Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, reigned 25 years, from 873 to 848 BC. We are given the story somewhat out of chronological order in the text. King Ahaziah of Israel reigned briefly during the latter years of Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 19:1-11 -- Returning safe from the battle the ended Ahab's reign, Jehoshaphat is warned by the Seer Jehu (son of the seer his father had imprisoned, ch. 16:7) that allying with wicked men will purchase the wrath of God. However, the warning is moderated by Jehoshaphat's general desire to please Jehovah. Taking this warning to heart, the King redoubled his efforts to draw his nation closer to God. The text implies he himself went out and preached the Law. He then established a court system, selecting judges for each locale at various levels. He solemnly warned them this was all about holiness before the Lord. Jehoshaphat went on to establish a formal central appeals court system in the capital. While it is noted that all legal matters are under the Law of Moses, there is an administrative division here between civil and ceremonial judges. The senior judge in ceremonial cases was also the Chief Priest, Amariah. For civil matters Jehoshaphat appointed his chamberlain, the Ishmaelite Zebadiah, as chief justice. Throughout the system, there was stern warning that all judges were answerable to God for their work. This whole business would have taken several years.
20:35-37 -- Meanwhile, we jump to end of the next chapter to catch a story mirrored in 1 Kings 22. Carrying over his alliance with Ahab to the latter's heir, Ahaziah, Jehoshaphat allows him to play minor partner in the trade based in Ezion-geber, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The Lord's wrath is kindled and the first joint trade mission is destroyed by a storm. Afterward, Jehoshaphat distances himself from Ahaziah. The judicial reforms took place at the same time as the trade mission.
20:1-4 -- The crushing power David and Solomon had brought against Ammon, Moab and Edom eventually bred rebellion. This appears to have happened in 852 BC, just three years after Ahab died. This passage is slightly confusing, and there are variations among sources as to who exactly had allied together against Judah. There was probably a people known as the Mehunites, and it's possible they may have hired some Syrian troops, who had just successfully defeated Israel and Judah in battle at Ramoth Gilead. The allied nations began sending a massed army, working its way around the south end of the Dead Sea. They had seized and occupied Engedi, on the west shore of the sea. Jehoshaphat wisely proclaimed a fast, and called the leaders of his kingdom to join him in a solemn prayer assembly at Jerusalem.
20:5-13 -- Mentioned in passing is that the King had expanded the Temple to add a new courtyard. His impassioned plea recalled the prayer of Solomon. Note that the questions are purely rhetorical, implying most certainly a yes answer. Now they were gathered according to the promise made to Solomon, calling out to God from the Temple dedicated to His Name. Jehoshaphat notes that, while the Jews had crippled these nations in the past, they had never taken from the inheritance designated for them by Jehovah. What thanks was it they now sought to drive Judah from their inheritance? Finally, the King notes their forces outnumber those of Judah.
20:14-19 -- A Levite of the Sons of Asaph (Temple Musicians) named Jahaziel was moved to speak the Lord's reply. We note this is echoed in Psalm 83, which gives a more complete list of the allied nations. By adding Tyre, the Amalekites, the Philistines, and elements of the Assyrian Empire, it explains how the invaders could boast such a massive army as to frighten Judah, with roughly a million soldiers at last count. The musician told how this was God's fight, not Judah's. He instructed them to go down and meet the enemy as they marched up the Ascent of Ziz, which began a few miles north of Engedi. This was a broad wadi that opened out onto an area called the Wilderness of Jeruel. This would permit a first strike at Hebron, which is believed to have been better defended than any other city at that time. Victory there would be a massive psychological blow, laying the ground for attacking Jerusalem. However, there would be no need to fight. Judah's army was to simply stand and watch how Jehovah would defeat the invaders. The only appropriate response from the nation's leadership was to bow face to the ground at such a mighty promise of God. The rest of the Temple Musicians broke out in a praise chorus.
20:20-23 -- The dramatic scene that follows is hard to do justice with mere words. At dawn, the army of Judah marched some 10 miles (16km) to the wilderness area near the city of Tekoa. As they drew near, it was time to set the troops in battle order. Normally this includes dividing the troops into manageable formations, deciding where to place each, and so forth. After consulting with the leaders of Judah, Jehoshaphat placed the Temple Musicians in the vanguard, as the first to meet the enemy. Their song was a simple praise of God's glory. The enemy horde was already in position, divided into national armies. In response to praise of His Name, the Lord incited the Edomites ("Mount Seir") against their allies. When the Edomites had been destroyed, the remaining nations turned on each other.
20:24-30 -- Imagine the scene as the army of Judah tops the rise and looks down upon the invading hordes. There was nothing but a sea of dead bodies. The only thing left was to strip the dead, who for some reason had brought an unusual amount of valuables with them. It took three days to plunder the invaders. Then they all reassembled in the valley where the bodies were left to rot and be devoured by carrion eaters. They named it the Valley of Berachah ("Blessing") with a thanksgiving ceremony. The entire army of Judah returned rejoicing, and the realm had peace for the rest of Jehoshaphat's reign.
20:31-34 -- The story of Jehoshaphat closes noting the statistics of his reign, and the scribal note that he stayed faithful to Jehovah. In spite of his efforts, the people of his realm rebuilt some of the shrines he had destroyed earlier.
2 Kings 1:1-4 -- We are told that as a build up to the battle with Judah, the Moabites rose in revolt against Israel. They were encouraged in this by the defeat of Israel and Judah at Ramoth Gilead. Over the next two years they made life miserable for Ahaziah, the heir of King Ahab. This, on top of his loss of alliance with Judah. His short reign (853-852 BC) is ended because of his immense evil. In an earlier lesson, we described how it was common for the wealthy to build a latticed room on the roof of their homes, as a place of refuge from the heat of summer. Ahaziah had such an addition on his palace in Samaria, and fell through the lattice to the ground at least one story below. His injuries appeared serious enough that the King sought word on is fate from a prophet.
However, it was to prophets of a pagan god he sent inquiry. He dispatched his servants to the temple at Ekron, where the Philistines worshiped Baal-zebul ("Lord of the Home"), a title implying the God of Life, their chief deity. The scribe engages in the typical Hebrew mocking by changing the spelling just a bit to Baal-zebub, "Lord of the Flies." As they depart on this mission, Jehovah sends an angel to Elijah, now master of several academies of prophets. The Lord tells him to intercept the messengers. Elijah was to send them back with the question of how a King of Israel would seek word from some other nation's gods, as if there were no God of Israel. For this blatant rejection of Jehovah, who had repeatedly clarified the issue with acts of power often involving Elijah, the King would die soon of his injuries.
1:5-12 -- A mission that should have taken at least a week saw the messengers return the same day. When the King asked why they returned, they told him of their encounter with a man they didn't know. Here we are given a description of Elijah's appearance: a hairy man who wore a wide leather belt, instead of the more common cloth. Ahaziah knew by the description this was Elijah. Reviving his mother's animus against the prophet, he sent a company of his bodyguard to arrest Elijah. We find him sitting atop a hill, probably just out of easy reach on a rock out-cropping. The captain approached at the head of his troops and ordered Elijah down, using the somewhat disrespectful title, "Man of Jehovah." Elijah replied that if he were indeed a Man of Jehovah, then let fire come down from Heaven to consume the soldiers. Immediately that very thing happened. No doubt there were onlookers there to watch the fun, but were dismayed by this result. A report came back to the King, who sent another company. Using the same rude address, the captain demanded Elijah come down. This group met the same end.
1:13-18 -- The third captain was considerably wiser. The issue was not respect for Elijah the man, but as Man of Jehovah, Prophet of the God of Israel. Having heard from the onlookers what happened to his peers, this captain paid proper respects and pleaded with Elijah not to curse him and his troops. The angel that had sent Elijah in the first place appeared again and gave Elijah permission to be taken into custody, as no harm would come to him. Upon entering the King's presence, he repeated the message again: Is there no God of Israel, that the King would enquire of Baal-zebul of Ekron? For this sin and insult to Jehovah, the King would not recover, but die in his bed. He passed a short time later. Having no son, his brother, Jehoram took the throne. We note that there was later a King of Judah by that name, and they should not be confused.
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Ed Hurst
08 January 2005
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