Jehoshaphat King of Judah

2022-05-23

When Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king, he sought the Lord more than many of the Judean rulers before him. He took away the high places at the beginning of his reign, which many rulers before him could not or would not do (2 Chronicles 17:6; 19:3; though later, we see the people built them up again; 2 Chronicles 20:33). Regardless, he encouraged the people to serve the Lord, even after being rebuked by Him: “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts” (2 Chronicles 19:7). This is contrary to what Asa did. Because of zeal for the Lord, the surrounding peoples feared him and sent him tribute.

The biggest weakness of Jehoshaphat was his relationship with the wicked King Ahab of Israel. When the two kings met to discuss the recapturing of Ramothgilead, Ahab surrounded himself with yes-men prophets who would give him the guidance he wanted. We see Jehoshaphat at least wanted to hear from a real prophet from the LORD, Micaiah, who told them that failure awaited there. However, we see that Jehoshaphat, who was well-intentioned, preferred Ahab’s way over the Lord’s way. After coming home after the defeat, he was rebuked by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani. Even with disobedience, the Lord showed mercy, protecting the king of Judah in battle. This shows us that we the Lord’s people may have values that supersede the Lord’s command. This weakness regarding the affinity with Ahab’s family is something that lasted his whole life, and it affected his son Jehoram who married into Ahab’s family (2 Kings 8:18).

When a confederacy of kings went up against Judah, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord, and they were miraculously delivered. They sought the Lord in the temple and were told they would not have to fight at all. Ammon, Moab, and Edom would all slay each other before the battle would begin. Jehoshaphat sent singers ahead of the troops to praise the Lord, a different sort of battle strategy! Whatever battle we must fight, we also must stand before the Lord before we fight.

Jehoshaphat later went up against Moab with king Jehoram of Israel, seeing a miraculous victory, as directed by Elisha the prophet. When they ran out of water, Jehoshaphat was the one who sought the prophet Elisha. The company dug ditches, which filled with water for the troops, and when the Moabites saw the water shining red at sunrise, they thought the armies of Israel and Judah had been killed. However, Moab lost that day, and was defeated.

Jehoshaphat made a major blunder by aligning with kings that hated the Lord. “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD” (2 Chronicles 19:2). Perhaps that because Israel and Judah used to be one nation and had a rich heritage, Jehoshaphat thought he was doing good. However, it hurt his children after him. Not everyone that claims to follow the Lord is from Him. Nonetheless, the Lord was with him because in everything else he sought the Lord.

Remember that decisions you make today can affect the lives of others. Don’t let some tradition ruin what the Lord has for you.

This is a part of the Kings of Judah series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.