Oh. Wow. Today's passage includes some...how should I say this?...odd?...stories. Perhaps the strangest is the story of a king cursed with incontinence (in a pre-Pepto Bismol and Depends era). Seriously.
King Jehoram was a descendant of David who had blatant disregard for God and His ways. Jehoram built shrines to idols, killed all of his own brothers and lead the nation of Judah in rebellion. Because of his total dishonor toward God, a prophet told Jehoram that God would curse him with a painful disease of the colon. Here's what happened:
After about two years
he was totally incontinent and died writhing in pain.
His people didn't honor him by lighting a great bonfire,
as was customary with his ancestors.
He was thirty-two years old
when he became king and reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
There were no tears shed when he died
—it was good riddance!—
and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
I'm no math wizard, but if I'm looking at the numbers right, it looks like King Jehoram went through a nasty illness and died when he was only 40 years old. What's really tragic is the fact that Jehoram didn't have to live this way--he chose to dishonor God and as a result, he was dishonored himself.
Jehoram was a guy who should have known better. His family had a history of serving God. Jehoram could have sought advice from priests and leaders. As I read this passage, I wondered, "How different would Jehoram's life have been if he chose to serve God? And even when he failed, what would have God done if Jehoram asked for forgiveness?"
I don't know the answers to these questions. I do think that beyond his colon issues, Jehoram had the disease of dishonor--it was a disease that defined and destroyed his life. I, for one, think that the disease of dishonor has destroyed WAY too many lives. And the cure is simple: Live to love and honor God and people. That's it.
Tomorrow: 2 Chronicles 25-27
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