5 Jehoshaphat the king who compromised

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(2 Chronicles 17 – 21)

Asa’s son, Jehoshaphat, became king after he died and continued the good work which his father had begun:

Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. (2 Chronicles 17:1-2)

teaching

As we shall see, his leadership as king was a mixture, mostly of excellent obedience to the Lord, but tinged with naivety when he needed to act with more wisdom. However, he made many brave decisions which brought blessings on the kingdom:

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honour. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah. (2 Chronicles 17:3-6)

He not only prepared well for conflict, but also prepared the hearts of his people by immersing them in the Word of God. This created a revival which affected people in other kingdoms:

In the third year of his reign, he sent his officials … They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went round to all the towns of Judah and taught the people. The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:7-10)

A similar thing was seen after the Day of Pentecost when that revival affected people in a wide area:

the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)

alliance

It was at this point that he made his first compromise:

Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.  (2 Chronicles 18:1)

Ahab was the evil king of the rival kingdom of Israel. Instead of trusting God to prosper his kingdom, Jehoshaphat arranged this marriage for his son, Jehoash. Ahab was married to the wicked Queen Jezebel and the bride was her daughter, Athaliah. Jehoshaphat was being wise in his own eyes. Athaliah was as evil as her mother and in later years this evil would manifest itself in murderous way upon the descendants of Jehoshaphat. Her influence was so destructive that it almost wiped out the succession of David; and by implication, the appearance of Jesus as the Son of David.

Jehoshaphat seemed to feel he needed to ingratiate himself with Ahab. He treated him as a brother and equal when in fact he was an apostate and opposer of the Lord’s will:

Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?’ Jehoshaphat replied, ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.’ But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord.’ (2 Chronicles 18:3-4)

This chapter is well worth reading. It is full of conflict, ironic humour and powerful prophecy. In it you can read how God used this situation to bring deserved judgment on Ahab for his numerous sins; and especially judgment for Ahab's unjust execution of Naboth, in a quest to obtain that man’s property, which Ahab had coveted, for himself.

judgment

Naïve Jehoshaphat was used by Ahab as a decoy in the battle that followed because Ahab was trying to avoid the fatal judgment which had been pronounced upon him. We must be very careful not to ally ourselves with those who seek only to use us for their own ends. Jehoshaphat was fortunate, in God’s grace, to avoid an early death in this act of folly:

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.’ So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, ‘Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.’ When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, ‘This is the king of Israel.’ So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him. (2 Chronicles 18:28-32)

When he returned to Jerusalem he was rebuked by the Lord for his compromise:

When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.’ (2 Chronicles 19:1-3)

conversion

Jehoshaphat’s response showed what made him different from his father, Asa: it was his willingness to hear the Word of the Lord and repent. You may recall how Asa became angry when rebuked and behaved badly towards the Lord’s prophets. Jehoshaphat demonstrated his repentance through his subsequent actions which showed how much he had taken this rebuke to heart:

Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah.  (2 Chronicles 19:4-5)

He reached out to the people of the kingdom of Israel as well as his own kingdom.

His repentant actions were proved again when the kingdom came under threat. He responded in faith this time, and did not compromise:

Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea’ … Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to enquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. (2 Chronicles 20:2-4)

The Lord led them to defeat this army. They responded with thanksgiving to the Lord who had blessed them:

Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets. The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side. (2 Chronicles 20:27-30)

wisdom

Sadly, Jehoshaphat’s weakness came out again later. This time he made an ingratiating alliance with Ahaziah the son of Ahab and Jezebel. Perhaps he felt obliged to do this because of the marriage he had arranged with that family. He really seemed blind to this compromising weakness:

Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose ways were wicked. He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.’ The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade. (2 Chronicles 20:35-37)

This is a real lesson for us all. Our weaknesses live on because we are blind to them. We may also be pressurised by family relationships to compromise. We may not be able to discern our own inclinations to personal indulgence. We must submit in accountability to the wisdom of those we trust to look over our spiritual welfare: those who love us and are not afraid to speak the truth in love. Remembering too the injunction of Jesus that we should not love family more than we love Him; or doing His will in this world (Matthew 10:37).

I expect that Jehoshaphat again repented of this compromise as in it all he seemed to maintain a tender open heart to the Word of God. His leadership position could have meant he thought himself more important than others and in no need of their input; but his life does not appear to be lived like that. Overall, his reign was positive.

What followed after his death when his son began to reign was the complete opposite of his righteous life. Regrettably, it was all due to that compromising decision he had made many years earlier when he married his son to Athaliah:

Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king … When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.  (2 Chronicles 21:1-6)

Leadership is such a heavy responsibility. Decisions made can affect others in years to come. It is not enough just to ensure that our own leadership is righteous. We should seek to lay a good foundation for those who will take the work on.

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