GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 21:1-4
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21:1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 Jehoram had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the first-born.
Jehoshaphat was a man of true faith, as his father Asa had been. Asa loved peace; Jehoshaphat loved strength. The prophet tells us that Jehoshaphat “slept with his fathers.” In Chronicles, this phrase is an indication that the king died peacefully and was not assassinated. We see it used for wicked kings (such as Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 28:27), repentant kings (such as Manasseh, 2 Chronicles 33:20), and good kings (such as Jotham, 2 Chronicles 27:9). But kings who died violent deaths are remembered for the way that they died: Ahaziah was put to death by Jehu (2 Chronicles 22:9). Queen Athaliah was put to death at the entrance of the Horse Gate (23:15). Wicked Joash was wounded in battle, and then his officials conspired against him and “violently attacked him on his bed, and he died” (24:25). Amaziah was killed when he fled after a conspiracy against him (25:27). Amon was murdered by a group of servants in his own house (33:24). Josiah was wounded in battle and died of his wound (35:24). The deaths of the last kings are not recorded; Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt (36:4); Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin were taken to Babylon (36:6,10), and Zedekiah’s end (told so graphically in 2 Kings 25) is not even described in Chronicles.
King Jehoram is first described in terms of what his father provided for him. He and his brothers were given a lot of wealth and important positions in the kingdom; even fortified cities to govern. But Jehoram the firstborn was made king. He is the only man to become king of Judah based on being the firstborn (recall that even David and Solomon were not firstborn sons). He had his father’s blessing, his father’s throne, and brothers in positions of authority throughout Judah. He was set up for success. But like Abimelech, the worst of Israel’s judges (Judges 9:1-5), he didn’t even trust his own brothers– and worse.
4 When Jehoram had ascended to his father’s throne he firmly established himself, and he killed all of his brothers with the sword, along with some of the other princes of Israel.
The most likely reason that this wicked king murdered his own brothers is given in verse 13: they were all “better than you.” That is, they were faithful to the God of Israel like their father Jehoshaphat, but Jehoram, married to the daughter of King Ahab, was not. Their disapproval meant that in his mind they had to die. He was a king who demanded loyalty rather than moral fiber or mere ability, and so their faith meant their deaths. The prophet also mentions other princes of (the true) Israel. All they would have had to do was show the slightest disapproval of this wicked king, and their blood was spilled in the same way.
Nobody can shake their head at this text or say, “Tsk, tsk, what a bad man,” without looking into the mirror and into their own heart and understanding what it really means to break the Fifth Commandment. Yes, Jehoram was a terrible man and he committed fratricide, a special kind of murder when it’s your own brother, just like Cain. But we must beware:
1, Murder. Yes, taking a human life breaks God’s law. That is the letter of the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:13). But it is not all.
2, Physical harm. “Do no harm” is God’s command about his prophets (1 Chronicles 16:22) and against anyone. “Love does no harm to a neighbor,” Paul explains, “so love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
3, Emotional, mental harm (including gaslighting). Peace also means being able to go without anyone frightening you (Leviticus 26:6). The Psalm teaches us that God listens to the cry of the afflicted and defends them, so that man “may terrify no more” (Psalm 10:18).
4, Jesus teaches that hatred in the heart, hostility, malice and even name-calling are just as sinful in God’s sight as murder itself (Matthew 5:22). “We should not use our tongue to advocate or advise harming anyone… our heart should harbor no hostility or malice toward anyone in a spirit of anger and hatred” (Large Catechism I:188).
5, We must also leave aside all thoughts of retribution or getting even. “No one should harm another for any evil deed, no matter how much he deserves it…. God wishes to remove the root and source of bitterness toward our neighbor” (LC I:186,187).
6, In the same way, failing to help a person in need is also the same sin. “When you see a man naked, clothe him” (Isaiah 58:7). “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Romans 12:20).
7, But this, too, does not end with physical help. “God rightly calls all persons murderers who do not offer counsel to men in need and in peril” (LC 191). God urges: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise” (Proverbs 19:20).
Here we have God’s word by which he wants to encourage us and urge us to do true, noble, loving, exalted deeds, such as gentleness, patience, and, in short, love and kindness toward one another and toward our enemies. We love because he first loved us.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 21:1-4 Love and murder