Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery. (2 Chronicles 21:20 NLT)I don’t guess there are many comments in the Bible that are sadder than this. No one was sorry when he died.
Jehoram started out well. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, a king of Judah who was, for the most part, a good king. He had his problems and his difficulties as most did, but he tried to serve God.
But he didn’t. he moved quickly into being a bad guy. He killed his brothers immediately upon gaining the throne.
Parts of his kingdom rebelled and moved away forming their own country, other countries attacked and ransacked the palace, even taking away his wives and sons.
Finally at the end, he had a severe intestinal disease and he died in agony.
In general, his life started good and went quickly into the toilet. By the time he died, people had a party.
What would it be like to live your life in such a way that when you died, no one was sorry?
I did funerals for displaced people in the Tulsa, OK, area a few years back. If there was someone who needed a funeral and didn’t have a pastor, the funeral director called me.
Some of these were truly tragic. One had three people in attendance, myself included. No music, no real flowers, just a couple of people sitting in a mausoleum. I sang Amazing Grace simply out of sadness. I felt there needed to be some kind of music.
After a while, my wife started going with me, just to have one more person at the funeral.
Many of these were people who had moved away and were to be buried in Tulsa. All of their friends were gone and no one knew them.
But they deserved a funeral, even if somewhat sparsely attended. And music, even if spontaneous.
Probably Jehoram had a funeral, and it was probably a state funeral with some pomp and ceremony.
But nobody cared or was sorry that he died.
And 19 of this chapter says that His people did not build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.
What a sad way to go: unloved, uncelebrated, unmourned.
It’s what happens when you turn from God.
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