Mistakes of the Kings Part II
Last week I wrote about the life of King Asa: how he started out so good and ended up so badly. And today I want to write about the life of his son, King Jehoshaphat. Remember: the stories in the Old Testament are true stories about real people and their relationship with God. And God never changes! So, the way God responds to them is the same as the way He will respond to us. Once I got that revelation, it transformed the way I viewed the Old Testament. It came alive for me, and I hope it does for you too.
This is what we know about Jehoshaphat:
-the Lord was with him, because he followed the example of his father’s earlyyears (that’s a sad commentary that I don’t want to be true of my life- only the early years)
-he was deeply committed to the ways of the Lord
--he removed pagan shrines
-he sent officials throughout Judah to teach people the Book of the Law
-the fear of the Lord fell over the surrounding kingdoms so that no one wanted to attack him
-he became very wealthy and was highly esteemed
So, everything is great, what could go wrong? Well, here’s where it started: ’Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter.’ (2 Chronicles 18:1).
And a few years later he goes to visit King Ahab of Israel (side note: none of the Kings of Israel walked with God.) And Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to go to battle with him to recover Ramoth-Gilead. Ahab consults the prophets of Baal to see if he will succeed. They all said ‘yes’. But Jehoshaphat said: ‘Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord we can consult?’ This prophet tells Ahab that the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouths his false prophets to entice Ahab into battle and to his death. And that is what happened. Ahab dies in that battle. When the enemy searched for the King and saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the King of Israel, but he cried out, and the Lord drew them away from him. But when Jehoshaphat got home, a prophet came to meet him and said: ‘” Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” he asked the king. “Because of what you have done, the Lord is very angry with you. Even so, there is some good in you for you have removed the Asherah poles throughout the land and you have committed yourself to seeking God.” Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he went out among the people, traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, encouraging the people to return to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.’ (2 Chronicles 19:2-4).
After this time, a vast army from Edom came against Judah. Jehoshaphat was terrified and sought the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting and seek the Lord’s help. Jehoshaphat then prayed a very beautiful prayer: ‘O God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do but we are looking to you for help.’ (2 chronicles 20:12) God answers his prayer, delivers Judah in a powerful way and the nation was overjoyed.
Some time later, Jehoshaphat made an alliance with King Ahaziah who was very wicked. Together they built a fleet of ships. And a prophet came to Jehoshaphat and said this: ‘” Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work.” So, the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.’ (2 Chronicles 20:37). That was the last event recorded about his life. So, here’s what I noticed:
-you will be influenced most by the people closest to you. God had told them not to have foreign wives because they would draw their hearts away from him. Ahab’s daughter was not a foreigner, but she might as well have been because Ahab and his family were known for their wickedness. And this did affect Jehoshaphat (more on that in a minute). But I am thinking of the verse that says: ‘Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”’ (I Cor 15:33). When I had walked away from God years ago because my life had been turned upside down and I thought that God had let me down, I found myself here. No one tells me the truth about the lies I was believing, and I gave the enemy a foothold through the company I was keeping. Leaning on my own ‘wisdom’ apart from God which is no wisdom at all. And so, I drifted further and further away until the day that He came and got me. So now, I am careful about who I spend time with. Do we spur each other on in our walk with God? Or is it just time spent entertaining myself. One leads to life, and one leads to death.
-don’t team up with enemies of God. When Jehoshaphat went to war with Ahab, Ahab was killed in that battle, and a prophet came to him and said: ‘why should you help the wicked and love those who hate God?’ We should also be careful about what alliances we form. It ‘s interesting to me, because God expects up to be discerning and we are all too often afraid to ‘judge’ someone. But we are told that we can know each other by our fruit. If we are walking with God, it will be obvious by the way we live and others can see that. Don’t align yourself with enemies of God or you will find yourself drifting away like I did once.
-be humble when confronted. If someone confronts you about your sin, they are showing great love for you. And this is something Jehoshaphat did well: we are not told that he flew int a rage like his father, instead he went around teaching and encouraging the people to return to the Lord.
-learn from your mistakes. After the incident with Ahab, time goes by, and Jehoshaphat makes the same mistake again: he aligned himself with King Ahaziah of Israel who was very wicked and made a fleet of ships. But a prophet came and told him that because he did this, the Lord would destroy his work. And He did. Ever since the day God came and opened my eyes, I have seen Him as someone to be treasured. I want to know what He thinks about everything I do! I often pray from Psalm 86 that God would send me a sign of his favor: that He would keep me on the right path. Jehoshaphat goes down as a good king of Judah. So God shows us here that He is about restoration for all who will respond to Him.