2
Chronicles chapter 21 at first glance looks like a lesson on bad
parenting. As we look closer, there is a great encouragement to all
who read it. The chapter begins, “Then
Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the
City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king“.
We are told that Jehoram had 6 brothers and, “Their
father had given them many gifts of silver and gold … as well as
fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram
because he was his firstborn son“.
Here is the simple parenting lesson: giving your children lots of
“stuff” without the foundation of God’s Word is dangerous. I
really believe that giving young people everything they want can
easily cause them to trust in their stuff, rather than trusting in
God. When wealth becomes our focus, the people around us take on a
lower priority. Remember Jehoram’s father had begun a business
partnership with evil King Ahab. The end result was his son Jehoram
was corrupted and we read that “He
walked in the ways… the house of Ahab had done, for he married a
daughter of Ahab“.
The chapter continues, “When
Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put
all his brothers to the sword“.
And in a sentence, “He
did evil in the eyes of the Lord“.
Next
we read the more subtle lesson that is vitally important to you and
me; “Nevertheless,
because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was
not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to
maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever“.
Many people have a “cause and effect” theology, that is, “if I
am good, God will bless me and if I am bad, God will punish me”.
The problem with that concept is; it forces us to have faith in our
own goodness and disregard God’s faithfulness. More importantly,
it ignores the role of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. Every one of my
sins (those in my past and those yet to come) were nailed to the
Cross. Jesus paid the debt and spiritually, God sees me as sinless.
This forgiveness is not something I earned; God’s grace toward me
is a result of His promise to Abraham and David. In 2 Samuel 7, God
promised that the Messiah would be from the house of David. God
begins each of the promises with, “I
will“.
We find rest when we learn to trust that God
keeps His promises.
King
Jehoram received a letter from the prophet Elijah. The letter began,
“This
is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says“.
God is not arbitrary and God does not search for people to zap
because they are doing wrong. Romans 3:19 reminds us that we are
given God’s Word so that we might know we have sinned, “by
the law is
the knowledge of sin… for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God“.
God wrote to Jehoram, “You
have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel… you have led… the
people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves … You have also
murdered your own brothers“.
I believe it is never too late to seek God’s forgiveness. 1
Timothy 2 reminds us that God “desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth“.
Jehoram
chose to ignore God’s Word and the chapter ends with this sad note,
“he
reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s
regret“.
In contract Psalm 32 begins, “Blessed
is
he whose
transgression is
forgiven, whose
sin is
covered“.
What will you do with God’s Love Letters?