2 Chronicles 19-20 A Good King, But A Nagging Failure

God had saved Jehoshaphat from death in battle, and when he returned, Jehu asked him, “Why did you help evil people?  Why do you love those who hate the Lord?  That is the reason God is angry with you.  But there is some good in you.”  There’s no mention of Jehoshaphat responding.

Jehoshaphat appointed judges and warned them to be fair and that they were judging for the Lord.  They were to warn the people not to sin against the Lord, and he promised that if they failed in that duty, God would be angry with them.  But they would not be guilty as judges if they warned the people not to sin.

This chapter contains the awesome story of Judah being attacked by the very people they’d sold arms to!  Jehoshaphat cried out to God and God caused the three armies to turn on each other!  All their soldiers died and the army of Judah simply walked in and gathered the spoils!  This caused other nations to fear God.

Unfortunately, Jehoshaphat kept making poor decisions.  He still wanted an alliance with Israel, and he agreed to help fund a merchant fleet, but before they could set out, they were all wrecked.  God did not allow Jehoshaphat to sin successfully.

Verse 33 in chapter 20 said a lot about the nation of Judah itself.  Despite having a good king, their problem was “the people did not really want to follow the God of their ancestors.”  That’s also a big problem in America today.

Father God, please remove the blinders Satan has placed on so many of our people.  They’ve bought the lies of Satan and don’t know the truth about You.  Please cause our nation to turn back to You and to see the importance of obeying Your commands.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford