Defining Moments- “Jehoram: The King who Married the Wrong Woman” (2 Chron. 21)
Jehoram= “The Lord is exalted”, but he did not live up to his name. He had a brother in law by the same
name who became king in northern Israel.
I. A Marriage for fringe benefits
1. There had been constant unrest for about 65-70 years after the nation split in 931 BC. Under Asa &
Jehoshaphat’s reign Judah expanded & prospered so that it became increasingly inviting for larger Israel
to establish a treaty with Judah. Godly Jehoshaphat did this by having his firstborn son Jehoram marry
Athaliah the daughter of Ahab & Jezebel. Jezebel was the daughter of a Sidonian king who introduced
Baal worship on a national level in Israel (I Kings 16:31,32). She attempted to kill all the prophets of the
Lord and replace the already twisted worship of the Lord with the worship of Baal. She was very selfish
& violent and pulled down all who were around her.
2. Loyalty to this treaty nearly got Jehoshaphat killed (2 Chron. 18) called forth the Lord’s censor (2
Chron. 19:2,3), resulted in a failed business excursion and intertwined his son & subsequent generations
with the ungodly house of Ahab & Jezebel.
3. Don’t be pressured or enter into a marriage that is based on seeming mutual benefits rather than that
person being a godly match for you and where you share a mutual love.
II. A Marriage that turned him away from the Lord
1. In spite of Jehoshaphat’s wise imitation of the way Rehoboam handled his children (2 Chron. 11:23),
when Jehoram had become secure as king over Judah, he killed all of his brothers and other rulers of
Israel (Judah) who no doubt opposed such policies. He was the firstborn, but his brothers were of better
character than him (v13).
2. No doubt he learned such selfish, violent actions from Jezebel. At a later point his wife Athaliah tried to
kill all of her grandchildren, all of the royal offspring so that she could rule as queen (2 Chron. 22:10).
3. 2 Chron. 21:6 spells out how it was his tie with the house of Ahab by marriage that caused him to do
such evil in the sight of the Lord.
4. He also made high places of pagan worship which his father and grandfather sought to remove (2 Chron.
21:11, 14:3,17:6).
5. As you contemplate marriage make sure that it is someone who would help you grow closer to the Lord
and not turn you away and lead you eventually to do things that are evil in His sight.
III. A Marriage with disastrous results
1. Nations around them that they formerly controlled successfully rebelled against Judah (v8-10). Libnah
was probably under Philistine control.
2. An eerie letter arrived from Elijah who had strongly opposed Jezebel, Ahab & Baal worship in northern
Israel. It was probably written after his wicked deeds when he was firmly establish as king, but read
after Elijah had already been escorted to heaven in a chariot of fire. He prophesied further disaster with
a great calamity to his people and family (v14) which was fulfilled through the Philistines & Arabs
(v16,17). Furthermore, he would die a painful death with his bowels coming out (v15,18,19). EXP
“seems to have been some extreme form of dysentery”.
3. He was not honored at his death (very important to the Israelites) and “he departed with no one’s
regret”.
4. The one glimmer of hope was that the Lord would not wipe out the nation because He was faithful to
His promises to David (v7). Some people’s defining moments are so bad that we can only look at God’s
mercy and faithfulness in keeping it from being worse.