2 Kings 8:16 - Meaning and Application

We have here a short account of the life and reign of Jehoram, also called Joram, one of the worst kings of Judah. He was the son and successor of Jehoshaphat, one of the best kings. This reminds us, first, that parents cannot pass grace on to their children. Many godly people have had the grief and shame of seeing their own children become wicked.

Second, when children of good parents turn out badly, they are often worse than others. An unclean spirit can bring in seven more spirits more wicked than itself (Luke 11:26). Third, a nation is sometimes rightly punished with the misery of a bad reign because it failed to make use of the blessings and advantages of a good one.

About Jehoram, we should notice several things.

He is first described by his wickedness (2 Kings 8:18). He lived like the house of Ahab, and he could hardly have done worse. His character is tied to the bad example he followed, because people become like the company they keep and the models they copy. One of the most dangerous mistakes for young people is choosing the wrong people to admire, follow, and measure themselves by. Jehoram chose the house of Ahab as his pattern instead of his father's house, and that choice ruined him. A fuller account of his wickedness is given in 2 Chronicles 21: murder, idolatry, persecution, and every kind of evil.

We should also notice the causes that led to his wickedness. His father was a very good man, and no doubt he had him taught the good knowledge of the Lord. Still, Jehoshaphat did wrong in marrying him to the daughter of Ahab. No good could come from joining with an idolatrous family, only trouble, especially from such a daughter of such a mother as Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel. The corruption of the old world began with believers joining themselves to the ungodly. Those who are badly matched are already half ruined.

I also doubt that Jehoshaphat did well in making him king while he was still alive. Here we are told (2 Kings 8:16) that Jehoram began to reign while Jehoshaphat was still king. This likely fed his pride, and pride is very harmful to young people. It also fed his ambition, in the hope of reforming him by indulging him. Instead, it brought a curse on the family, as with Eli, whose sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. Jehoshaphat had once made this wicked son his viceroy when he went with Ahab to Ramoth-gilead. From that time Jehoshaphat's seventeenth year (1 Kings 22:51) is counted as Jehoram's second (2 Kings 1:17). Later, in Jehoshaphat's twenty-second year, he made him his partner in rule, and from then Jehoram's eight years are counted, three years before his father's death. It has harmed many young men to come into their inheritance too soon. Samuel gained nothing by making his sons judges.

We also see the rebukes of Providence for his wickedness. First, the Edomites revolted. They had been under the kings of Judah since David's time, about 150 years (2 Kings 8:20). Jehoram tried to force them back and won a victory over them (2 Kings 8:21), but he could not keep what he gained or restore their rule over them. Edom still rebelled (2 Kings 8:22), and after that the Edomites became bitter enemies of the Jews, as the prophecies of Obadiah and Psalm 137:7 show. This was the fulfillment of Isaac's prophecy that Esau, the older, would serve Jacob, the younger, but in time would break that yoke from his neck (Genesis 27:40).

Second, Libnah revolted. This was a city in Judah itself, in the heart of his own land, a priestly city. The people there threw off his rule because he had abandoned God and would have forced them to do the same (2 Chronicles 21:10, 2 Chronicles 21:11). To preserve their religion, they set themselves up as a free state. Perhaps other cities did the same.

Third, his reign was short. God cut him off in the middle of his life, when he was only forty years old, and after he had reigned only eight years. Bloody and deceitful people do not live out half their days.

At the same time, we should notice God's gracious care in keeping Judah and the house of David alive, even through Jehoram's apostasy and trouble (2 Kings 8:19). Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah. He could have done it easily, he would have been just if he had done it, and it would not have harmed him to do it. Still, he would not do it, for David's sake. That does not mean David earned this favor as a debt. It means God kept his promise to David that he would always have a lamp, that is, a continuing line of kings from one generation to the next. In this way David's name would stay bright and honored, like a lamp kept burning with a constant supply of oil, until his family came to the Messiah, the Son of David. In Christ, all the glory of David's house rests, and in his everlasting kingdom the promise is fulfilled (Psalm 132:17), "I have appointed a lamp for my anointed one."

The chapter ends with the close of this ungodly and dishonorable reign (2 Kings 8:23, 2 Kings 8:24). Nothing special is said here about his death, but 2 Chronicles 21:19, 2 Chronicles 21:20 tells us that he died in great pain and died without being mourned.