ELIJAH THE PROPHET!”

 

2 Chronicles 21:12-15                                  (ESV)

“[12] And a letter came to him (King Jehoram) from “ELIJAH THE PROPHET”, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the GOD of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, [13] but have walked in the way of THE KINGS OF ISRAEL and HAVE ENTICED JUDAH and the inhabitants of Jerusalem INTO WHOREDOM, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, [14] behold, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, [15] and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’””

Elijah might be remembered as one of the two men who have exited “this world” without experiencing physical death.  He and Enoch are the only ones that are described in GODS WORD that “were taken” by GOD without experiencing the trauma of their physical life ending.  My feeble, uneducated mind is unable to fully grasp all of implications of why or how this happened, but the WORD OF GOD says it happened, therefore it is settled!

Jehoram, on the other hand, DID NOT follow GOD.  He led “in the way of THE KINGS OF ISRAEL and HAVE ENTICED JUDAH and the inhabitants of Jerusalem INTO WHOREDOM”!  But I thought THE KINGS OF ISRAEL were known to follow the leadership of GOD?  Surely, through all of the difficult times that GOD delivered them from, it should be CLEAR to them that they should OBEY THE LORD?  SURELY???

Doing WHAT SEEMS right to us and others can be extremely detrimental to our Spiritual health, but also our physical health!  King Jehoram would suffer (some say for two years!) from a “disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease”!  He died a, no doubt, MISERABLE death eight years after being elevated to king.  He was the King of Judah, but he couldn’t stave off the JUDGMENT OF GOD ALMIGHTY!

The penalty for sin is NOT something that most of us care to discuss.  Romans 6:23 says DEATH is the recompense for SIN!  But the “free gift” from ALMIGHTY GOD is “eternal life in CHRIST JESUS our LORD“!  We can placate the KINGS OF ISRAEL, but they will not save our souls!  JESUS CHRIST IS MY ONLY HOPE, for I have obliterated the hope of avoiding death, like “ELIJAH THE PROPHET” was able to do!