Jehoshaphat Of Judah

Jehoshaphat, from the Hebrew name pronounced yeh-ho-shaw-fawt, meaning the LORD judged, was the fourth king of The Southern Kingdom of "Judah" (not to be confused with a few other men with the same name recorded in Bible History in that era e.g. a bodyguard of King David, a Levite who accompanied the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem in the time of King David, a scribe in the time of King Solomon, the father of King Jehu of Israel). Jehoshaphat inherited the throne of Judah from his father King Asa (see Asa Of Judah), thereby continuing the direct royal line of David (which did not exist in The Northern Kingdom of "Israel"; see Israelite Dynasties).

"^15:23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ^15:24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead." (1 Kings 15:23-24 KJV)

"^3:9 These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister. ^3:10 And Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son" (1 Chronicles 3:9-10 KJV)

"And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD"

Jehoshaphat's reign began with a gradual effort (i.e. a little at first, much more later) to rid the land of idolatry and perversion.

"^22:42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

^22:43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the High Places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places." (1 Kings 22:42-43 KJV)

^22:46 And the remnant of the Sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land." (1 Kings 22:46 KJV)

^17:3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim [see Baal-zebub and Beelzebub] ; ^17:4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. ^17:5 Therefore the LORD [i.e. Jesus Christ; see Christ The Creator, 'Before Abraham Was, I AM' and 'The God Of The Old Testament'] stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. ^17:6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah." (2 Chronicles 17:3-6 KJV)

King Jehoshaphat of Judah had no need to meddle with, or be meddled with by, the kingdom of Israel to the north. Jehoshaphat "made peace" with Israel by making Judah strong enough to deter any interference from Israel.

"^22:44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel." (1 Kings 22:44 KJV)

"^17:1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. ^17:2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken." (2 Chronicles 17:1-2 KJV)

The greatest defense that Jehoshaphat established for his kingdom however was his obedience to the Law of the LORD. Thereafter, "the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat." The reason that the corrupt northern kingdom of Israel had war after war is because they no longer had the LORD as their Army, as Judah did.

"^17:7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. ^17:8 And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. ^17:9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

^17:10 And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat." (2 Chronicles 17:7-10 KJV)

Jehoshaphat's first major blunder was to bring Judah to the aid of the doomed King Ahab of Israel, and his infamously wicked wife Jezebel (see The Fall Of Ahab and Jezebel), who were at war with Syria in the time of Elijah (see The Prophets: Elijah). Jehoshaphat was with Ahab in the battle in which Ahab was fatally wounded.

"^22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead. ^22:30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

^22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. ^22:32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out. ^22:33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him." (1 Kings 22:29-33 KJV)

After surviving the battle, Jehoshaphat was rebuked by the prophet Jehu. Thereafter, Jehoshaphat sought to return to the righteous path that he had begun when he first became king - while steering clear of the degenerate kingdom of Israel to the north (see The Galilee Captivity to understand how "Israel" became "the lost ten tribes").

"^19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. ^19:2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. ^19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

^19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers. ^19:5 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, ^19:6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. ^19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

^19:8 Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem [see also No Levites In The Lost Ten Tribes?]. ^19:9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart." (2 Chronicles 19:1-9 KJV)

Later however, Jehoshaphat repeated his earlier mistake of allying himself with the collapsing northern kingdom, which was then ruled by Ahab's son Ahaziah. This time, it was an attempt to build a navy together - which the LORD allowed them to build, before He sunk it.

"^20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: ^20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber. ^20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish." (2 Chronicles 20:35-37 KJV)

Still having not learned his lesson to stay clear of the wicked heretics to the north, Jehoshaphat, in the time of the prophet Elisha (see The Prophets: Elisha), made another alliance with a king of Israel, this time against Moab. It was a military success, but a righteous failure. Like the prophet Jehu before him, Elisha told Jehoshaphat that he should mind his own business, in his own land.

"^3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?

And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.

^3:12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

^3:13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother.

And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

^3:14 And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee." (2 Kings 3:11-14 KJV)

Soon thereafter, Jehoshaphat died, about age sixty, after a reign of twenty five years.

"^22:50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead." (1 Kings 22:50 KJV)

Fact Finder: What or where is the "Valley of Jehoshaphat"?
See The Valley of Decision

This Day In History, October 3

1656: Miles Standish died. The English colonist at Plymouth was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish.

1691: The Treaty of Limerick was signed, ending the Irish Rebellion against British rule.

1739: Russia signed a treaty with the Turks (i.e. the Ottoman Empire; listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire), ending a three-year conflict between the two countries.

1838: Black Hawk died at age 71. He was the "Indian" (an erroneous term applied to the native people of North and South America by European explorers who thought that they had landed in India) leader of the Sauk and Fox tribes in Illinois; the Black Hawk War of 1832 is named after him.

1866: Italy and Austria signed the Treaty of Vienna, ending the Seven Weeks War.

1906: At the Berlin Radio Conference in Germany, SOS was established as the international distress signal, replacing the call sign CDQ.

1914: At the start of the First World War, the first brigades of Canadian volunteers sailed from Gaspe, Quebec. The more than 31,000 men, 144 artillery guns and 7,000 horses, escorted by 10 British battleships, arrived in Britain 11 days later. They formed the First Canadian Division, the largest fully-equipped military convoy to cross the Atlantic up to that date.

1929: Yugoslavia became the official name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

1940: In response to Germany's first-ever use of "paratroopers" in war (i.e. Germany's invasion of Denmark with their Fallschirmjager, in English parachute infantry - but contemptuously known to the people that they invaded as the green devils), the U.S. Army began to establish "airborne" troops.

1932: Iraq became an independent nation upon the ending of the British UN mandate there (a military coup in the 1960s brought in the regime that later was ruled by Saddam Hussein - who at first was an obedient puppet of the CIA, as was the neighboring Shah of Iran). After the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), Britain administered the vast area of the Middle East from Egypt to Iraq that had been under Ottoman control for centuries. Thereafter, while under British military protection, those Arab nations became free and independent (listen to our Sermons The Ottoman Empire), as well as did the land of Israel (listen to our Sermon The Balfour Declaration).

1941: During the Second World War, Adolf Hitler declared that "Russia is defeated and will never rise again" (see also Presidential Quotes On War, Terrorism, Religion). The German march toward Moscow was subsequently thwarted by the Russian winter.

1952: Britain detonated its first atomic bomb. The test was done at the Monte Bello Islands off the northwest coast of Australia.

1963: A military coup in Honduras overthrew President Ramon Villeda Morales.

1981: A hunger strike at the Maze prison in Belfast ended after 7 months and 10 deaths.

1990: The official political re-unification of East and West Germany after 45 years of Cold War Division (see Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Euro!).