Although this study is in a series labelled 2 Kings, our readings will come from 2 Chronicles. These are parallel to the 1 Kings passages covered by the 'Elijah' studies, before we move into 2 Kings itself.
So far in our studies we have seen the death of Solomon and the break-up of his empire. We followed the first three kings of Judah: Rehoboam, Abijah and Asa.
Here we will look at the next king. Read 2 Chronicles 17:1-6
1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 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.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. 5 The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honour. 6 His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
But I thought king Asa had done that? (2 Chronicles 14:5)
5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
Also we read in 1 Kings 22:46 (about Jehoshaphat)
46 He rid the land of the rest of the male-shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.
It seems the people would still prefer to maintain their old ways of worship. And perhaps they still had their old family gods too. (See the study on Genesis 31– Teraphim or ‘household gods’).
So he backed up his actions with some ‘re-education’ for his people.
Read on: 2 Chronicles 17:7-9
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. 8 With them were certain Levites – Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah – and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 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.
(Obadiah – 'servant of Yahweh', and Zechariah – 'Yahweh remembers', were common names!)
As we have seen, that is the Chroniclers version. The author of 1 Kings was perhaps more realistic: 1 Kings 22:42-43
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 43 In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
That practice had been long established. The command was that if you wanted to offer sacrifices to God, you had to go to the Tabernacle, (later Temple) – but during the turbulent years of their history it was sometimes only possible to go to the local ‘high place’.
Read 2 Chronicles 17:10-13
10 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. 11 Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.
12 Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah 13 and had large supplies in the towns of Judah. He also kept experienced fighting men in Jerusalem.
Do any of you have a sense of Déjà vu? It seems that many of the kings we have looked at so far have finally been led astray by their wealth and power.
Read 2 Chronicles 18:1
1 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.
For any of you that have read the studies on Elijah, this will ring alarm bells. Ahab was listed as the most wicked of the kings of Israel, and if possible his wife Jezebel was worse. Jezebel’s daughter would have from a young age been taught to worship Baal and Asherah.
We won’t study the war recorded in 2 Chronicles 18 here, as it was covered in 1 Kings 22(a) and (b), – Ahab was killed but Jehoshaphat survived.
Read 2 Chronicles 19:1-3
1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, 2 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. 3 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.’
I think it was a salutary wake-up call for Jehoshaphat.
Read 2 Chronicles 19:4-11
4 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. 5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 6 He told them, ‘Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’
8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the Lord and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. 9 He gave them these orders: ‘You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. 10 In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities – whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations – you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.
11 ‘Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well.’
Jehoshaphat had done well. Establishing a system of local leaders who would remind the people of their responsibilities before God was an excellent move.
However there was trouble brewing.
(Display or hand out copies of this map from HERE)
Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-2
1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
2 Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar’ (that is, En Gedi).
Notice the size of the nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon (to the east and south of Judah) compared to the size of Judah. (It is thought that Meunites or ‘people from Mount Seir’ were Edomites)
Their armies had already reached half-way up the west coast of the Dead Sea.
Read 2 Chronicles 20:3-13
3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to enquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said:
‘Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 “If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.”
10 ‘But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.’
13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.
How sensible to be honest with God.
Edom was a nation descended from Esau (Genesis 36:8); Ammon and Moab were nations descended from the daughters of Lot (Genesis 19:30-38), and God had told Moses that they must not be attacked as he led the Exodus past their territories (Deuteronomy 2:2-19). However it appears that each of these nations had turned to follow other gods. Now as they attacked Judah, they could not expect any help from God. And Jehoshaphat had prayed (v12) will you not judge them?
Read 2 Chronicles 20:14-19
14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.
15 He said: ‘Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”’
18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
The national prayer of desperation had been transformed into a time of worship and praise. There was no hesitation – the Lord had answered and they trusted him totally!
They had been told that They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. (v16). This was the dry river bed that cuts through the cliffs at En-Gedi leading up into Judah. But more importantly they had also been told the battle is not yours, but God’s and You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. (v17).
It is worth stopping for a moment to consider: are we are trying to fight a battle that is best left to the Lord?
Read 2 Chronicles 20:20-21
20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.’ 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendour of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
‘Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love endures for ever.’
I love that. They may well have chosen a popular worship song (Psalm 136) – I’m sure they all joined in!
Read 2 Chronicles 20:22-23
22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
The vast army consisted of ordinary men drafted from people who would have rarely travelled far from their own farms or villages. It is most unlikely that they would have crossed the deep gorges cut by the rivers Arnon and Zered which separated their nations. So there was normally very little interaction between any of them.
People from these nations may have dressed differently, and we know they spoke versions of Hebrew; but distinctly different dialects, and different again from those from Judah. If you now met someone who was speaking a different dialect, he might well be the enemy. It may only have needed one person to be ‘spooked’ and turn and run back towards you with his sword drawn calling out . . . and it suddenly became kill or be killed. It only needed the Lord to ‘set ambushes’ – real or imagined – and the people did the rest!
Read 2 Chronicles 20:24-30
24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked towards the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value – more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah (praise) to this day.
27 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. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.
29 The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
