2 Kings 8:20-24: a reflection

20In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him; and he rose up by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him with the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. 22So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. 23The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

This brief passage records the reign of Joram of Judah, and in it, a loss: in his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah, and though Joram fought, he could not fully bring them back. Edom broke free, and so did the town of Libnah. Under an unfaithful king, things that had been held began to slip away; the kingdom lost its grip on what it had, and Joram could not hold it together.

Notice the slipping away recorded here. Joram was not a faithful king; he had turned from the ways of his godly forebears. And in his reign, things began to come loose: Edom revolted, Libnah revolted, what had been held slipped from Judah's grasp. The unraveling was quiet but real; under unfaithfulness, the kingdom lost its hold on what it had, and the losses could not be recovered.

That quiet unraveling is a pattern worth noticing. When we turn from faithfulness to God, things can begin to slip away, quietly, one after another, our grip loosening on what we once held, in ways not always dramatic but real and hard to recover. Unfaithfulness has consequences, and they often show as a gradual loss of what was once secure. Take care, then, that you do not, by turning from faithfulness to God, set in motion a quiet unraveling, a slipping away of what you value, that you will struggle to recover. The revolts under Joram were the fruit of a kingdom that had turned from God; guard your own faithfulness, lest a turning from God begin, in your life, the same quiet slipping away of what you would keep.

Lord, this brief passage records that under Joram, an unfaithful king of Judah, Edom and Libnah revolted, and what had been held began to slip away, quietly but really, beyond recovery. Help me notice that pattern. When I turn from faithfulness to you, things can begin to slip away, quietly, one after another, my grip loosening on what I once held, in ways not always dramatic but real and hard to recover. Unfaithfulness has consequences, and they often show as a gradual loss of what was once secure. Help me take care that I do not, by turning from faithfulness to you, set in motion a quiet unraveling, a slipping away of what I value, that I will struggle to recover. The revolts under Joram were the fruit of a kingdom that had turned from you; help me guard my own faithfulness, lest a turning from you begin, in my life, the same quiet slipping away of what I would keep. Keep me faithful, Lord, and hold together what unfaithfulness would let slip.