September '24

"Jehoshaphat...went out again among the people...and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers" (2 Ch 19:4).

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Pe 3:18)...

Jehoshaphat is remembered as one of the rare kings of Judah/Israel who walked with God. The author of 1 Kings writes that "He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord" (1 Ki 22:43).

In 2 Chronicles, we see that:

— The Lord was with him (17:3)

— He walked in the ways of his father David (17:3)

— He did not seek the Baals (17:3)

— He sought the God of his father, Asa (17:4)

— He walked in God's commandments (17:4)

— The Lord established the Kingdom in his hand (17:5)

— The people loved him and brought him tribute, so he had great riches and honour (17:5)

— His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord (17:6)

— He removed idolatrous practices from God's people (17:6)

— He appointed people who knew God's law to administer justice in Judah (19:8-11)

— He prayed on behalf of Judah for protection against their enemies (20:5-12)

In other words, this guy was the man. He set Judah in order. He was a king who "brought [people] back to the Lord" (2 Chronicles 19:4). In fact, surely in his day God's people would have expected that he was the fulfilment of God's covenant to David, and would have his kingdom established forever to bring blessing and repentance to the world.

But it was not to be: Jehoshaphat was not without problems. He is rebuked by Jehu the son of Hanani for working together with Israel's evil king, Ahab (19:2). He appears to have made a similar mistake by working with Ahaziah —another evil king of Israel—in a business venture which fell through because God destroyed it (20:35-37). Furthermore, Jehoshaphat dies (21:1) and his son Jehoram reigns in his place. Jehoram is an evil king and undoes the good Jehoshaphat did (21:6).

This is a fascinating tale to look back on now that the fulfilment of the Davidic promise has come in Jesus. Jehoshaphat sought to bring people back to the Lord, but Jesus has come and has brought us to God, dying in our place to accomplish it (1 Peter 3:18).

The Lord was with Jesus (Luke 5:17), he was the true son of David (Acts 13:23), he walked in God's commandments (John 8:46), and God's kingdom is established in his hand (Matthew 12:28). Jesus' people love him and he is the most popular religious leader in the world today bar none. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he sanctifies us through his own blood (Hebrews 13:12), and intercedes on our behalf before the throne of God (Hebrews 7:25). He will defeat all of our enemies, including death itself (1 Corinthians 15:25-26), which he himself has come back from, unlike King Jehoshaphat. Jesus refused to ally himself with evil to acquire reward (Matthew 4:1-11), but entrusted himself to God, and now all authority in heaven and on earth is his (Matthew 28:18). Jesus will never die again (Romans 16:9) so no one dodgy is ever going to be taking over.

So what do we do with this? It's pretty simple really: enjoy the king. God's holy nation has a great leader. Be a part of it and enjoy it. Sing to the king. Obey the king. Trust the king's gospel. Pray to the king. Wait for the king to act.

Jehoshaphat was a bit of a let down, but the sequel is way better.

Ps Phil Brown