of fact, I think
they were glad that he died. How be it? They buried him in
the city of David, but not in the sepulcher of the kings. They
didn't put him with the rest of the kings. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy blessed son. And we ask in his name that you
would be pleased to meet with us. And to speak in power By
thy spirit, through thy word to our hearts, may we be enabled
to worship thy dear son and see something of his glory. Lord,
we confess our sins, we pray for forgiveness and cleansing,
and we pray that you would be pleased to meet with us. Be with
all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's name
we pray, amen. Now notice, Verse 20, that's
where I want to begin our thoughts. Thirty and two years old was
he when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem eight
years and departed without being desired. Now. This is the story of Jehoram.
And in this melancholy story, we have the gospel. He was king of Judah, and he
had so much influence over so many lives. What a blessing. And the only good kings were
kings of Judah. There were a few of them. All
the kings of Israel were bad bell worshipers, contrary to
the gospel. But here we have a man who, he
was the son of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was one of the greatest
of the kings, a very special man whom the Lord loved, and
he saw how the Lord had blessed Jehoshaphat, but it meant nothing
to him. You see, grace doesn't run in
bloodlines. It meant nothing to him, and he went after Baal,
he influenced Judah to Baal worship. He made high places. He influenced
him in fornication, which is part of Baal worship. And even
Elijah wrote this man a letter. And when he died, nobody cared. Nobody cared. They wouldn't give
him an honorable funeral. And he just died without anybody
caring. And I, how do I want to handle that?
The only legacy I want to leave is being in Christ. That's really
all I care about. I want to be found in Christ.
That's the legacy I want. Somebody says, I want to leave
a legacy. Well, I want to be in Christ. That being said, I'd
hate to die. Nobody cares. I'd hate to die, and people would
be glad. And that my life wasn't any more
meaningful to anybody than that, and that's the way he died. Now,
I don't want to die like that, do you? Now, like I said, all
I want to do is be found in Christ. I'm not concerned about leaving
a legacy of anything but preaching the gospel. That's all I want
to do. But I would hate to die and my life be no more important
to anybody that they wouldn't even be sad and feel a great
sense of loss that I died. Now with this man, nobody cared. I don't wanna be that person
to you. Now, verse one of this chapter, Now
Jehoshaphat slept with his father. He was a good man. He was a believer. He was one of the best kings
and was buried with his father in the city of David. And Jehoram,
his son, reigned in his stead. And then he talks about these
brothers that he had. He had brethren, the sons of
Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael,
and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat,
king of Israel. These brothers grew up together.
Jehoshaphat was their father. And they saw how the Lord had
blessed Jehoshaphat. There's several passages of scripture
regarding this king. And you know, he had the biggest
army. than Israel ever had. He had over a million men, 1.1
million men in his army. That's how successful this man
was. This is how the Lord blessed
him. And Jehoram, his son, saw all that. Verse three, and their
father gave them great gifts of gold and silver and precious
things with fenced cities in Judah, but the kingdom gave heed
to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was
risen up to the kingdom of his father, This would summarize
his life. He strengthened himself. He strengthened
himself. And he was gonna make sure that,
you all know insecure people and what kind of trouble insecurity
causes people. It ruins lives and Jehoram was
just dominated by insecurity. And he was going to kill every
one of his brothers because he thought they might pose a threat. And he killed every prince that
he thought might pose a threat. He was an insecure man. And look what he did. He killed
every one of his brothers. And as we go on reading, we find
out that he married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. And it could
be that she, like Jezebel, would inflame Ahab and get him to do
things. It could be that this woman did
the same thing. Maybe she said, you need to get rid of your brothers
if you want to be the king. One of them are going to come
up against you. And so he killed every one of them. And I think
it's interesting what their names mean. Azariah means God has helped. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. Zachariah,
Jehovah remembers. That's the gospel. And somebody
says, how's that the gospel? Because when God saves somebody,
he makes it to where there's no sin to be remembered. He's
got a perfect memory. And when he looks at me in judgment
day, the reason he won't remember any sin is because there's nothing
to remember. I've always done that which is
right. I've never done that which was wrong. That's true of every
believer because of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? You all know Henry Mahan died.
I was gonna say some things about it, but Annie Sharon made this
statement Friday night, and I've loved thinking about it. He hadn't
been able to hear for years. Years he hadn't heard. And the
first voice he's gonna hear is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ
saying, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And that
is what every believer is going to hear because if Christ did
well, I did well because I'm in him. That's not doing well
because you've been too good. No, no. That well done comes
from the fact that Christ did perfectly well. And when the
father looks at me, he's going to look at as someone who really
hadn't ever sinned. That's what justification is.
That's what the gospel is. That's what the Lord does for
His people. And to think of the Lord's memory
being perfect, and He says, there are sins and iniquities I'll
remember no more, because there's nothing there to remember. Now,
all these boys, Michael means who is like God, Nobody, nobody
compare him to. And, um, Shepaitel means God
has judged. And that's the gospel, isn't
it? God judged our sins in Christ. He judged unbelievers and, and
Jehoram, all these representations of the gospel. He hated, he hated,
he hated the Lord. He hated his brothers. All he
was worried about was strengthening himself, so he put them all to
death. Verse five, Jehoram was 30 and
two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years
in Jerusalem, and he walked in the way of the kings of Israel,
like as did the house of Ahab. He was just as bad as Ahab, for
he had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he wrought that which
was evil in the eyes of the Lord, how be it? Now here's the gospel.
Here's the gospel. Albeit, the Lord would not destroy
the house of David. Now, this was the king. This was the one that the Christ
was going to come through. Remember, he's the son of David.
And everybody had been killed. And who's the Christ going to
come through? Well, one is preserved, as we
saw, and it's because of what verse 7 says, how be if the Lord
would not destroy the house of David, even though Jehoram was
so wicked, he was just as bad as Ahab and everybody else, because
of the covenant he made with David. Now, another word for the gospel is
the covenant. The covenant that God made with
Christ that is forever. Now let's look at what he said
to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. This is a reference to this
covenant. Verse 12. And when thy days be fulfilled,
talking to David, when you die, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, this is the Lord speaking, I will set up thy seat after
thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish
his kingdom. Now, yes, he's talking about
Solomon, but he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ more than
anything else. He shall build a house for my
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he
shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will
chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children
of men." And Solomon did commit iniquity, didn't he? I mean,
it seems like he dies in shame when you see the way he died,
seemingly an idolater, you know, worshiping these other gods and
so on because of the influence of his wives. But does the Lord
ever chase it in vain? No. If he chastens, the desired
results are there. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth
and scourges every son he receives. So I have no doubt that Solomon,
through the chasing of the Lord, was brought back. Let's go on
reading. But my mercy. shall not depart
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established FOREVER
before thee. Thy throne shall be established
FOREVER. According to all these words,
and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David." Years and years later, I don't
know how long, but one of David's descendants, Jehoram, has acted
so wickedly. He's acted just like Ahab, and
you know what happened to Ahab and Jezebel. But he's acted so
wickedly, he's gone in such a horrible direction, yet his seed is preserved. Why? Because of the covenant. I don't know, I've got a lot
of favorite scriptures. You all hear that all the time.
Got a lot of favorite scriptures, but here's one of them. Although
my house be not so with God. David's house was a mess. He
knew it. And I think he's talking even
more about this house. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet. hath he made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's ordered in all things, it's
sure, all my sins are paid for, I have perfect righteousness.
God determined this for me before time began. It's an everlasting
covenant. It was determined before time
began. And David said, this is how much
of my salvation? All my salvation. Not only is
it all my salvation, it's all my desire. I desire nothing else
but this covenant to be found in Christ, to be saved by his
grace, that everlasting covenant made before time began. ordered
in all things, and sure. And this is why this house was
preserved. Howbeit, the Lord would not destroy
the house of David, verse 7, because of the covenant that
he made with David. And as he promised to give a
light to him and his sons, look at that word forever. This is
the eternal security of God's elect. And in his days, the days
of Jehoram, this wildly wicked and insecure man. The Edomites
revolted from under the dominion of Judah and made themselves
a king. This is through his weakness as a king. He was losing control
of these people, not like Jehoshaphat. Then Jehoram went forth with
his princes and all his chariots with him, and he rose up by night
and smote the Edomites, which compassed him and the captains
of the chariots. So the Edomites revolted under the hand of Judah.
Under this day, it's still going on, the writer says. The same
time also did Libnan revolt from under his hand because he had
forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. The Lord took away the
restraints and let these things take place with him because he'd
forsaken the Lord. Verse 11, here's what else he
was guilty of. Moreover, he made high places, and that's places
of worship, Baal worship. He knew better than this. He
had Jehoshaphat for his father, but yet he did this anyway. And
this is how far me and you will go if the Lord doesn't prevent
it. Look at this man and look what took place with him. And he caused the inhabitants
of Jerusalem to commit fornication that was involved in Baal worship
and compelled Judah thereto. That's what happened through
his example. And then Elijah writes him. Elijah was an old man at this
time, but he writes him a letter. Look what he says. And there
came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, thus saith
the Lord God of David, thy father, because thou has not walked in
the ways of Jehoshaphat. Now turn back to 2 Samuel chapter
17. Verse one. And Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned
in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel, who were
enemies, Baal-worshippers at that time. And he placed forces
in all the thin cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land
of Judah and the cities of Ephraim and Asa, which Asa, his father,
had taken. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat
because he walked in the first ways of his father David and
sought not unto Balaam. but sought the Lord God of his
father and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Israel.
Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand and all
Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence and he had riches and
honor and abundance and his heart was lifted up in the ways of
the Lord. What a man, and it's all by grace,
we know that. But his heart was lifted up in
the ways of the Lord. And this is what Johoram witnessed.
He saw that this man's heart was lifted up in the ways of
the Lord. And here's what happens when somebody's heart is lifted
up in the ways of the Lord. He took away the high places
and groves attitude. He got rid of all that stuff.
You know, if you are lifted up in the ways of the Lord, you're
against anything that's contrary to him, anything that detracts
from his glory. Here we have Jehoshaphat. Now,
Jehoram witnessed all this, back to our text. And there came a writing to him
from Elijah, the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David
thy father, because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat
thy father, nor in the ways of Asa, your grandfather, king of
Judah. But you've walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like
Ahab, and you've made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
to go a-whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab."
Now, I think it's with so much significance that God describes
this conduct as going whoring. He calls it adultery. He calls it foreign encasing.
And the thing that is, in a marriage covenant, Anything outside of
the covenant, anything outside of the covenant is evil. Anything outside of the covenant
of grace, anything outside of the covenant that God made with
Christ, looking anywhere other than Christ alone is going hoary
after other gods. That's strong language, but that's
the language of the scripture. And may the Lord deliver me and
you from seeing anything but Christ is all. And to not see that is to go
whoring from the covenant. That's what Elijah calls it. To go whoring like the whoredoms
of the house of Ahab. And also you slain your brethren
of thy father's house, which were better than you. And here's
what's gonna happen. Behold, with a great plague will
the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives,
and all thy goods, and thou shalt have a sickness by disease of
thy bowels, and to thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness
day by day. Now what a miserable disease.
Does the Lord always punish people with sickness? No, no, I've had
my share of sickness, and you have too, and it's been good
for me. being good for me. Anytime somebody
gets sick and if you start thinking the Lord's punishing them, you're
wrong. But here, the Lord did punish
this man with a horrible disease, a disease of the bowels. I don't
know what all that represents, but he was very sick for two
years and his bowels ended up falling out and he died. That's
the scriptural testimony regarding this man. Verse 16, moreover,
the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines.
And notice how the Lord stirred this up. Remember that everything
that happens, he's the first cause behind everything. I wish I could just rest in that
instead of getting upset over things that take place and things
like that. The Lord stirs everything up. He is the cause of everything. Aren't you happy about that?
Whatever's going on, He's the cause. And I might not understand
what He's doing, but He does, and I'm fine with that, aren't
you? His infinite wisdom, everything he does is just right, perfect,
holy, and true. And he stirred up these people,
the Philistines and the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians,
and they came up into Judah and break into it and carried away
all the substance that was found in the king's house and his sons
also and his wives, so that there was never a son left him, save
Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. Now this is the seed royal. that Christ is going to come
through this man. Now, if you look at the genealogy
of the Lord Jesus Christ, included is this wicked man, Jehoram. Christ is going to come through
this one son who he's preserved. But I mean, you just read that
in that genealogy, a lot of bad people, a lot of bad people,
including this man. Verse 18, And after all this,
the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. And it came to pass that in the
process of time, the Lord's time, after the end of two years, his
bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, so he died of sore
diseases, and his people made no burning for him. like the
burning of his fathers. Now they would have a bonfire
in celebration of the king. None for this man. None for this
man. The people recognized what he
was. I think his life can be summarized
by that statement. He strengthened himself. That's
all he was about. He strengthened himself. And
he was going to stamp out anything that he posed as an insecure
man and anything that posed a threat to him, he killed him. And people
recognize this. Thirty and two years old, verse
20, was he when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem eight
years and departed without being desired. Nobody even cared. Nobody was sorry over his death. They wouldn't even give him a
proper bonfire. Albeit, they bury him in the
city of David, but not in the sepulcher of the kings. Now, what I was left with, thinking
about this, I'm not, really, I'm not concerned
about legacy. I want to be in the presence
of Christ and I want to be brought to see his face and be accepted
in him and I just want to be found in him. But when I die,
I'd hate dying like this man where nobody even cared that
he died. I would want to be an influence, I hope, to where people
would feel a loss at my death. But they didn't at his. So, I
hope, the most important part of this is the covenant. The
covenant. The preservation of the royal
seat, even though this man was killed. The covenant is everything
in our salvation. And I want to be somebody who,
because of my Love for Christ and care for people. When I die,
somebody's gonna be sorry. Hope you guys will be sorry.
Okay, that's it.