King Jehoram of Judah

After King Jehoshaphat of Judah died, his firstborn son, Jehoram, became king. This King Jehoram of Judah shared the same name as King Jehoram, son of Ahab, from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but they were not the same person. King Jehoram of Israel was later killed by Jehu. King Jehoram of Judah, who reigned in Jerusalem, married Athaliah, the sister of King Jehoram of Israel, making him King Jehoram of Israel’s brother-in-law.

King Jehoram of Judah was an evil king. After his accession, he murdered all his brothers. His wife, Athaliah, not only approved but also promoted the worship of the idol Baal throughout Judah, restoring pagan worship sites that had been torn down and recreating smashed idols and altars.

God warned Jehoram, allowing Edom and Libnah to rebel, but idolatry blinded Jehoram’s heart, causing him to stray further and continue in sin. [2 Chronicles 21:11-12] “Moreover, he built high places in the mountains of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into idolatry and made Judah go astray. And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying…” Previously, Judean kings had merely not removed the high places; they had not actively built them. Jehoram was the first Judean king to build high places. This is the only place in Chronicles where the prophet Elijah is mentioned. (Elijah might have still been alive at this time, or he might have written this letter before his death, with a disciple delivering it to Jehoram.)

King Jehoram of Judah utterly ignored God’s warning delivered through Elijah. The LORD God’s punishment came sequentially upon the land. After Edom and Libnah successively rebelled against King Jehoram of Judah, the Philistines and the Arabs near Cush also attacked him. They came up against Judah, invaded its territory, carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace, and also his wives and sons, leaving him no son except Jehoahaz (also called Ahaziah), his youngest. After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. He suffered from this illness for a long time; after two years, his bowels came out, and he died in severe pain. His people did not make a fire in his honor, as they had for his ancestors. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away unlamented, and they buried him in the City of David, though not in the tombs of the kings [2 Chronicles 21:17-20].