Deurpost

A couple of weeks ago I preached in church on King Jehoshaphat as part of a series on the kings of the Old Testament. When reading the story of king Jehoshaphat was what struck me his apparent tolerance in dealing with the evil king Ahab. The sin of tolerance is an ever increasing aspect in the world, and Amsterdam and the Netherlands in particular.

Here is the first part of my teaching notes:

Who is King Jehoshaphat? Quick Facts
Okay, let me start by setting the scene for Jehoshaphat’s story. The story of Jehoshaphat can primarily be read in 2 Chronicles 17 – 21. Now, it can never hurt to repeat that there used to be a unified kingdom called Israel, but that after the reign of Solomon the kingdom was split in two. Judah is the southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capitol, and that Israel is the northern kingdom, with Samaria as its capitol. The story of Jehoshaphat starts 61 years after the split up of the kingdom, and in total he reigned for 25 years and his reign overlaps greatly with King Ahab’s reign of the southern kingdom. The crossing of their paths as kings will be the center piece of our time together. But first, to get a good picture of Jehoshaphat, let’s read 2 Chronicles 17:1-13.

“Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier 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 practices of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. 6His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent his officials […] to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them the Levites […] and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 17:1-13)

So far so good, right? He walk in the ways of David; He sought God; He ways courageous; He strengthens the nation’s military capabilities (most likely because of the border conflicts with the northern kingdom which marked the previous reigns). The next couple of verses mention that the mighty men of valor sum up to a total of 1,160,000 soldiers! He also carries out a national program of education of God’s Word by sending out officials, Levites and priests to instruct the nation in the Law of Moses; The result was that the Lord was with him (v3), the Lord establishes his kingdom (v5), he had great riches and honor, and all of Judah and surrounding peoples like the Philistines and the Arabians brought him many gifts. It is said that the kingdom prospered most under the reign of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat is off to a good start. What do you think? Will he screw it up?

Despite his high standing (even with someone as hard to impress as the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 3:14)), Jehoshaphat ultimately made some unfortunate choices that blemished his otherwise good legacy. How? By cozying up to the evil king Ahab!

Jehoshaphat’s Alliance with Ahab
“Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?’ He answered him, ‘I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.’” (2 Chronicles 18:1-3)
Ahab was the evilest king Israel ever had, and was king of Israel while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Now why would Jehoshaphat make a marriage alliance with Ahab? What has happened that would cause a good king like Jehoshaphat to make an alliance with a king as wicked as Ahab? Jehoshaphat agreed for political reasons though he should not have done so for spiritual reasons; he was a godly king, faithful to the Lord. It was intended to seal peace between the kingdoms after 50 years of hostilities. Although I can see why Jehoshaphat would choose for peace, it was unwise of him. The wise strategy would have been to continue to rely on obeying God for the protection of his kingdom instead of compromising it. The marriage between Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son, and Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel had disastrous effects on the kingdom of Judah, and it’s only due to God’s faithfulness to His promise to preserve the house of David is it that Judah survives. Jehoram “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 21:6). The Bible reports that Jehoram “departed with no one’s regret” (2 Chronicles 21:20). But, for now, Jehoshaphat is at peace with Ahab and the northern kingdom.

Main thing is that Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to go into battle with him. This was a smart move by Ahab. Ramoth-gilead was a city southeast of the Sea of Galilee, some 65 kilometers from Jerusalem where Jehoshaphat lived, although deep into Israel’s territory. It was captured by the Syrians during the reign of Ben-hadad, and he promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 20:34) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle. Apparently this was a city Ben-hadad had never returned to Israel. Ahab wants it back because it was in strategically important location (it was one of the cities of refuge – Joshua 21:38). What then is told in rest of the chapter is a most amusing story which I would encourage you to read on your own, but the main jest is that Ahab’s false prophets prophesied that Jehoshaphat and Ahab will triumphantly win the battle, and a prophet of God prophesied that not only that God put a lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets, but that they will lose the battle, and that Ahab will actually die. Do you want to guess what happens? Ahab is enticed into battle, as the spirit had promised (v. 20). So, Jehoshaphat and Ahab go out to battle, but events turn out the opposite of what Ahab intended: Jehoshaphat is delivered in battle as a consequence of his desperate prayer (v. 31), while Ahab dies from an apparently random arrow (v. 33), which is clear evidence of God’s sovereign direction of events. The irony of the situation is that Ahab is told the truth but does not recognize it as such, even though he had insisted that Micaiah the prophet tell him the truth, and so Ahab says, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.” (2 Chronicles 18:26)