INTERMEDIATE
AGE: 12 - 13
YEARS
STANDARD/GRADE:
VII & VIII
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LESSON – 19
THE GOOD REFORMS & BAD ALLIANCES OF
KING JEHOSHAPHAT
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Jehoshaphat
King Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the
Kingdom of Judah after the nation of Israel was divided. He was the son
of Asa. His
mother’s name was Azuba. Jehoshaphat ascended the throne
at the age of thirty-five and reigned for twenty-five years. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah during the successive reigns of three kings
of Israel - Ahab,
Ahaziah, and Jehoram. He spent the first years of his
reign fortifying his kingdom against the Kingdom of Israel. Jehoshaphat’s
rule was soon well established.
Spiritual Reforms of Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat began his reign in a positive way. He walked
in the ways of his forefather, King David,
meaning he feared God and obeyed His commandments. He did not consult Baal
or any other foreign gods, but sought the God of his father and followed
his commands. He removed the high places and the Asherah poles from
Judah. High places were shrine for idols setup in elevated pieces of land. The
land could have been artificially elevated or in naturally elevated places like
hills or mountains. Asherah pole refers to either trees or poles in ground
considered as sacred and dedicated to goddess Asherah. Similar sacred groves
could be found in many other cultures around the world. In the third year of
his reign, Jehoshaphat sent out priests and Levites to
visit the towns of Judah and to teach the people the "book of the law
of the Lord (2
Chronicles 17:7–9)."*(Refer to teacher’s
notes at the end of the lesson). This activity was commanded by God to Moses in
Deuteronomy 31:10-13, for a Sabbatical year*
(Refer to teacher’s notes).
Jehoshaphat’s
Military Strength & Mighty Men
King
Jehoshaphat built fortresses around the cities of Judah. He developed storage
cities like King Solomon. He had a large army of over a million men. Each
commander had a large group of people under his command. They were divided into
troops of Judah and Benjamin. The troop of Judah had 3 commanders, Adnah,
Jehohanan and Amasiah. Adnah had 300,000 men under his command and Jehohanan had
280,000 men. Amasiah, son of Zikri volunteered himself
for the service of the Lord and he commanded over 200,000 men. In Benjamin,
there were two commanders. One of them Eliada is recorded in the Holy Bible as
a very brave soldier. He had 200,000 men armed with bows and shields under his
command. The second commander was Jehozabad who had 180,000 men armed for
battle.
King
Jehoshaphat was respected by everyone. All the people of Judah brought tribute
to him. Tribute means a gift given to show respect. Some of the Philistines also
brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and
the Arabians brought him 7,700 goats and 7,700 rams. Therefore, Jehoshaphat
became great and had great riches and honor. The fear of God came upon all the
neighboring kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they did not wage
war against Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat’s Friendship with the Wicked King
Ahab
When Jehoshaphat became exceedingly rich and
powerful, he befriended Ahab, one of the most wicked kings of Israel. After few
years, Jehosaphat visited Ahab in Samaria.
Among all the kings of Israel, Ahab is considered the most evil king and
Jehoshaphat could not have been ignorant of Ahab and his wife Jezebel’s baal
worship and strange practices. The alliance between them was further
strengthened when Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah. Marriage
alliances were often used in the ancient world to safeguard the peace between
two nations through marriage between members of each royal family.
Jehoshaphat & Ahab Consult Prophets
During Jehoshaphat’s visit, Ahab sacrificed many
sheep and cattle and welcomed Jehoshaphat with a grand feast. He then persuaded
Jehoshaphat to join in a war against the Syrians at Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat was
caught off-guard and he couldn’t deny the request. He tried to please Ahab by
saying that he considered the Israelite people as his own and hence willing to
join the battle. Deep in his heart Jehoshaphat must have been unsure of joining
Ahab, which is evident from his request that they should enquire of the Lord
before heading out to war. King Ahab agreed.
But instead of asking the Lord he sent for the 400 prophets appointed by his
wife Jezebel and enquired with them whether they should go for battle against
the Syrians.
The 400 prophets of Baal made up a prophesy to
please Ahab. They said “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.”
One of them named Zedekiah made iron horns and prophesied
in the name of the Lord and claimed that Ahab would push the Syrians until
they were consumed. The other prophets agreed with Zedekiah and they also now
used the name Jehovah, saying he would deliver Ramoth-gilead to Ahab. Jehoshaphat
was unconvinced, because he knew full well that Ahab’s prophets were prophets
of Baal and not the prophets of the Lord. He asked if there was not another
prophet of the Lord for them to inquire. Reluctantly, Ahab sent for Micaiah,
son of Imlah. (II Chronicles 18:1-11)
Micaiah, son of Imlah – the Prophet of the
Lord
Ahab resented Micaiah, because he never prophesied
good concerning the king. The messenger who was sent to bring Micaiah told him
that all of the prophets gave a good report to Ahab, and he urged Micaiah to
agree with them. But Micaiah was not intimidated. He told the messenger that as
Jehovah lives, what Jehovah said to him was what he would speak. When Ahab
asked Micaiah whether they should go for the battle against the Syrians, he
responded in a sarcastic manner, giving the same reply as the false prophets
initially. This infuriated Ahab. After he was prompted, Micaiah told Ahab the
hard truth: He said that he saw Israel scattered upon the mountains without a
shepherd or a master. He prophesied Ahab’s end and Ahab was not happy. Ahab
remarked to Jehoshaphat that this was now as he had said, that Micaiah never
prophesied good about him.
Micaiah continued to speak about a vision he saw
regarding the battle. He told them that he saw Jehovah sitting on his throne
with all the host of heaven standing by him. God wanted someone to entice Ahab
into attacking Ramoth Gilead and facing his end there. A lying spirit said that
it would do it by sending a lying spirit into the mouths of the 400 prophets (1
Kings 22:19-21). This made Ahab furious! The
false prophet Zedekiah went over to Micaiah, slapped him on the cheek, and
mocked him by asking which way the spirit of Jehovah went from him to speak to
Micaiah. Still, he was unfazed and told the false prophet Zedekiah he would see
on the day when he would go into an inner room to hide himself. King Ahab
ordered that Micaiah be taken into Samaria to Amon the governor of the city and
put into prison and fed a minimal ration of bread and water until he returned
in peace. Ahab the wicked king persecuted Micaiah the true prophet of the Lord for
speaking the truth. Micaiah was uncompromising even when there were two kings,
their ministers and 400 false prophets gathered against him in the king's court
(II Chronicles 18:12-27).
Jehoshaphat & Ahab attack Syria &
Defeated
For a man of such high religiosity, Jehoshaphat was
indifferent to the prophesy from Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord. But Ahab was
alerted. He wanted to disguise himself as a commoner but urged Jehoshaphat to
wear the royal clothing, thus making him the target of the enemy. Jehoshaphat
agreed to it without knowing that the king of Syria had commanded all the
captains of his chariots to go specifically after King Ahab. While they were
searching for Ahab, they saw King Jehoshaphat in his royal attire and mistook
him to be the king of Israel and he was under hot pursuit until he cried out. God
had mercy on him and made the captains stop their pursuit when they realized he
was not Ahab. Though Ahab tried to outsmart his enemies by disguising himself, Ahab
was killed as proclaimed by God, when he was struck by an unintended arrow and
Israel was defeated. Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem, humiliated and defeated.
(II Chronicles 18:29-34)
King Jehoshaphat rebuked by Jehu, the seer
When Jehoshaphat returned home, he was reprimanded
by a prophet of the Lord, “Jehu, the son of Hanani,” who functioned as a seer. In
ancient Israel “seers” functioned similar to prophets. Seers were individuals
who saw something in their mind’s eye and got their revelation through seeing
visions or dreams. Sometimes the words seers and prophets were used interchangeably.
But seers could be considered as those whose physical or mental eyes are opened
to see the supernatural realm. Jehu, the seer went out to meet Jehoshaphat and rebuked
the king for helping the wicked and loving those who hate the Lord. He also let
him knew that the wrath of the Lord was upon him, but he was spared because he
had set his heart on seeking God and rid the land of its idols. Jehoshaphat
turned back to the Lord and carried out many spiritual and judicial reforms in
the land. (II Chronicles 19:1-3)
Jehoshaphat’s Second Wave of Reforms
Jehoshaphat once again concentrated on the spiritual reforms in the Kingdom of Judah. He travelled from Beersheba, the southernmost part of his kingdom to the hill country of Ephraim, the northernmost part of his kingdom exhorting them to return to the Lord. He also appointed judges throughout the cities of Judah. He told them to consider carefully what they did, because they were not judging for man but for the Lord. He also strictly instructed them not to show partiality or take bribes but to deal justly with the people. He also appointed Levites and priests to give judgement before the Lord and to decide disputed cases. Amariah, the chief priest, was made in charge of "all matters of the Lord," i.e., religious law, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael (the governor of the house of Judah), was in charge of "all the king's matters," i.e., secular-royal law (II Chron. 19:4-11).
Jehoshaphat’s Alliance with Ahaziah, King of
Israel
After Ahab, king of Israel was killed in the
battle against the Syrians, his son Ahaziah ascended the throne. Ahaziah too
was conducting a wicked reign like his father Ahab. But Jehoshaphat, forgetting
the admonition of the Lord, once again entered into an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel. Jehoshaphat wanted to
trade in gold. So, he built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber in co-operation
with Ahaziah that would travel to Ophir to trade. He
was once again confronted by a prophet named Eliezer with a warning that his
hard work is going to be destroyed. The ships were wrecked, just as it was
told and could not embark on the trade expedition. Later Ahaziah’s men wanted
to join the expedition but Jehoshaphat did not involve them. There is no
indication in the Holy Bible that the trade was ever carried out and the
investment seems futile (2 Chron. 20:35-37; 1 Kings 22:48-49).
Jehoshaphat’s Alliance with Jehoram, King of
Israel
Ahab’s son Ahaziah ruled Israel only for two years
and he died (1 Kings 22:51). Then his brother Jehoram (also called as Joram),
another son of Ahab and Jezebel was crowned the king of Israel (2 Kings 3:1). (Not
to be confused with Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram who married the daughter of
Ahab). Jehoshaphat once again made friendship with Jehoram. Moab, one of the
neighbouring nations was under tribute to Israel. A nation under tribute means
in ancient days when a nation was defeated or subdued in war, they paid an
offering or a tribute to the nation that was superior as a sign of submission. Moab
was ruled by a wealthy king named Mesha. After Ahab died, he rebelled against
Israel.
The combined armies set out on
a march through the desert toward Moab (2 Kings 3:8).
Along the way, they ran out of water. In the ancient days, there was no
technology or means to arrange immediate large- scale water supply in the
desert for a three-nation army. So, if they didn’t find water soon enough,
there was a real danger of the entire army dying of thirst. Jehoshaphat made
inquiries and discovered that Elisha,
a prophet of God was nearby. In spite of his poor judgement in making alliances
with wicked kings, Jehoshaphat was humble enough to seek Prophet Elisha’s help.
Elisha was brought before the kings. Prophet Elisha didn’t want to have
anything to do with Jehoram, the wicked king of Israel, whose parents, Ahab and
Jezebel, hunted down God’s prophets and persecuted them, but agreed to help only
for the sake of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 3: 14). Miraculously, the next day, early
in the morning, the entire land was filled with water flowing from the land of
Edom. The army was rejuvenated and the Moabite army was defeated in the battle.
The prophecy came true, and Moab fled before Israel.
Jehoshaphat’s Battle with the Moabites and
their allies
For the first time, the kingdom of Judah under
Jehoshaphat faced a battle when the Moabite king joined together with the
surrounding nations, and marched against Jehoshaphat. It is important to
note that, for the most part of Jehoshaphat’s reign, God had caused the fear of
the Lord over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them wanted to
declare war on Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 17:10). Yet after his repeated alliances
with Ahab and his children who practiced evil, God’s displeasure was evident by
His removal of this fear, so that those nations were no longer afraid to attack
Judah. The Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on
the Kingdom of Judah. Jehoshaphat had a history of making alliances even with
Baal worshipping kings for the sake of his nation’s security. But this time he
was alarmed and realized that he didn’t have the strength to face the Moabites
and their allies. He didn’t want to put his trust on his own mighty army or his
military trained men. Instead, he resolved to ask for God’s help, and
proclaimed a fast for all of the Kingdom of Judah.
King Jehoshaphat Declares a Fast
The people of Judah responded and came together to
seek God’s help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah, even the women
and the children came to seek help from God. They all assembled at the Temple
of the Lord and King Jehoshaphat prayed. He presented their situation before
God, and ended by saying, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are
upon you.” Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, one of the Levites. He
gave the word of the Lord encouraging and exhorting them. He also let them know
the information and instructions given by God - the route the enemy army was
taking and the direction Jehoshaphat’s army had to move. God also promised them
that the next day the Moabite army would be overthrown because God was going to
fight on their behalf. Jehoshaphat and all the people assembled bowed with
their faces to the ground and worshipped before the Lord. Some of the Levites
stood up and praised the Lord with very loud voice.
Jehoshaphat’s Praise Army
Early the next morning, they did as they were
instructed by God and left for the Desert of Tekoa. King Jehoshaphat encouraged
the people by saying that they will be upheld if they have faith in God and
they will be successful if they have faith in God’s prophets. King Jehoshaphat decided
to follow a unique method for this battle. He appointed men to sing and praise
the Lord saying “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” The
praising men went out at the head of the army and led the army! When they began
to sing and praise the Lord, God himself set ambushes against all the men who
were invading Judah. The Moabites and their allies quarrelled among themselves
and slew one another. They ended up destroying one another.
When the men of Judah came to the place that
overlooked the desert and looked towards the Moabite army, they saw only dead
bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went
to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of
equipment and clothing and precious articles -more than they could take away.
There was so much plunder lying on the battlefield that it took three days to
collect it.
Beracah – The Valley of Blessings
On the fourth day, Jehoshaphat and the people assembled together in the valley to praise the Lord. They called it the Valley of Beracah (Beracah in Hebrew means blessings). And there they thanked the Lord for His blessings.
Then they all returned to Jerusalem joyfully in a Procession
led by King Jehoshaphat because the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over
their enemies. They played musical instruments such as harps, lutes and
trumpets as they entered the city and went to the temple of the Lord. When
Jehoshaphat put his trust in God, once again the fear of God came upon all neighbouring
countries when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of
Israel. Thus, God gave them rest on every side and the kingdom of Judah was at
peace (2 Chronicles 20:29,30).
Jehoshaphat’s End & Lessons from his life
Soon after this victory Jehoshaphat died after a
reign of twenty-five years at the age of sixty. As with his father Asa, a
bonfire was lit in his honor. Jehoshaphat is still considered a good and godly
king. Jehoshaphat worshiped the Lord and led his people in seeking the Lord. Nevertheless,
because of the wrong choices he took earlier in his reign and the alliances he
made with the kingdom of Israel, he was unable to pass his faith on to his
son Jehoram who
reigned after him. He named his first-born son Jehoram to succeed him, but also
bequeathed wealth and the governorship of several fortified cities to Jehoram's
brothers Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah (2 Chron.
21:2).
Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram had married the wicked
couple Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, as a part of the alliance with
Ahab. Jehoram was influenced more by his wife Athaliah, who was also evil. To
solidify his rule, Jehoram reportedly killed all his brothers. He also
introduced Baal worship at the bequest of his wife Athaliah,
who was also a Baal worshipper
(2 Chronicles 21:1-6). The Kingdom of Judah suffered greatly under his rule
and also later when his wife Athaliah tried to usurp the position for herself.
The good reforms brought about by Jehoshaphat could
not be sustained for long because of the consequences of his bad alliances.
King Jehoshaphat’s life is an example of why Apostle Paul’s warning should be
heeded: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has
righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2
Cor. 6:14).
Teacher’s Notes:
Sabbatical Year The sabbatical
year also called as sabbath year (called Shemittah in Hebrew), happens
every seventh year. On that year the fields are left untilled and all the
agricultural work is stopped, for the land to celebrate its sabbath rest
(Leviticus 25).
"The book of the law of the Lord"
taught by the Levites to the people of Judah was probably Deuteronomy. This
assumption is based mainly on the great similarity between the reforms of
Jehoshaphat and the commandments in Deuteronomy
16:18–20; 17:8–13, which describes the appointment of
judges in rural towns and the establishment of a high court in "the place
which the Lord your God will choose" (Deut.
17:8), and the description in II
Chronicles 19:5–11, which tells of the appointment
of judges in all the fortified cities of Judah and the establishment of a high
court in Jerusalem.
Bible Reference: I Kings 22;
II Kings 3; II Chronicles 17 – 21:7
Memory Verse: 14 Do
not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship
has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with
darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has
a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God
has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and
they shall be My people.”17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be
separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and
daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:14-18)
ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
Fill in the blanks:
1. ………………………
son of Zikri volunteered himself for the service of the Lord in Jehoshaphat’s
army and he commanded over 200,000 men.
2. The
Arabians brought Jehoshaphat 7,700 ……………… and 7,700 …………….
3. ……………………,
a false prophet made iron horns and prophesied in the name of the Lord.
4. When
Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahaziah for ship-building, he was confronted
by prophet ………………… with a warning.
Give short answers:
1. What
were the spiritual reforms done by Jehoshaphat?
2. What
was the vision seen by Micaiah, the prophet?
3. What
was the work done by Jehoshaphat in co-operation with Ahaziah, king of Israel?
4. Why
did Jehu, the seer rebuke King Jehoshaphat?
Answer in brief:
1. How
did King Jehoshaphat defeat the Moabites and their allies who came to war
against the Kingdom of Judah?
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