Introduction: The book of 1Kings concluded with the death of Ahab in the middle of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Before beginning 2Kings we need to look at the conclusion of Jehoshaphat's reign. 2Chronicles 19 picks up immediately following the death of Ahab in the battle and the return of Jehoshaphat to Jerusalem.
2Chronicles 19: In the space below make an outline of the flow of events in this text as well as points of interest. Be prepared to discuss in class.
Verses 1-3:
2Ch 19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.
2Ch 19:2 And Jehu the son of Hanani, the seer, went out before him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Do you love to help the bad one, and those who hate Jehovah, and by this bring wrath on you from the face of Jehovah?
2Ch 19:3 But good things have been found with you, for you have burned the Asherahs out of the land, and have fixed your heart to seek God.
Summary: Jehoshaphat gets a big ooops judgement against him for allying with Ahab. God allows Jehoshaphat to save some face by complimenting his work against idolatry. This had to sting somewhat for the king but I don't think it changes him much. We see later that he consorts with Ahab's son.
Verses 4-11:
2Ch 19:4 And Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people, from Beer-sheba to the hills of Ephraim, and brought them back to Jehovah the God of their fathers.
2Ch 19:5 And he placed judges in the land, in all the fortified cities of Judah, for every city;
2Ch 19:6 and said to the judges, Watch what you are doing, for you shall not judge for man, but for Jehovah, and He is with you in the matter of judgment;
2Ch 19:7 and now, let the fear of Jehovah be upon you; watch and act, for there is no perverseness with Jehovah our God, nor lifting up of faces, nor taking of a bribe.
2Ch 19:8 And also in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat caused to stand from the Levites and from the priests, and from the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they returned to Jerusalem.
2Ch 19:9 And he charged them, saying, So shall you do in the fear of Jehovah, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
2Ch 19:10 And when any contention shall come to you from your brothers who are living in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, then you shall warn them, and they shall not be guilty before Jehovah; and wrath shall not be on you and on your brothers; so you shall do, and you shall not be guilty.
2Ch 19:11 And, behold, Amariah the chief priest shall be over you for every matter of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, shall be for every matter of the king; and the Levites shall be officers before you. Be strong and act; and Jehovah shall be with the good.
Summary:
Wow. The sincerity of this man's heart seems to be so right dead center on God. He is looking to keep justice and righteousness among the people. He charges these judges rightfully with "Watch what you are doing, for you shall not judge for man, but for Jehovah, and He is with you in the matter of judgment." He is so God centered that it makes me personally ask...."then why did he make the Ahab alliance?"
Jehoshaphat just seems to have a heart for God and His people. I can only postulate that he just wanted peace/unity with Israel. The fact that Jehovah is unhappy about the alliance teaches us so much! Jehoshaphat was not worshiping idols, but because Ahab HATED Jehovah so much, God just couldn't stay silent on the matter.
2Chronicles 20:
Verses 1-19:
2Ch 20:1 And after this it happened that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon came in, and with them from the Ammonites, to battle against Jehoshaphat.
2Ch 20:2 And they came in and spoke to Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude has come against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.
2Ch 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast over all Judah.
2Ch 20:4 And Judah was gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also they came in to seek Jehovah from all the cities of Judah.
2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,
2Ch 20:6 and said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are not You the God in Heaven? Yea, You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is power and might; and there is none able to withstand You.
2Ch 20:7 Are You not our God? You have driven out the inhabitants of this land from before Your people Israel, and have given it to the seed of Abraham, Your friend, forever;
2Ch 20:8 and they have lived in it, and have built in it a sanctuary to You for Your name, saying,
2Ch 20:9 If evil shall come upon us, whether sword, judgment, or pestilence and famine, we shall stand before this house and before You, for Your name is in this house, and shall cry to You out of our distress, and You shall hear and save.
2Ch 20:10 And now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not allow Israel to go against when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned away from them and did not destroy them)
2Ch 20:11 yea, behold, they are repaying us by coming in to drive us out of Your possession, that You have caused us to possess.
2Ch 20:12 O our God, shall You not execute judgment upon them? For there is no power in us before this great multitude that has come against us, and we do not know what we shall do; but our eyes are on You.
2Ch 20:13 And all Judah was standing before Jehovah, and their infants and their wives and their sons.
2Ch 20:14 And on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, the Spirit of Jehovah came on him in the midst of the assembly;
2Ch 20:15 and He said, Listen, all Judah, and you living in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat; so says Jehovah to you, You shall not fear nor be terrified of the face of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
2Ch 20:16 Tomorrow, go down against them; behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you shall find them in the end of the valley, at the front of the wilderness of Jeruel.
2Ch 20:17 You shall not fight in this: station yourselves; stand and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; do not be terrified nor fear; tomorrow go out before them, and Jehovah shall be with you.
2Ch 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his nose to the earth, and all Judah and the ones living in Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, to bow themselves to Jehovah.
2Ch 20:19 And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, rose to give praise to Jehovah the God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
Summary: Nobody can read this and not get chills from the depth of the faith of Jehoshaphat. He gathers EVERYONE to take their fear to God.
2Ch 20:13 And all Judah was standing before Jehovah, and their infants and their wives and their sons.
His prayer is so simple, direct and humble. He is afraid!
God tells him/them not to worry over the multitude. God will take take care of it.
2 things: You shall not fight and station yourselves. Consider the faith it took to do this thing.
This has always been His message. JESUS was this message!
Verses 20-30:
2Ch 20:20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Trust in Jehovah, stand firm; trust in His prophets and prosper.
2Ch 20:21 And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those giving praise to the glory of holiness, when going out before those armed, and said, Give thanks to Jehovah, for His mercy endures forever.
2Ch 20:22 And at the time they began with rejoicing and praise, Jehovah set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, that had come against Judah; and they were stricken.
2Ch 20:23 And the sons of Ammon stood up, and Moab, against the people of Mount Seir, to devote and destroy; and when they finished with the ones living in Seir, they helped, each man against his neighbor, to destroy.
2Ch 20:24 And when Judah had come to the watchtower, to the wilderness, then they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there was no survivor.
2Ch 20:25 And Jehoshaphat and his people came to seize their plunder; and they found among them in abundance both riches and valuable things on the corpses; and they stripped off for themselves until there was no carrying it; and they were three days plundering the spoil; for it was much.
2Ch 20:26 And on the fourth day they gathered at the Valley of Blessing, for they blessed Jehovah there; on account of this they have called the name of that place the Valley of Blessing to this day.
2Ch 20:27 And they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go back to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them rejoice over their enemies.
2Ch 20:28 And they entered Jerusalem with harps and with lyres, and with trumpets, to the house of Jehovah.
2Ch 20:29 And there was a fear of God on all kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Jehovah had fought with the enemies of Israel.
2Ch 20:30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest all around.
Summary: In true faithful-king fashion, Jehoshaphat leads the army. Note no hesitation: They rose early in the morning. The king inspires his people to sing about God on their way to battle! So they are praising God on the journey! When they get there, the enemy is already dead. They plunder the camp, it takes three days. They stop in the "Valley of Blessing" to worship then enter Jerusalem rejoicing.
Note the impact: "there was a fear of God on all kingdoms" and "the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest all around."
Verses 31-37:
2Ch 20:31 And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah, a son of thirty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
2Ch 20:32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, to do the right in the eyes of Jehovah.
2Ch 20:33 Only, the high places were not removed, and the people still had not settled their hearts for the God of their fathers.
2Ch 20:34 And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which were taken up in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
2Ch 20:35 And after this Jehoshaphat the king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah the king of Israel; he did wickedly to do so.
2Ch 20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Eziongeber.
2Ch 20:37 And Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken your works. And the ships were broken, so that they did not hold to go to Tarshish.
Summary: As good and faithful as Jehoshaphat was, he didn't learn from the Ahab mistake. Still not sure what verse 33 means in its totality: "the people still had not settled their hearts for the God of their fathers"
Kings James says "prepare" their hearts - the word denotes to "stand." I have to assume the "high places" was a revelation of the heart not being wholly/'singularly devoted to God. There is a message to the Christian here as well.
1. How do you reconcile 2Chronicles 17:6 with 20:33?
2Ch 17:6 And his heart was exalted in the ways of Jehovah. And he again removed the high places and the Asherahs out of Judah.
There must have been a persistence of idolatry minded influence in the land, possibly even from the king (not likely). We see Judah grappling with this issue constantly. It comes and goes, and comes back.
Now to the beginning of 2Kings:
2. Who is the main character of the first ten chapters of 2Kings? What nation are these chapters mainly about? Elisha/Israel
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