Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

II Kings 3:1-3 NKJV

Which would you rather have attack you, a grizzly or a wolf? For me, both sound terrible, but if I had to choose I would take the wolf as I would have more of a fighting chance. In hypotheticals like this we often consider which is the lesser of two evils.

After Jehoram’s introduction at the beginning of II Kings 3, we are brought up to speed on his life before the Lord through a comparison to Ahab, the most evil king in Israel’s history. Jehoram was evil, but he was less evil than Ahab and Jezebel. Since Jeroboam it seemed each king of Israel was more evil than the preceding king… but Ahab was too tough to beat in the category of evil.

We should not take this passage as a commendation of Jehoram: to the contrary this passage gives us another indictment against the evil of Ahab and Jezebel. Jehoram’s prevailing sin was idolatry. He put away the pillar to Baal, but he did not end Baal worship or idolatry in Israel; rather he just focused his idolatry on the sin of Jeroboam.* Jehoram, like his fathers Ahab and Jeroboam, “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25).

This is the prevailing sin throughout history, and our present day is no different. If I lust after the desires of my eyes, the desires of my flesh, or the pride of life, I am making those things my gods who save me rather than the true and living triune God, who alone saves through His atoning work on the cross for me. I would be committing idolatry like Jeroboam, Ahab, and Jehoram if I were to look anywhere else for hope but to Christ my savior.

Today, the people of the nations are falling down to the idols of pride, greed, vengeance, violence, deceit, bodily autonomy**, and all manner of similar idols. The corporations, politicians, and all of world seem to be following their example. As the Lord looks down from Heaven would He say we are less evil than any other generation before us?

Jehoram persisted in the sins of Jeroboam. Those who claim the Word of God as the infallible and inerrant Word of God; who claim Jesus Christ as the Son of God and God the Son; who boast in the cross of Christ: Let us persist, not in doing every evil deed, but dying to sin, evil, and idolatry and living for the glory and honor of Christ. Then, dear friends, as you by the Spirit persist in righteousness and live for the glory of Christ, others will see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.

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*Jeroboam’s sin is given in I Kings 12:28-31: “Therefore the king [Jeroboam] asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not the sons of Levi.”

**Bodily autonomy (perhaps “Botonomy” for short) is the prevailing idol of our day and the false god by whom all manner of wickedness and sin is justified. We will see the results playing out throughout this chapter of Scripture and culminating in the final verse. It is very much like what we are seeing in the present day. While I do not like linking to this site, you can read more of this idol here.

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