The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 258

therefore, the de11.d are distinctly dishonoured, when there le no one to pronounce a eulogiu!n or even to feel a lament, it is clear that their contempor~ries have decidedly and seriously condemned them. (3) It speaks of a deplorable failure, Excepting In those comparatively rare cases of the very best and greatest men, who have been before their &!re in undorstanding and in action, and have therefore been misunderstood when men die dishonoured and without regret it may he taken that their lives hav'e been unworthy; the.t they have been marked by evil ; that they have been fruitful of folly and of m-ong. And what can be sadder than that? That God should give us our powers and our lives in order the.t we me.y spend them for his honour, to promote the reAI well-bein~ of our fellow-men, and to cultivate in ourselves wisdom and worth that will fit. us for higher spheres; and that we should degrade our priceless opportunity by scattering seeds of error, by diffusing unholy principles, by doing our utmost to injure the spirits and to lower the li'l"es of men, thus starting influences for evil which will i,pread fe.r and wide, and will go down from generation to generation ;-there is nothing we can conceive of which is more deplorable than this. (4) It is a painful and pitiable thing in itself. To depart unregretted by any one I To go for ever and to be missed and mourned by none I To leave no hearts that will be saddened by our absence, that will wish to see us and speak to us again! To be borne away, not like the fair and noble tree, whose fruit has been a treasure, whose form has been a perpetual joy all the year round, whose shadow bas been a kindly shelter to old and young, with a sincere if not a(l'ectiona.te regret; but like an unsightly and cumbersome log, that has been an offence to the eye and an obstruction in the way, with a. sense of relief and satisfaction ;-who of us would like to be so regarded when we die? Who of ns would not infinitely rather be bathed in a pure and holy sorrow as we mourn some departed friend that has lived in love and died in honour, than leave in the grave one for whom no tear is shed, whose dt?parture no soul regrets? Let us be such men and live such lives that if our sur- vi'l"ors and successors do not "make a great burning for us," as was done for Jehora.m's gr:i.ndfather (eh. x'l"i. 14), they will lose us "'ith a genuine regret, and mourn for us with a sorrow that will hallow their own hearts, while it testifies to the worth that has found a home beneath other skies.-C. Vers. 2-1!.-.17,e character of Jehoram. L A DEGENERATE SON. 1. The advantages Jelwram possessed. (1) .A. good father, Jehoshaphat, whose example should have led him, whose instructions should have taught him (Prov. i. 8), whose prayers should have won him to walk in wisdom's ways. But they did not. Piety is not hereditary. E:mmple often foils to impress, instruction to convince, prayer to save, the children of godly parents. Numerons instances in Scripture (1 Sam. ii. 12; viii. 3; xv. 1, etc.) a::id in ordinary life. (2) A good este.te. As Jehoshaphat's :firstborn, he succeeded- whether during his father's lifetime (Keil) or at his father's death (Bii.hr) uncertain- to an exalted throne and a peaceful realm, became ruler of a promising people and a growing empire. He had much to make him contented with bis lot and thankful for his mercies, to lead him to think of God and devote himself to the practice of religion, a.s well as to consecrate his talents to advancing the moral and material interests of his subjects. Nevertheless, he neglected both hie own and his people's salvation. (3) A good God, who bad kept him alive for thirty-two yea.re, when many better men than he had been cut off in youth (ver. 5); who had allowed him time to mature in wisdom before calling him to assume the burdensome responsibilities of the throne; who bad promoted him to his father's crown, which might easily have been given to another (ver. 3); who bore with him in his wickedness for his servant David's sake (ver. 7); who punished him by suffering the Edomites to revolt (ver. 8), stirring up the Philis- tines and Arabians against him (ver. 15), and afflicting him with a mortal malady (ver. 18), of which be was forewarned by a letter from Elijah (ver. 12), Yet for all this Jehoram walked not in the ways of Jehoshaphat bis father, or in the ways of .Asa his grandfather, but in the ways of .Ahab, the King of Israel (vers. 6, 12, 13), 2. ThlJ disadv=tages under which he lal>oured. (1) A bad heart. That Jehora.m, though beluoging to Judah and a son of Jehoshaphat, was not a. child of grace, his whole sub- sequent career attested. ".All are not Israel, that a.re of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children" (Rom. ix. 6, 7); "For he is not a Jew, which ~ o::i.c outwardl1: ... but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly" (Rom, ii. 28, 29). That ou. XXI, 1-20.J 'l'HE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 259