2 Chronicles 21-24

May 15

2 Chronicles 21-24

The words no one would want posted in their obituary were said in the word of God about Jehoram, king of Judah. His father and grandfather were listed as good kings in the nation of Judah. They walked in obedience to God. Jehoram followed the path of his father in law, Ahab, king of Israel. There were consequences for his actions. God spoke through a letter from Elijah telling Jehoram that because not only had he prostituted himself to the false gods, he had led the people of Jerusalem to do the same. God inflicted on him a painful disease that took his life when his bowels came out and he died in great pain. The people did not build a fire in his honor and his obituary reads; “He passed away, to no one’s regret.”

Jehoram set Judah back in their worship of God. He did evil and his son did evil after him. His wife, Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah attempted to kill all the royal family after Ahaziah died so she ruled over the nation. But the priest took one of Ahaziah’s son’s Joash, and hid him away until he was seven years old. He then revealed Joash as the rightful king of Judah in the line of David. AS long as Jehoiada, the high priest was alive and giving Joash counsel, he walked with the Lord. After Jehoiada died, Joash abandoned God and worshiped the false gods.

We all need a Jehoiada in our lives to help keep us on track. We need men and women who will come along side of us when it is unpopular and speak the truth to us. We need people we can trust to hold us accountable and to tell us the truth that we may not want to hear. We need to maintain a relationship with someone who has our best interest in mind and will continue to point us to a strong relationship with God. If our Jehoiada dies, or moves, or is no longer available for us, we need to find another to fill that position or we can easily slip away from walking with the Lord. When we begin to turn our backs on God, we stop up our ears and do not want to hear the truth, and we will face the consequences for our actions.