Dm – Jehoshaphat King of Judah 1 Kings 22:41-50 and 2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Jehoshaphat King of Judah
First Kings 22:41-50 and Second Chronicles 17:1-19

Jehoshaphat king of Judah DIG: What made King Jehoshaphat spiritually successful? What unusual social and spiritual enrichment ministry did Jehoshaphat start? What was the curriculum of the traveling school? What impact would it have for the worship of ADONAI?

REFLECT: Jehoshaphat had wealth, respect, peace and prosperity. Is it true that true today that people who are close to God are successful and prosperous, while people who worship false gods are unsuccessful and poor? How does the Chronicler’s lesson apply to your world?

Jehoshaphat was a man who sought God’s counsel. 

The background of the king: Jehoshaphat, who had ruled three years as coregent with his father, Asa, began his independent reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Isra’el. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to rule, and he ruled a total of twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ‘Azubah the daughter of Shilchi (First Kings 22:41-42: Second Chronicles 17:1a).

The significance of his reign: Jehoshaphat strengthened his borders against Isra’el by placing forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and by garrisoning troops in the territory of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured (Second Chronicles 17:1b-2). In the Chronicler’s vocabulary, for a king to strengthen himself meant that he consolidated power so that his opponents offered no genuine threat. In this case, the Chronicler specified that Jehoshaphat was secure against Isra’el. Conflict between Judah and the northern kingdom of Isra’el originated with Rehoboam (to see link click Di – Rehoboam King of Judah) and extended through the reigns of Abijah (see Dj – Abijah King of Judah) and Asa (see Dl – Asa’s Last Years). Jehoshaphat, however, strengthened his borders against northern aggression. By describing Jehoshaphat’s security with regard to Isra’el, the Chronicler immediately prepared his readers to understand the following narrative of Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Isra’el against Syria (2 Chron 18:1 to 19:3). The Chronicler made it clear that the king had nothing to fear from his northern kinsmen, but he nevertheless entered an alliance in which he helped northern Isra’el against a common foe.

The Chronicler explained the king’s success by reporting his domestic blessings. YHVH was with Jehoshaphat. The concept of ADONAI “being with” a king usually meant that God was acting as his military leader (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Ag – The Problem of Holy War in the TaNaKh). Jehoshaphat’s successful positioning of his troops against the North was evidence that the LORD was on the side of Judah. God was with him because he lived according to the first ways of his ancestor David. The Bible lists a number of specific actions that made Jehoshaphat comparable to David.

First, he sought the counsel of the God of his father rather than the Ba’als and lived by his mitzvot, not by what Isra’el did (Second Chronicles 17:3-4). The Chronicler noted a number of times that David sought God’s counsel (First Chronicles 16:11, 22:19, and 28:8-9). “Seeking God” for direction and help was one of the Chronicler’s highest ideals. The rejection of the Ba’als contrasts Jehoshaphat with syncretism taking place in the North under the influence of Jezebel (First Kings 16:31-33, 18:4).

Second, the king’s heart was devoted to ADONAI (Second Chronicles 17:6a). Wholehearted devotion to the LORD frequently appears in Chronicles as a sincere service that is blessed by God. In this way as well, Jehoshaphat was like David, whose heart is highlighted a number of times (First Chronicles 22:7 and 9, 28:2 and 9, 29:17-19).

Third, at the beginning of his reign Jehoshaphat removed the high places and sacred poles from Judah (Second Chronicles 17:6b). Just as David had been devoted to centralizing worship in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat destroyed the high places. The destruction of pagan worship sites and objects occurs frequently in Chronicles as a sign of devotion to God (Second Chronicles 14:3-5, 17:6, 29:16, 31:1, 33:15, and 34:3-7).

Therefore, as a result of the king’s zeal, ADONAI consolidated his kingdom. Judah was strengthened because of Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness to God. All Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and he was blessed with great wealth and honor in abundance (Second Chronicles 17:5). Wealth and honor are mentioned in connection with only a few kings. The use of that terminology here points out that Jehoshaphat’s early years reached a level of prosperity enjoyed by few. Moreover, the fact that his wealth and honor came from all Judah is another way the Chronicler praised the king.

After listing a number of ways in which Jehoshaphat had shown himself to be faithful like David, the Chronicler paused to point out the king’s most remarkable act of devotion. In the third year of his reign. The notation of Jehoshaphat’s third year, together with the length of his reign cited in First Kings 22:42, implies that Jehoshaphat had a coregency with Asa (likely connected with Asa’s severe disease in his legs during the final three years of his reign). If so, Jehoshaphat’s strong actions of reform took place following the death of Asa and during the initial year of his sole reign. At that time, Jehoshaphat sent a combination of royal officials, Levites, and priests to teach God’s Torah throughout the region of Judah. He sent his leading men Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah; with them were the Levites-Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah, and with them Elishama and Jehoram the priests. They taught in Judah, having a scroll of the Torah of ADONAI with them; they circulated through all the cities of Judah, teaching among the people (Second Chronicles 17:7-9). A similar commissioning of Levites teaching the Torah of YHVH occurred during the post-exilic ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah (see the commentary of Ezra-Nehemiah Bm – Ezra Reads the Scroll of Deuteronomy).

The Chronicler’s keen interest in the mutual support of king and Temple personnel becomes evident here. The ideal kings David and Solomon concentrated on establishing the priests and Levites in their proper roles (First Chronicles 15:11-24, 16:4-6 and 37-42, 23:1-26:32; Second Chronicles 8:14-15). Hezekiah also gave much attention to the Temple personal personnel (Second Chronicles 29:1-36, 30:15-17 and 21-27, 31:2-21) as did Josiah (Second Chronicles 34:8-13 and 35:1-19). Here, Jehoshaphat established the priests and Levites in their rightful place as teachers of the Torah.

The Chronicler used the example of Jehoshaphat to illustrate the means by which security and wealth could come to the people of God. His post-exilic readers desired these blessings, but they needed to be reminded of the kinds of actions that would lead to such positive results. Judah could find divine support against her enemies through devotion to purity in worship and instruction in the Torah.³⁷⁹

In addition to the domestic blessing that secured Judah against Isra’el, Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness was also rewarded on the border’s international front. ADONAI was with Jehoshaphat (meaning, God has judged) to fight on His behalf. As a result, the fear of the LORD seized all the kingdoms in the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. Instead, some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute; the Arabs too brought him flocks – 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats (Second Chronicles 17:10-11). The tribute brought from the Philistines and Arabs, together with statements of military fortifications, implies that the southern kingdom had a control over the caravan routes across Arabah and Negev to the Coastal Highway. This control provided a lucrative source of tax and tribute income for Jehoshaphat. This economic and political stability in turn allowed for further military strengthening, building projects, and governmental expansion.³⁸⁰ This explains why Jehoshaphat was able to fortify himself so strongly against the northern kingdom. He had no other enemies to worry about. All the nations, especially the Philistines to the west and the Arabs to the east were pacified by their fear of Jehoshaphat’s God. So Jehoshaphat grew increasingly powerful.

After explaining how Jehoshaphat became so powerful, the Chronicler returned to the subject of the king’s military strength. In Judah he built fortresses and storage cities. He had many projects in the cities of Judah; and in Jerusalem he had warriors, strong brave men. Here is a listing of them by clans: from Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the leader, and with him 300,000 strong, brave men; next to him Jehohanan the leader, and with him 280,000; next to him Amasiah the son of Zicri, who volunteered to serve ADONAI, and with him 200,000 strong, brave men. From Benjamin: Eliada, a strong, brave man, and with him 200,000 equipped with bows and shields; next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 men prepared for war. These served the king, in addition to those the king assigned to the fortified cities throughout all Judah (Second Chronicles 17:12-19). The number of brave fighting men totaled 1,160,000. This is the largest number recorded for Judah’s army. The Hebrew word translated thousand may be a technical term referring to considerably less than 1,000. Possibly his army numbered 116,000. But however one deals with the number itself, it is evident that Jehoshaphat’s army was very large. The Chronicler stressed the size of the king’s army by noting that this number was in addition to those mentioned in Second Chronicles 17:2 above. These served the king, in addition to those the king assigned to the fortified cities throughout all Judah (Second Chronicles 17:12-19).³⁸¹

 The summary of his reign: Jehoshaphat received the same sort of favorable evaluation as Asa his father, and did not turn away from doing what was right from ADONAI’s perspective. His spiritual condition was basically sound and largely commended by God. He rid the land of the male and female cult-prostitutes remaining from the time of his father Asa. Lost by Solomon (First Kings 11:14-25), Jehoshaphat reestablished Judah’s authority over Edom. There had previously been no king in Edom, but now a deputy was made king. This opened up the exploitation of Ezion -Beber, a port on the Sea of Reeds. Altogether, his concern for spiritual things manifested itself in religious and social reforms. Accordingly, YHVH blessed his reign (Second Chronicles 17:1-6 and 12, 18:1).

But by the end of his reign, however, like David, Solomon, and his father Asa, there were problems. First, idolatry had slowly crept back into the southern kingdom. It died hard throughout Judah’s history. This could be seen by the fact that the people still sacrificed and presented offerings on the high places (Second Chronicles 20:33). Second, the marriage of his son Jehoram to Athaliah, Ahab’s daughter, was to bring about a tragic condition in Judah (Second Kings 8:18-19 and 11:1-3; Second Chronicles 21:6-7 and 11). Third, Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Isra’el. He went with Ahab to the battle of Ramoth Gilead, despite the prophet Micaiah’s warning (Second Chronicles 18:28-19:3). Fourth, he entered into an ill-fated commercial venture with Ahaziah, king of Isra’el. Jehoshaphat built some large “Tarshish” ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they didn’t make the voyage, because they were wrecked at Ezion-Geber. Because Ahaziah was an apostate, Ha’Shem sent a storm to destroy the fleet before it could set sail. Evidently Jehoshaphat was wise enough to refuse a second trading proposal put forward by Ahaziah. At that time Ahaziah the son of Ahab suggested to Jehoshaphat that his men should go to sea with Jehoshaphat’s men, but Jehoshaphat refused (2 Chronicles 20:35-37). Fifth, he later went with the king of the northern kingdom on an expedition into the Transjordan (2 Kings 3:6-27). Other activities of Jehoshaphat, all his power that he demonstrated and how he made war are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah (1 Kings 22:43-49).

The death of the king: Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David his ancestor. And Joram, his son (not the king of Isra’el of the same name) succeeded him, thus continusing the Davidic line (First Kings 22:50). But even though he died a physical death, his name points to an important event in the future.

In far eschatological future, when Messiah returns at the end of the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah) all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26-27), and Yeshua will battle the armies of the world lead by the antichrist (see the commentary on Revelation Ex – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon). The end of the fighting will be at the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where Ha’Shem declares: I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter judgment against them (Joel 3:2), because Jehoshaphat means, God has judged.

Today the world is uncomfortable with Jesus Christ being a righteous warrior. That is why Christmas is more popular than Easter. At Christmas we see a little helpless baby in a manger, but at Easter we are forced to look at the God-man dying for our sins. Before the fall of Jericho, Joshua had an encounter with a theophany, or the preincarnate Yeshua Messiah. Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of Him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua went up to Him and asked, “Are you for us or our enemies?” “Neither,” He replied, “but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked Him, “What message does my lord have for His servant. The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so (Joshua 5:13-15). The fact is that Yeshua is the Commander of the army of ADONAI. He had the Israelites walk around Jericho seven times, while ADONAI fought the battle alone. The same will be true when the Arm of the LORD (51:9, 52:10, 53:1, 59:1), Messiah Himself, will defeat the armies of the world.

Revelation 19:17-20 deals with Christ as the righteous warrior, for we see Him defeating Satan’s armies in what is often called “the Battle of Armageddon,” but in reality is the War of the Great Day of the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (Revelation 16:14 CJB). Armageddon means Mount of Slaughter. This war will take place in a single day, and the battle of Armageddon will be just one of the battles of that war. Actually, this war will encompass more than just the Valley of Megiddo (Jezreel), but as we shall see, it will cover practically all of the land of Palestine. The battle starts at Bozrah and will continue all the way back to the eastern walls of Jerusalem which overlook the Kidron Valley, also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Among the very first casualties of the battle will be the antichrist himself. Having ruled the world with great power and spoken against the true Son of God, the counterfeit son will be powerless before Messiah (Habakkuk 3:13b). The ease with which Christ will slay the antichrist is described by Paul in Second Thessalonians 2:8, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The one who has claimed to be God, the one who has been able to perform all kinds of miracles, signs and wonders, the one who exercised all authority of Satan as he ruled the world, will be quickly dispensed with by the word of the Righteous Warrior. The arrival of the antichrist into hell is described in 14:3-11. And later Isaiah describes the fate of his dead body on the earth in 14:16-21. The antichrist and the false prophet will spend a thousand years in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14-15) together before the end of the Messianic Kingdom. The unsaved that die prior to this time are cast into sh’ol, a place of torment, but not into the lake of fire, which is reserved for those who have rejected Yeshua Messiah. The rest of the wicked dead will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment) and follow the antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan into this eternal torment. because Jehoshaphat means, God has judged.

After the death of the antichrist, the slaughter of his army will continue. The Commander of ADONAI’s army will continue marching through the Land in indignation, as if treading the winepress of His wrath, causing blood to be sprinkled on His garments. Zechariah 14:12-15 describes the manner in which this massive army will be destroyed. This carnage will continue all the way back to Jerusalem, coming to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The nations that will gather against the Jews (Joel 3:9-11) will now find themselves being slaughtered by the King of the Jews. The blood from this encounter with the living God will run about one mile wide and one hundred and eighty miles long, from the Valley of Jezreel in the north of Isra’el, to Bozrah in the south and will literally reach to the horses’ bridles (Revelation 14:20). A sea of humanity will become a sea of blood. Because they did not accept the sacrifice of Messiah’s blood on the cross, they became the sacrifice. Their blood will practically cover the length of Isra’el, and when this battle comes to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, so does the seventh stage of the Campaign of Armageddon.³⁸²