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Context No. 1094 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 21:8-15: in context

8In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 9Then Jehoram went there with his captains and all his chariots with him. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots. 10So Edom has been in revolt from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers. 11Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem play the prostitute, and led Judah astray. 12A letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “the LORD, the God of David your father, says, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute like Ahab’s house did, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself, 14behold, the LORD will strike your people with a great plague, including your children, your wives, and all your possessions; 15and you will have great sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.’”

Jehoram, king of Judah, has turned from the faithful ways of his father Jehoshaphat and grandfather Asa. He walked in the ways of the wicked kings of Israel, built high places, led Judah into idolatry, and murdered his own brothers, who were better than he. In his reign Edom and Libnah revolt. Then a remarkable thing: a letter comes to him from Elijah the prophet, naming his sins, the idolatry, the seduction of Judah, the murder of his brothers, and pronouncing judgment, a plague on his household and a lingering, agonizing disease that will kill him.

The striking element is the letter. God did not let Jehoram sin in silence; even a king who had murdered his brothers and dragged a nation into idolatry received a direct, written word naming exactly what he had done and warning what was coming. The letter is an act of confrontation, and in a strange way a mercy, because it told Jehoram the truth about himself when it might still have moved him to repent. God does not usually let people slide into ruin without a word; he sends the letter, the warning, the naming of the sin, giving even the guilty a chance to turn. And notice how specific the charge is, especially the murder of his brothers who were better than himself, envy and insecurity turned murderous, the oldest of sins. Jehoram had killed the people who made him look small, and God saw it and said so. The passage is grim, and Jehoram does not repent, but it stands as evidence that God confronts before he judges, and that the truth about our sin, however unwelcome, is spoken to us in time to turn. The letter came before the disease.

When God confronts me with the truth about something I have done, do I receive it as the mercy it is, a warning in time to turn, or do I harden like Jehoram and let it run to ruin?

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