5 Lessons From King Jehoshaphat

 As you read through the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, you see that most kings of Israel and Judah paid lip service to Almighty God, but they didn’t obey Him. They thought they could mix worship of the true God with idolatry and paganism, just as most people do today.

Some kings of Judah did follow God, but not with loyal hearts. When troubles and tribulations arose, they became fearful and wandered off His path. Or, after being blessed by God for their obedience, they became puffed up with pride and forgot Him.

But a few other kings of Judah truly set their hearts on God and on walking in His ways, and they remained faithful until they drew their last breath. Yet, like us all, these men, too, had their flaws. Sometimes their human nature got the best of them, and they strayed from the path until God corrected them.

The apostle Paul explained to the congregation in Rome, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Again, he spoke of the Israelites of old, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

So God’s Word gives us many examples, both good and bad. Through the examples it contains, God’s Word shows us how to apply our Creator’s laws, and how not to. It shows us how to please God and how to displease Him; how to walk in His ways and how we might stray from them.

King Jehoshaphat was one of Judah’s righteous kings, a man who feared and obeyed our great Creator: “And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD” (2 Chron. 17:6). His example holds several lessons for us today, both good and bad.

Heartfelt Devotion

Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah and a descendant of King Solomon and King David. From the beginning of his reign until the end, he faithfully served Almighty God: “Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel. ... And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah” (2 Chron. 17:3-4, 6).

Later on, Jehoshaphat is praised for having “prepared your heart to seek God” (2 Chron. 19:3). This example contrasts with other kings of Judah who “did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart” (2 Chron. 25:2).

Brothers and sisters, are we like Jehoshaphat? Have we prepared our hearts to seek the Almighty, and do we delight in His ways? Does it fill our hearts with joy to serve our great God? That’s what God desires of us! “Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing” (Psa. 100:2).

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deut. 10:12-13).

Blessings For Obedience

Because Jehoshaphat obeyed God with his whole heart, God poured out blessings upon him. “Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance” (2 Chron. 17:5). We’re told in more detail,

10 And the fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

11 Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats.

12 So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.

13 He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem. (2 Chron. 17:10-13.)

Jehoshaphat also strengthened his army and garrisoned all the fortified cities in his kingdom with soldiers (2 Chron. 17:1-2, 14-19). But, as we just read, he didn’t even have to use this mighty army because God rewarded him with peace for his faithfulness.

Likewise, there are blessings in store for each of us if we serve our great God with our whole hearts. Remember, God gave us His laws for our good! “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).

We will have trials and tribulations in this life, as everyone must. Even the unconverted have troubles and difficulties in life; they simply don’t have God to guide them through! But for those whom God has called, even troubles work out for their ultimate good: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Teaching the People

Now, Jehoshaphat’s name means “YHWH has judged,” and, fittingly enough, he devoted much attention to instructing his people in the judgments of the Lord. In the third year of his reign, he sent some of the leaders of Judah, along with priests and Levites, throughout the cities of Judah to preach and teach: “So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people” (2 Chron. 17:9).

Later in his reign, Jehoshaphat himself toured his kingdom to teach the people, and also set judges in every city to administer God’s judgments and justice: 

4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD God of their fathers.

5 Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

6 and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

7 “Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.” (2 Chron. 19:4-7.)

In Jerusalem itself, Jehoshaphat assembled a supreme court of Levites, priests, and elders of the people to judge the hardest cases according to God’s law (v. 8).

Now, God didn’t call everyone to be teachers in the congregation (Jam. 3:1; Eph. 4:11); not everyone has the same role in the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-31). Nevertheless, God did intend for all His people to be capable of teaching: “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth” (2 Tim. 2:24-25).

All of God’s people must be ready with an answer if questioned by others: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15). This means we all must be well-versed in God’s Word and in His law! We must internalize it, it must define who we are, and we must be prepared to teach others — above all, our own children!

Faith in God’s Deliverance

Later during Jehoshaphat’s reign, an allied army of Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites from Mt. Seir invaded Judah (2 Chron. 20:1, 10). Now remember, Jehoshaphat had a mighty army; he could call more than one million men to arms if needed (2 Chron. 17:14-19). But in this moment of crisis, he didn’t look to himself and his army to defeat the enemy.

Nor did Jehoshaphat look to others for deliverance. He learned from the bad example of his father King Asa, who, when faced with a threat from the northern kingdom of Israel, had looked to the pagan king of Syria for help rather than to God (2 Chron. 16:1-5). So God had rebuked Asa, saying, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars” (2 Chron. 16:9).

But Jehoshaphat, instead of putting his faith in himself or looking to other people for help, looked to God: “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD” (2 Chron. 20:3-4).

So Jehoshaphat and all the people of Judah stood before the temple and prayed for God’s deliverance. “Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD” (2 Chron. 20:13). As Jehoshaphat led the people in prayer, we read,

14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16 ‘Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.

17 'You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.” (2 Chron. 20:14-17.)

So Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah went out to see their enemies, as God had told them. The priests led the way before them, singing praises to God (vv. 20-21). When they arrived at the battlefield, they found only corpses, for God had caused their enemies to turn on one another and kill each other to the last man (vv. 22-24).

Nearly every other time in the Bible that foreign armies invaded Israel, God required His people to fight and He delivered them in battle. This was an extraordinary exception, an extraordinary act of deliverance!

Whatever troubles we might face in this life, our God is able to deliver us if we put our faith in Him. We shouldn’t put our faith in our own resources or in other people, but in the Almighty.

As the prophet Elisha told his servant, when surrounded by Syrian troops, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). We may have to fight and struggle; we may not. But either way, God is with us. Our God is bigger than any challenge we might face!

Should You Help the Wicked?

For all the good he did and for all his faithfulness to God, Jehoshaphat was a human being, like us all, and he wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes, mistakes that many of us can relate to.

Throughout his reign, Jehoshaphat sought friendship with the wicked kings of Israel. First, “by marriage he allied himself with Ahab” (2 Chron. 18:1). As we’re told elsewhere, “There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up” (1 Kings 21:25). But Jehoshaphat apparently arranged a marriage between his oldest son Jehoram and Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (2 Chron. 21:6; 22:2).

And he didn’t stop there. When Ahab asked him for help fighting the Syrians, Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war” (2 Chron. 18:3). Even after a prophet of God warned that Israel would be defeated and Ahab killed in battle (2 Chron. 18:12-27), Jehoshaphat still helped him in the campaign! Just as God had said, Ahab was mortally wounded in battle, and the Israelites retreated before the Syrians (1 Kings 22:34-36).

But God showed mercy to Jehoshaphat, even in his folly, and he “returned safely to his house in Jerusalem” (2 Chron. 19:1). God wasn’t pleased, though: “And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God’” (2 Chron. 19:2-3).

Despite the prophet’s rebuke, Jehoshaphat kept repeating the same mistake. When Ahab’s son and successor, King Ahaziah, proposed an alliance, Jehoshaphat accepted:

35 After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly.

36 And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.

37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish. (2 Chron. 20:35-37.)

But Jehoshaphat still didn’t learn. Ahaziah died soon afterward and his brother Jehoram, who shared the same name as Jehoshaphat’s eldest son, took the throne. The new Israelite king asked Jehoshaphat for help in a campaign against Moab, and Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses” (2 Kings 3:7). Now Jehoram wasn’t as evil as his predecessors, but he still persisted in idolatry (2 Kings 3:2-3).

Jehoshaphat and Jehoram linked up with the king of Edom as well, and the three kings set out for Moab. But the allied army soon ran out of water and might have perished from thirst were it not for, once again, God’s mercy to Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 3:9-17). God also gave Jehoshaphat and his pagan allies a crushing victory over the Moabites (2 Kings 3:18-26), but they failed to finish the job (v. 27) and the Bible doesn’t record anything good coming of the campaign.

Three times, Jehoshaphat chose to help pagan kings of Israel. Even after a prophet of God rebuked him with the words, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?”, he just didn’t seem to learn.

When Jehoshaphat died, his eldest son Jehoram succeeded him as king of Judah — the same son who had married Athaliah the daughter of Ahab. Following in the murderous footsteps of his in-laws Ahab and Jezebel, Jehoram murdered all of his brothers, Jehoshaphat’s sons (2 Chron. 21:2-4). After Jehoram and his son both died, Athaliah seized the throne for herself and tried to eliminate any rightful heirs by murdering her grandchildren (2 Chron. 22:10-12). Only one survived, a baby named Joash, because his aunt hid him (v. 11).

If Jehoshaphat hadn’t allied himself with Ahab, and cemented that alliance with a marriage between his son and Ahab’s daughter, perhaps none of that would have happened. God repeatedly forbids His people from marrying those who don’t follow Him, throughout both Old and New Testaments. In Mal. 2:11, God even describes such a thing as an abomination. If only Jehoshaphat had listened…

And yet, how many of us have made, or continue to make, Jehoshaphat’s mistakes? How many of God’s people have sought — and continue to seek — intimate friendships, romantic relationships, and even marriages with those who don’t “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17)?

How many of God’s people continue to send their children to public schools and are shocked when their children grow up and reject the faith? Should any other outcome be expected if your children spend seven hours a day being indoctrinated against your faith and moral standards? As one fellow observed, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.”

How many of the congregations of God tolerate wickedness and immorality in their midst? Drunkenness, drug use, sexual immorality, and more? We’re told that cutting these people off would be unloving or un-Christian, that we can change them by loving them and ignoring their sinful behavior, that we all sin in different ways, and that we shouldn’t be too judgmental. And because we tolerate this cancer in our midst, it spreads rather than magically going away.

Oh yes, we all have our reasons. We all have reasons why God’s commandments don’t apply when we don’t want them to. Jehoshaphat probably did, too. He probably had good reasons, or so he thought, for seeking friendship with the wicked kings of Israel and helping them in battle. Perhaps he thought he was saving the lives of his people by avoiding future conflict with Israel. Perhaps he even hoped to be a good example and win them over to the truth. But none of his reasons changed the consequences! Disobedience always has consequences.

Closing Thoughts

There’s much that we can learn from King Jehoshaphat. Like him, we ought to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. Our Creator shouldn’t merely be number one in our life; He should be first, last, and everything in between! He should be our everything, and all that we say, do, or think in this life ought to flow from our walk with Him.

God poured out blessings upon Jehoshaphat for his faithfulness, and so it can be for us. If we give ourselves to God, as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), and hold nothing back, then He will give us more than we could ever imagine. Whether God chooses to give us earthly riches or not, obedience and devotion to Him bring us a rich and full life, both now and in the age to come. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).

Jehoshaphat both walked in God’s way and taught it to others. He taught his people God’s laws and judgments. We, too, must not only learn God’s laws and judgments ourselves, but also teach them to our children and be prepared to teach them to anyone else who might ask. If we’re blessed to be part of the first resurrection, then teaching others will also be our job during Christ’s millennial reign, as we’ve seen previously, so let us be prepared!

When faced with troubles and difficulties, Jehoshaphat didn’t put his faith in himself, his army, or anyone else on earth. He put his faith in the One who can truly save, the Almighty. Because of his faith, God fought for him and delivered him. Likewise, we must put our faith, not in anyone or anything on this earth, but in the Almighty. When storms arise and beat upon us, we must not regard the wind and the waves, but keep our eyes on Christ, and He will deliver us.

But Jehoshaphat also made bad decisions at times, as we all do. He befriended the wicked kings of Israel, even after a prophet rebuked him with the words, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?” His actions led to untold pain and suffering among his people and in his family. Let us avoid his mistakes! Let us not suppose that there can be any friendship between good and evil, or between godliness and paganism.

God gives us many lessons in His Word, so let us learn them. Imitate what is good, and reject what is wrong!