Jehoshaphat

2 Chronicles 17-18

            Jehoshaphat is introduced as a faithful king. He also attempts to stamp out idolatry by removing the high places and the Asherah poles (19:3). More than that, he takes his rightful role as a proponent of God’s law by sending Levites and priests to teach the people. Jehoshaphat reigned from about 870 BC to 850 BC, and the Book of the Law was still known. I mention it because the Book of the Law was lost and forgotten by the reign of Josiah (640 BC), so we have some sense of how religious conditions unfolded in Israel.

            The larger part of Jehoshaphat’s story is almost identical to 1 Kings 22. Jehoshaphat, for all the emphasis on his righteousness and the security he gave Judah, is still the weaker king compared to Israel, and he makes common cause with Ahab, one of the few northern kings mentioned in Chronicles. The weaker position of Jehoshaphat is seen in Ahab’s ridiculous requirement that Jehoshaphat wear royal robes into battle while he, Ahab, is in disguise. Nothing like using your influence to make sure an underling takes the blame!

            I admit, I read ahead a few verses, because the story of Jehoshaphat and Ahab continues into 19:1-3. There a prophet of the Lord names Jehu spells out Jehoshaphat’s sin: he had helped one who hated the Lord. Faithful Jehoshaphat, who had removed the high places in Judah, had allied himself with unfaithful Ahab, the gold standard for idolatrous kings in the north. Jehoshaphat seems to have compartmentalized his faith, holding it dear but not letting it influence his politics. The lesson is to remember that our faith is not just one more thing in our life among many others. No, our faith is the center of our life, through which every other part of our life is directed to the things of God.