In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.
Jehoram of Judah married into the house of Ahab and walked in the ways of Israel's kings. Now a nation David had once brought under Judah's rule breaks free and crowns a king of its own. It reads like political news. Writers ask what lay behind it.
The previous verse says God would not destroy David's line because of the covenant He made with David. One writer links our verse to that promise. Mercy to the family did not cancel the consequences for the nation.
Yet despite Jehoram's wickedness, the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of His promise to David and to David's descendants (v. 7). So the grace of God stands out as greater than judgment, though in righteous government God would bring serious suffering on Israel. Verse 8 shows this, as Edom revolted against the rule of Judah.
Jehoram killed his brothers and led Judah into idolatry. The revolt of Edom is presented as the outward symptom of an inward rot that other nations were watching for.
Decline of power set in at once, and the neighbouring nations were quick to notice it and take advantage… Jehoram went out with his princes and all his chariots. He rose up by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him. This happened at Zair (2 Kings 8:21), in Idumea, south of the Dead Sea. He barely escaped being killed or captured, because the enemy had him surrounded. He got out by a surprise night attack, but the expedition was a failure. The spirit of rebellion spread: at the same time Libnah revolted too, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.
Until now a governor under Judah's throne ruled Edom. Now Edom sets up its own king. One writer traces the loss back to the marriages that tied David's house to Ahab's.
Ahab's daughter was the wife of Jehoram of Judah. Ahaziah, Jehoram's son, was also "the son-in-law of the house of Ahab." These unholy alliances led both of them into the ways of the kings of Israel. The same holds true at all times. A Christian yoked together with a child of the world is bound to lose his testimony and even the appearance of his Christianity. The world is never improved by the Christian's alliance with it… Edom, which until now had a governor dependent on the throne of Judah, revolts and chooses a king for itself.
Edom was the nation descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. When Isaac blessed Esau, he said the day would come when Esau would break his brother's yoke off his neck — and writers point to this revolt as the moment it happened.
Isaac's blessing on Esau said that he would live by his sword, that he would serve his brother, and that when he had the upper hand he would break his brother's yoke off his neck (Gen. 27:37-40). The words of Isaac were fulfilled. David put garrisons throughout all Edom, where the descendants of Esau lived (Gen. 36:8), and all the people of Edom became his servants (2 Sam. 8:14). But later, in the days of Joram, Edom revolted from the rule of Judah. Joram was able to punish them, yet Judah was growing weaker, and Edom stayed out from under Judah's rule to this day (2 Kings 8:20-22). Obadiah announces Edom's final judgement: no remnant is restored.
The same writer who makes this link elsewhere notes how long-lasting the result was. Judah never got Edom back.
David, who came of Jacob, set garrisons in Edom, and the Edomites became his servants and brought gifts. But Jehoram, who also came of Jacob, later loses the Edomites as his servants and tributaries. They revolted during his reign, and continue so to this day. (2 Sam. 8:14; 2 Chr. 21:8)
One writer starts from David's garrisons in Edom and reads the nation as a picture of something in us.
David put garrisons throughout all of Edom. Edom (which is only Adam with the vowels changed) is a picture of the flesh. While we are on earth the flesh will not leave us, but garrisons are necessary to restrain it from acting as it pleases. The authority of the Lord Jesus over His own involves His restraining hand to keep the flesh under control.
On that reading, the revolt marks the moment the garrison came off.
In Jehoram's days Edom revolted from the authority of Judah and made a king over themselves (2 Kings 8:20). Jehoshaphat had at least kept Edom under control, but not so Jehoram. By faithfully walking with God we shall be able to keep the flesh under control. But when faith wavers, the flesh will soon assert itself in wilful evil.
- Cause — Jehoram married into Ahab's house and left the Lord. Losing Edom was the outward result.
- Kept — God would not destroy David's line. Grace held firm, even while His government struck the kingdom hard.
- Noticed — inward decline becomes public weakness. The nations around Judah saw it and moved at once.
- Fulfilled — Isaac had said Esau would one day break his brother's yoke. It happened here, and Judah never got Edom back.
- Applied — Edom pictures the flesh, held down only by a restraining hand. When faith wavers, the garrison comes off and the old nature crowns itself king.
And Jehoram went over with his captains, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots.
Jehoram of Judah rides out with his chariots against a province that has thrown off his rule. By morning he has cut his way out of an Edomite trap, yet Edom is never won back. Why can a king win a fight and still lose a kingdom?
Edom's break with Judah did not begin with Edom. Writers trace it back to Jehoshaphat's friendship with Ahab, and to the marriage that followed.
In helping Ahab he almost lost his life. But neither the danger nor the prophet's rebuke kept him from repeating the same mistake. He made an alliance with Ahab's son Jehoram. This defiling tie bore its fruit. Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, walked in the ways of Ahab. He had married a daughter of Ahab. When a godly family makes friends with a godless one, the results are very terrible.
One writer names the place where the Edomites closed in, and gives the outcome.
This happened at Zair, in Idumea, south of the Dead Sea. Surrounded by the enemy, he only just escaped being destroyed or captured. He got himself out by a surprise attack at night, but the campaign was a failure. The spirit of rebellion spread: at the same time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.
So the breakout saved the army, not the kingdom.
Jehoram struck a real blow. The rebellion still outlived him.
Until now Edom had a governor who answered to the throne of Judah. Now it revolts and chooses a king for itself. The result is war. Jehoram has the advantage, but the revolt is not crushed, and this unbeaten enemy carries on "to this day." At the same time Libnah revolted. Libnah was a city of Judah that belonged to the priests, the sons of Aaron. What a shame for Jehoram! In his own kingdom one of the cities that mattered most morally broke away from him. The sons of Aaron could not join themselves to a man who had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.
Writers read Edom as a picture of the flesh, and draw a warning from Jehoram's failed campaign.
Jehoram (also called Joram) tried to bring Edom back under his rule. He took all his chariots with him and attacked by night, but his own troops fled. Edom was too strong, just as the flesh is too strong for mere human energy. So Judah won back no authority over Edom, right up to the day of this report. Libnah also revolted at that time. Libnah means "whiteness," and this teaches us that Judah lost control of moral purity at the same time as it lost control of the flesh. This will always be true. If we do not keep the flesh in check, we will not have moral purity.
Commentators differ on the battle. Grant says Jehoram's own troops fled. Knapp reads the night attack as an escape. Both agree the campaign settled nothing.
Jehoram held Edom down for a moment only. Another writer warns about exactly that state:
An enemy half conquered is an enemy unconquered. Unless you completely overthrow the power of evil that would keep you from one corner of your inheritance, you will find that enemy come up again. You may hold him down for a time. You may make him pay tribute and treat him as a secondary thing — the way people sometimes speak of the flesh as a secondary thing they have some measure of control over. Still, if the enemy is not truly a conquered enemy, he will conquer us one day.
Jehoram struck Edom and still lost ground. One writer sets both facts beside the reason God did not end his line.
He went even further than his father in joining himself to evil. He had married the daughter of Ahab, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David. So we find that when the Edomites revolted and Jehoram went out, he struck them. Still, God disciplined him, for at the same time Libnah revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.
That covenant explains the limited win. God would not wipe out David's house, and He would not hand Edom back either.
- Root. The revolt grew from an earlier seed. Jehoshaphat's friendship with Ahab's house, and the marriage that followed, brought Ahab's ways into Judah's court.
- Escape. At Zair, Jehoram broke out of an Edomite trap by night. He saved himself. The campaign achieved nothing.
- Unsubdued. He had the advantage in battle, yet never crushed the revolt. Edom stayed free. Libnah, a city of his own priests, broke away too.
- Warning. Edom pictures the flesh, too strong for human energy alone. An enemy only half conquered is an enemy unconquered. He comes back.
- Restraint. God disciplined Jehoram, but He would not destroy David's house. He had made a covenant with David.
But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah the God of his fathers.
Jehoram took the throne after his father Jehoshaphat, and the kingdom began to break apart in his hands. This verse records two revolts, and then names one cause for both.
The loss of Edom and Libnah is not presented as bad luck or poor strategy. One writer puts both revolts under God's hand, next to the promise that kept David's line standing:
Yet despite Jehoram's wickedness, the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of His promise to David and to David's descendants (v. 7). So God's grace stands out as greater than judgment, though in righteous government God would bring serious suffering on Israel. We see this in verse 8, as Edom revolted against the rule of Judah. Jehoram attempted to bring Edom back under subjection, but could do nothing (vv. 9-10). Libnah also revolted, and the reason is simply given. The Lord allowed this because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord.
Commentators differ on how the night battle of verse 9 ended. Some read it as a failure, others as a partial win. Either way, verse 10 ends the same, and one writer draws out the sting:
So we find that when the Edomites revolted, and Jehoram went out, he struck them. Still, God disciplined him, for "at that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers."
Edom was a nation on the border. Libnah was not. The second revolt came from inside Judah, and from the city where the priests lived:
Edom, which until now had a governor dependent on the throne of Judah, revolts and chooses a king for itself. The consequence is war. Jehoram has the advantage, but the revolt is not crushed, and this unsubdued enemy continues on "to this day." At the same time, Libnah revolted. Libnah was a city of Judah, a priestly city belonging to the sons of Aaron (Joshua 21:13; 1 Chr. 6:57). What a shame for Jehoram! Inside his own kingdom one of the morally most important cities broke away from him. The reason is given in verses 10 and 11. The sons of Aaron could not join themselves to a man who "had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers," and who pushed Judah into that path by his high places and his immorality. Some testimony was still left in Judah, and this testimony was to Jehoram's shame. The Lord separated a part of the priesthood from him — the one thing that could still keep Jehoram in relationship with Himself.
One writer reads the two place names as a picture of something that happens in a believer's life:
Edom was too strong, just as the flesh is too strong for mere human energy. So Judah regained no authority over Edom to the day of the writing of this report. Libnah also revolted at that time. Libnah means "whiteness." This teaches us that Judah lost control of moral purity at the very time they lost control of the flesh. This will always be true. If we do not keep the flesh in subjection, we will not keep moral purity.
Other writers treat Edom the same way, as the picture of what we are by nature. Edom's name is bound up with Adam's, and the enmity is not something that can be negotiated away:
Nor can you change this enmity into friendship; and so exactly with the flesh: "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Jehoram did not drift into this on his own. His father tied the family to Ahab's house by marriage, and this verse is part of the harvest:
But soon the sorrowful fruits of his league with Ahab ripen and bring Judah into distress. Jehoram, his son, Ahab's son-in-law, walks in the ways of the kings of Israel. The Edomites revolt, and Libnah, a city of Judah, does the same... It is His government which we see here; for He rules over those who are in covenant with Him, those who are His house.
- Forsaking first. Two revolts, one reason: Jehoram "had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers." The kingdom broke apart in public because the king had already turned away in private.
- Then the hand weakens. What a king has forsaken, he can no longer hold. Edom slips out of his hand and the loss stands "to this day" — his one advantage in battle never won the ground back.
- Then it spreads inward. Edom was a foreign nation; Libnah was his own, a city set apart for the priests. Rebellion that starts at the border ends up in the sanctuary.
- The pattern repeats. As pictures, Edom is the flesh, which human strength cannot subdue. Libnah means "whiteness." Lose your grip on the first and you will not keep the second.
- But one hand does not let go. God still spared the house of David. Not because Jehoram earned it, but because of the promise made to David. Grace runs alongside God's government, and proves greater than it.