2 Chronicles 21:1–20
Jehoshaphat was a good and wise king in Judah. But he made one big mistake: He allowed his son Jehoram to marry Athaliah. She was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.
Elijah was living in Israel when Jehoram was king of Judah. A letter came to King Jehoram from the prophet. Elijah wrote: “God says, ‘You aren’t living like your father Jehoshaphat or grandfather Asa did. Instead, you live like Ahab and the kings of Israel. You’ve led Judah to turn away from me. Ahab did the same thing in Israel. Not only so, you killed your own brothers, and they were better than you. So God will bring a disease on you and your family. All your insides are going to come out because of the disease.’ ”
The Lord sent the Philistines and Arabians against Judah. They took away everything of the king’s. They captured his wives and all his children but the youngest. Then the Lord gave him a disease in his stomach. It couldn’t be cured. In two years, Jehoram’s insides fell out. He died in agony. No one was sorry. Jehoram wasn’t even buried with Judah’s kings.
Questions: What mistake did Jehoshaphat make? Why did Jehoram die in agony?