Biblical Essays
JEHOSHAPHAT – WORLDLINESS
In tracing the inspired record of the houses of Israel and Judah, from the period of their separation under Rehoboam, we can recognize without difficulty the marked distinction between them. The line of kings from Jeroboam to Hosea presents a dark and sorrowful catalogue of evil-doers in the sight of the Lord: we look in vain for an exception. Even Jehu, who manifested so much zeal and energy in the abolition of idolatry, proved, in the sequel, that his heart was far from being right with God. In fact, a dark cloud of idolatry seems to have settled on the whole house of Israel, until they were carried away beyond Babylon, and scattered among the Gentiles.
However, not so with Judah; here we find some happy exceptions – some pleasant rays from that lamp which the Lord so graciously granted in Jerusalem for David His servant’s sake. The soul is refreshed by the history of such men as Josiah, Asa, Joash, and Hezekiah – men whose hearts were devoted to the service of the sanctuary, and who therefore exerted a holy influence on their times.
It is on the narrative of one of these blessed exceptions that we desire to dwell for a little, trusting the Lord to give instruction and profit in so doing.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, is introduced to our notice in 2 Chronicles 17. In this chapter, we find God, in His grace, establishing His servant in the kingdom and the people of God acknowledging him therein. Jehoshaphat’s first act was to “strengthen himself against Israel.” This is worthy of notice. Israel and Israel’s king were always a snare to the heart of Jehoshaphat. But in the opening of his course, in the season of his early freshness, he was able to fortify his kingdom against the power of Israel. One frequently observes this in the history of Christians; the evils that in after life prove their greatest snares are those against which there is the greatest watchfulness at first.
Happy is it when the spirit of watchfulness increases with our increasing knowledge of the tendencies and capabilities of our hearts. But this is not always the way: on the contrary, how frequently do we find Christians of some years’ standing indulging in things which at first their consciences would have shrunk from. This may seem to be only a growing out of a legal spirit; but should it not rather be viewed as a growing out of a tender and sensitive conscience? It would be sad if the result of more enlarged views were to be a careless spirit or a seared conscience; or if high principles of truth rendered those who were once self-denying and separated, self-indulgent, careless, and worldly. But it is not so. To grow in the knowledge of truth is to grow in the knowledge of God, and to grow in the knowledge of God is to grow in holiness. The conscience that can let things from which it would formerly have shrunk pass without reproof, is much to be feared – instead of being under the action of the truth of God, it is under the hardening influence of the deceitfulness of sin.
The whole scene presented to us (ch. 17) is full of interest. Jehoshaphat not only retains the conquests of Asa, his father, but goes on to extend, by his personal exertions, the interests of his kingdom. All is well ordered. “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; but sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in His commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord: moreover, he took away the high places and groves out of Israel.”
Here was the true secret of his prosperity: “His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.” When the heart is thus lifted up, everything goes well.
However, in 2 Chronicles 18 we have a different state of things. Jehoshaphat’s prosperity is used by the devil as a snare for him. “Jehoshaphat had riches and honours in abundance, and Joined affinity with Ahab.” We have already observed Jehoshaphat fortifying his kingdom; but the enemy comes on him in a way for which Jehoshaphat does not seem to have prepared himself; he does not attack his kingdom, he attacks his heart. He comes not as the lion, but as the serpent. Ahab’s “sheep and oxen” are found more suitable and effectual than Ahab’s men of war. Had Ahab declared war against Jehoshaphat, it would only have cast him on the Lord; but he does not. Jehoshaphat’s kingdom is fortified against Ahab’s hostilities, but his heart lies open to Ahab’s allurements. This is truly solemn. We often make a great effort against evil in one shape, while we allowing it to get in on us in another.
At first, Jehoshaphat had strengthened himself against Israel, but now he joins affinity with Israel’s king. And why? Had any change for the better taken place? Had Ahab’s heart become more tender toward the Lord? By no means. He was still the same, but Jehoshaphat's conscience had lost much of its early tenderness and sensitiveness: he had come near to evil and tampered with it; he had touched the pitch, and was defiled by it. “He joined affinity with Ahab.” Here was the evil – an evil which, however slow in its operation, would certainly sooner or later produce its own fruit. “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” (Gal. 6:8). The truth of this must inevitably be realized. Grace may triumph in the forgiveness of sin, but the legitimate fruit will spring forth in due time. In the matter of Uriah the Lord put away David’s sin, but the child died, and Absalom arose in rebellion. So it will always be. If we sow to the flesh, we must reap corruption; the flesh can produce nothing else. How desperately we need this lesson in this age.
In Jehoshaphat’s case, it took years for the results of his false steps to begin showing themselves: “And after certain years, he went down to Ahab to Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead.” Satan knows his ground; he knows where the seed of evil has taken root; he knows the heart that is prepared to respond to his temptation; he knew that the “affinity” into which the king of Judah had entered with the king of Israel had prepared him for further steps in a downward course. When a Christian enters into connection with the world, he lays himself open to be “persuaded” by the world, to enter on an unchristian course of action. David took Ziklag from Achish (1 Sam. 27:6), and the next step was to join Achish against Israel (1 Sam. 28:1).
The world will never give anything to a child of God without making large demands in return. When the king of Judah had allowed Ahab to kill sheep and oxen for him, he would have found it difficult not to meet Ahab’s desire in reference to Ramoth-gilead. Therefore, the safest way is to be no debtor to the world. Jehoshaphat should have had nothing whatsoever to do with Ahab; he should have kept himself pure. The Lord was not with Ahab, and though it might seem desirable to recover one of the cities of refuge out of the hand of the enemy, yet Jehoshaphat should have known that he was not to do evil that good might come. If we join with the world in its schemes, we must expect to be identified with it in its convulsions.
Ramoth-gilead had of old been assigned as a city of refuge for the slayer (Deut. 4:43), and to recover this city from the king of Syria was the object of Ahab’s expedition. But behind this we can detect the snare of the enemy, who cared little about the city, provided he could thereby betray a child of God from the path of purity and separation. The devil has always found religious and benevolent objects most effectual in their influence on the people of God. He does not come at first with something openly ungodly; he does not tempt a Christian to join the world for some wicked design, because he knows that the sensitive conscience would shrink from such a thing. His way is rather to present in the distance some desirable object – to cover his schemes with the cloak of religion or benevolence, and thus ensnare.
However, there is one truth that would, if realized, effectually deliver the Christian from all connection with the men of this world. By the Holy Spirit, the apostle teaches us that unbelievers are “unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). This is enough for an obedient soul. We must not join with those who are so represented. It matters not what they propose – be it a work of benevolence or a work of religion – Scripture tells us they are reprobate, yes, “reprobate,” though they profess that they know God. This should be sufficient. God cannot accept or acknowledge the works or offerings of those whose hearts are far from Him; nor should the body of Christ mingle with such, even though it be for the accomplishment of desirable ends. “Keep thyself pure” is a valuable admonition for us all. “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” It would have been infinitely better and more acceptable for Jehoshaphat to have kept himself pure from all contact with Ahab’s defilement than to have recovered Ramoth from the Syrians, even if he had succeeded in doing so.
However, he had to learn this by painful experience. And it is in this way that most of us learn our lessons. We may speak about points of truth, while knowing little of having learned them experimentally. When at the commencement of his career Jehoshaphat strengthened himself against Israel, he had little idea of the way in which he would afterward be ensnared by the worst of Israelites. The only effectual safeguard against evil is to be in communion with God about it. When we look at evil in the light of the holiness of God, we not only look at the act, but at the principle; and if the principle is unsound, no matter what the result may be, we should have nothing to do with it. But to deal in this way with evil requires much exercise of soul before God – much spirituality, much self-judgment, much prayer and watchfulness. The Lord grant us these, and also more tenderness and godly sensitiveness of conscience.
We have no idea of the sad consequences of a mistake on the part of a child of God. The full results are not always apparent; but the enemy takes care to make his own use of the matter, not necessarily in injury done to the one who makes the mistake, but to others who witness and are influenced by it. Jehoshaphat did not only fall into the snare himself, but he led others in also. “I am as thou art,” said he; and further, “My people as thy people.” What miserably low ground for a man of God to take, and what a place to put the people of God into – “I am as thou art.” Thus spake Jehoshaphat, and well was it for him that his words were not verified throughout. God did not judge him as He judged Ahab; here was his real security, even in the midst of the terrible consequences of his unguarded conduct. At the close of his career he was not as Ahab, though he had joined affinity with him for the purpose of carrying out his plans. He was not as Ahab when Ahab was pierced by an arrow; he was not as Ahab when the dogs licked Ahab’s blood. The Lord made him to be different.
But we should remember that when the Christian joins with the world for any purpose whatsoever, whether of religion or benevolence, he is saying (as Jehoshaphat said to Ahab), “I am as thou art.” Let us ask, “Is this right? Is he prepared to say this?” It will not do to say, “We are not to judge others.” Jehoshaphat should have judged, as is manifested from the language of Jehu the prophet, when he met him on his return from Ramoth, “Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?” How was he to know who was ungodly, or who hated the Lord, if he did not exercise judgment? We have no right to judge those that are without, but we are bound to exercise judgment regarding those with whom we enter into fellowship. Nor does this of necessity involve in the least the idea of one's own personal superiority in anyone particular. No; it is not, “Stand by thyself: I am holier than thou;” but, “I must stand apart, because God is holy.” This is the true principle. It is on the ground of what God is (not of what we are) that we separate from known evil. “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”
However, Jehoshaphat failed to maintain this separation; and in failing himself, led others into failure. In this we learn a solemn lesson. We may suppose that Jehoshaphat had gained considerable influence over the hearts of the people by his previous devotedness; he had established himself in their confidence and affections; and, to a certain extent, rightly so. It is right that those who walk devotedly should be loved and confided in; but then we must jealously watch against the dangerous tendency of mere personal influence. Only a man of extensive influence could have said, “My people are as thy people.” He might have said, “I am as thou art,” but no more. When used out of communion, his extensive influence only made him a more efficient instrument of evil. Satan knew this; he knew his mark; he did not fasten on an ordinary man of Judah, but on the most prominent and influential man he could find, knowing full well that if he could succeed in drawing him aside, others would follow in his train.
Satan was not mistaken. Many would no doubt say, “What harm can there be in joining Ahab’s expedition? Surely, if anything were wrong such a good man as King Jehoshaphat would not engage in it. As long as we see him there, we can rest easy about the matter.” But if this were not the language of some in Jehoshaphat’s day, it certainly is of many in our age. How often do we hear Christians say, “How can such-and-such thing be wrong, when we see such good men connected to it, or engaged in it?” All that can be said of such reasoning is that it is false; because it begins at the wrong end. We are responsible to God to act on principle, let others do as they may. Through grace, we should humbly, yet decidedly, be able to render a sound and intelligent reason for whatever course of action we may adopt, without any reference to the conduct of others. Further, we know full well that good men go astray, and do wrong things. Therefore, they are not nor can they be our guides. “To his own master he standeth or falleth.” A spiritual mind, a conscience enlightened by the Word of God, a real sense of personal responsibility, together with honesty of purpose, are what we especially need. If we lack these, our path will be defective.
But there are few, if any, who occupy a position in which their conduct could exert such an extensive influence as that of King Jehoshaphat. To meet this, it may be necessary to briefly dwell on a truth often neglected today – the unity of the body of Christ, and the consequent effect that the conduct of each member, however obscure, produces on the whole body.
In this age, the great doctrine of unity is too often feebly apprehended and carried out, even by the most spiritually minded and intelligent of the Lord’s people. The reason of this is apparent. The doctrine is viewed in the light of the church’s present condition, rather than of her condition as presented in the New Testament. This being so, the unity can never be understood. If we simply take Scripture for our guide, we shall have no difficulty about it. There we read, “If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.” This principle did not hold good in the days of king Jehoshaphat, because the body of Christ, properly so called, had no actual existence. All its members would one day be written in God’s book; but “as yet there was none of them” – they existed in the purpose of God, but that purpose had not been actualized. Hence, though so many were led astray by the influence of Jehoshaphat, it was not by any means on the principle stated in the above passage; it was not all suffering from the act of one because they were one body, but many being led astray by one because they followed his example. The distinction is very important. There is no member of the Lord’s church, no matter how obscure, whose path and conduct do not affect, in some measure, all the members. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” Hence, if a Christian is walking loosely or carelessly – if he is out of communion – if he fails in prayer, watchfulness, or self-judgment, he injures the whole body. On the contrary, when he is walking in spiritual health and vigor, he promotes the blessing and interest of all.
It was not without struggle that Jehoshaphat yielded to the solicitations of Ahab. The working of conscience is observable in the words, “Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today.” But how futile was prayer for guidance, when he had already said, “I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.” It is mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how frequently we do so. How frequently we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it. All this is wretched; it is only honoring God with the lips, while the heart is in positive rebellion against Him. Instead of getting that guidance for which we profess to ask, may we not rather expect a lying spirit to be sent forth to us? (v. 21) Ahab was at no loss for counselors. He speedily “gathered together four hundred prophets,” who were ready to counsel him according to his heart’s desire: “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.” This was what he wanted. We should not marvel at Ahab being satisfied with prophets like these. They suited him well.
But surely Jehoshaphat should not have left the appearance of acknowledging them to be prophets of the Lord, as he evidently did, by saying, “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides?” [or, “yet one more?”]. Had he been faithful to the Lord, he would have denied the right of these false prophets to give counsel. But, he was giving full countenance to the religion of the world and to its ministers. He could not bring himself to hurt Ahab’s feelings by dealing faithfully with his prophets. They were all, it would seem, proper men.
How dreadful it is to allow ourselves to get into a condition in which we are unable to bear distinct and faithful testimony against the ministers of Satan. In this age, we often hear words like: “We must be liberal;” “we must not hurt people’s feelings;” “there are good men everywhere;” “we must keep our membership and budget;” etc. But truth is truth, and we are not to put error for truth, nor truth for error. Nothing but a secret desire to stand firm with the world will ever lead to this careless method of dealing with evil. If we want to stand with the world, let us do it at our own charges, and not at the expense of God’s truth. It is often urged, “We must present truth in a way that attracts,” when what is really meant is that truth is to be made a kind of variable, elastic thing, which can be turned into any shape, or stretched to any length, to suit the taste and habits of those who would fain put it out of the world altogether.
However, truth cannot be thus treated; it can never be made to reduce itself to the level of this world. Those who profess to hold it may seek to use it thus, but it will always be found to be the same pure, holy, faithful witness against the world and all its ways. It will always speak distinctly, if its voice is not stifled by connection with the practice of faithless professors. When Jehoshaphat had stooped so low as to acknowledge the false prophets for the purpose of gratifying Ahab, who could observe any distinct testimony for God? All seemed to sink down to one common level, and the enemy had his own way. The voice of truth was hushed: the prophets prophesied falsely: God was forgotten. Thus must it always be.
The attempt to accommodate truth to those who are of the world can only end in complete failure. There can be no accommodation. Let it stand on its own heavenly height; let saints stand fully and firmly with it; let them invite sinners up to them; but let them not descend to the low and groveling pursuits and habits of the world, and thus rob truth, as far as in them lies, of all its edge and power. It is far better to allow the contrast between God’s truth and our ways to be fully seen, than to attempt to identify them in appearance, when they really do not agree. We may try to commend truth to the minds of worldly people by an effort to conform to their ways but, though not commending it, in reality we expose it to secret contempt and scorn. Jehoshaphat certainly did not further the cause of truth by conforming to Ahab’s ways, or by acknowledging the claims of his false prophets. The man who conforms to the world will be the enemy of Christ, and the enemy of Christ’s people. It cannot be otherwise. “The friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
How fully was this proved in the case of Jehoshaphat. He became the friend and companion of Ahab, who hated Micaiah, the servant of God; and as a consequence, although he did not himself positively persecute the righteous witness, yet he sat beside Ahab and beheld the Lord’s prophet first struck, and then committed to prison, simply because he would not tell a lie to please a wicked king, and harmonize with four hundred wicked prophets. One wonders what Jehoshaphat thought and felt when beholding his brother smitten and imprisoned because of faithfully testifying against an expedition in which he himself was engaged. Yet such was the position into which his connection with Ahab had forced him; he could not avoid being a witness of these wicked proceedings – actually a partaker of them. When a man associates himself with the world, he must do so thoroughly. The enemy is never satisfied with half measures. On the contrary, he will use every effort to force a saint out of communion into extremes of evil.
The beginning of evil is like the letting out of water. Small beginnings lead to fearful results. First, one slightly tampers with evil at a distance; then, approaches more and more closely by degrees. After this, one takes hold of it a little more firmly; until finally, deliberately plunging into it, from whence nothing but the most marked interposition of God can rescue. Jehoshaphat “joined affinity with Ahab”; then accepted his hospitality; after that, was “persuaded” into open association with him; and finally, took his place at the battle of Ramoth-gilead. He had said to Ahab, “I am as thou art,” and Ahab takes him at his word; for he says to him, “I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes.”
Thus, in view of worldly men, Jehoshaphat completely surrendered his personal identity, so much so that “it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, ‘It is the king of Israel.’” What a terrible position for Jehoshaphat. To find him impersonating, and thus mistaken for, the worst of Israel’s kings is a sad proof of the danger of associating with the men of the world. Happy it was for Jehoshaphat that the Lord did not take him at his word when he said to Ahab, “I am as thou art.” The Lord knew that Jehoshaphat was not Ahab, though he might personate and be mistaken for him. Grace had made him to differ, and conduct should have proved him to be what grace had made him. But, blessed be God, “He knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation,” and He graciously delivered His poor servant out of the evil into which he had plunged himself, and in which he would have perished, had not the hand of God been stretched out to rescue him. “Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.”1
Here we have the turning-point in this stage of Jehoshaphat’s life. His eyes were opened to see the position into which he had brought himself; at least, he saw his danger, if he did not apprehend the moral evil of his course. Encompassed by the captains of Syria, he could feel something of what it was to have taken Ahab’s place. However, happily for him he could look up to the Lord from the depth of his distress – he could cry out to Him in the time of his extremity. Had it not been so, the enemy’s arrow, lodged deep in his heart, might have brought out the sorrowful result of his ungodly association.
“Jehoshaphat cried out,” and his cry came up before the Lord, whose ear is always open to hear the cry of those who feel their need. “Peter went out and wept bitterly.” The prodigal said, “I will arise, and go to my father;” and the father ran to meet him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. So it is that the blessed God always meets those who, feeling that they have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water, return to Him, the fountain of living waters. Would that all who feel that they have departed from Christ and slipped into the current of this present world might find their way back, in true humility and contrition of spirit, to Him who says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”
How different Ahab’s case. Though carrying in His bosom a mortal wound, he propped himself up in his chariot until the evening, fondly desiring to hide his weakness and accomplish the object of his heart. We find no cry of humility, no tear of penitence, no looking upward. No; we find nothing but what is in full keeping with his entire course. He died as he had lived – doing evil in the sight of the Lord. How fruitless were his efforts to prop himself up. Death had seized on him; and though he struggled for a time to keep up an appearance, yet “about the time of the sun going down he died.” What a terrible end – the end of one who had “sold himself to work wickedness.” Who would be the votary of the world? Who that valued a life of simplicity and purity would mix with its pursuits and habits? Who that valued a peaceful and happy termination of his career would link himself with its destinies?
With the Lord’s help, may we endeavor to shake off the world’s influence, and purge ourselves from its ways. We have no idea how insidiously it creeps in on us. The enemy at first weans us from simple Christian habits, and by degrees we drop into the current of the world’s thoughts. Oh that we may, with more holy jealousy and tenderness of conscience, watch against the approach of evil, lest the solemn statement of the prophet should apply to us, “Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: [but such is the sorrowful change, that] their visage is blacker than a coal, they are not known in the streets, their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.”
We now look briefly at 2 Chronicles 19. Here we see some results from all that Jehoshaphat had passed through. “He returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.” What a happy escape – the Lord’s hand had interposed for him, delivering him from the snare of the fowler, and, we may say, he would no doubt have his heart full of gratitude to Him who had made him to differ from Ahab, though he had said, “I am as thou art.” Ahab went to his grave in shame and degradation, while Jehoshaphat returned to his house in peace. But what a lesson he had learned. How solemn to think of him being so near the brink of the precipice. Yet the Lord had a controversy with him about what he had done. Though He allowed him to return in peace to Jerusalem, and did not allow the enemy to hurt him, He spoke to his conscience about his sin. In order to deal with him in private, God brought him aside from the field of battle. “And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, ‘Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.’”
This was a solemn appeal, producing its own effect. Jehoshaphat “went out again through the people, from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.” “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
So did Peter; so too did King Jehoshaphat. How blessed it is when, through the Lord’s tender mercy, lapses and failings lead to such a result. Nothing but divine grace can ever produce such. After beholding Jehoshaphat surrounded by the Syrian captains (2 Chron. 18), when going out through the length and breadth of the land to instruct his brethren in the fear of the Lord, we can only exclaim, “What hath God wrought.” But he was just the man for such a work. It is one who has felt in his own person the terrible fruits of a careless spirit that can most effectually say, “Take heed what ye do.” A restored Peter, who had himself denied the Holy One, was the chosen vessel to go and charge others with having done the same, and to offer them that precious blood which had cleansed his conscience from the guilt of it. So likewise the restored Jehoshaphat came from the battle of Ramoth-gilead to sound in the ears of his brethren with solemn emphasis, “Take heed what ye do.” He that had just escaped from the snare can best tell what it was, and tell how to avoid it.
Note the special feature in the Lord’s character that engaged Jehoshaphat’s attention: “There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” The gift of Ahab now seems to be his snare: “Ahab slew sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead.” He allowed his heart to be warmed by Ahab’s gift, and was thus easily swayed by Ahab’s arguments. Just as Peter, after accepting the compliment of warming around the high-priest’s fire, then denied his Lord. While breathing its atmosphere or accepting its compliments, we can never canvass the world’s arguments and suggestions. We must remain outside and independent of it, and by so doing we will find ourselves in a better position to reject its proposals, and triumph over its allurements.
It is most instructive to note how that after his restoration, Jehoshaphat dwells on that feature of divine character in which he had so grievously failed. Communion with God is the great safeguard against all temptation; for there is no sin to which we are tempted, of which we cannot find the opposite in God – we can avoid evil only by communion with good. This is a simple but deeply practical truth. Had Jehoshaphat been in fellowship with God, he could not have sought fellowship with Ahab.
This is not the only divine way in which to look at the question of worldly association. Let us ask, “Can our association with the world go hand in hand with our fellowship with God?” This is really the question. It is a miserable thing to ask, “May I not partake of all the benefits of the name of Christ, and yet dishonor that name by mixing with the people of the world, and taking common ground with them?” How easily the matter is settled when we bring it into the divine presence, and under the searching power of the truth of God: “Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?” Truth strips off all the false covering a heart out of communion is likely to throw around things. It is only when it casts its unerring beams on our path that we see things in their true character.
Note the way divine truth exposed the actions of Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel would fain put a fair cloak on her shocking wickedness: she said: “Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive but dead.”
Such was her way of putting the matter. But how did the Lord view it? “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?’” In other words, “Hast thou committed murder and robbery?” God deals with realities. In His estimation, men and things get their proper place and value; there is no gilding, no affectation, no assumption – all is real. So it was with Jehoshaphat; his scheme which in human estimation might be regarded as religious, was in the divine judgment pronounced to be helping the ungodly – loving them that hated the Lord. While men might applaud him, “there was wrath upon him from before the Lord.”
However, Jehoshaphat had to be thankful for the salutary lesson his fall had taught him. It had taught him to walk more in the fear of the Lord, and to impress that on others. True, it was a sad and painful way to learn; but it is good when we learn by our falls; it is good when by painful experience we can tell the terrible evil of being mixed up with the world. Would to God we all felt it more; would that we walked more in the solemn apprehension of the defiling nature of worldly association, and of our own tendency to be defiled by it. We would then be more efficient teachers of others; able to say, with somewhat more weight, “Take heed what ye do;” and again, “Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good.”
In 2 Chronicles 20 we find Jehoshaphat in far more healthful circumstances than in chapter 18. He is here seen under trial from the hand of the enemy: “It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them others beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.” We are in far less apprehension for Jehoshaphat when we behold him as the object of the enemy’s hostilities than when we beheld him the subject of Ahab’s kindness and hospitality. And rightly so; for in one case he is about to be cast on the God of Israel, whereas in the other he was about to fall into the snare of Satan. The proper place for the man of God is to be in opposition to the enemies of the Lord – not in conjunction with them.
When we join with the enemies of the Lord we never can count on divine sympathy or guidance. Hence we observe what an empty thing it was of Jehoshaphat to ask counsel of the Lord in a matter he knew to be wrong. Not so, however, in the scene before us. He is really in earnest when “he sets himself to seek the Lord, and proclaims a fast throughout all Judah.” This is real work. There is nothing like trial from the hand of the world to drive the saint into a place of separation from it. When the world smiles, we are in danger of being attracted; but when it frowns, we are driven away from it into our stronghold; and this is both happy and healthful. Jehoshaphat did not say to a Moabite or an Ammonite, “I am as thou art.” No; he knew this was not so, for they would not let him think so. It is much better to know our true position in reference to the world.
There are three special points in Jehoshaphat’s address to the Lord (vs. 6-12): The greatness of God; the oath to Abraham about the land: and the attempt of the enemy to drive the seed of Abraham out of that land
The prayer is precious and instructive – full of divine intelligence. He makes it a question between the God of Abraham and the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir. This is what faith always does, and the issue will always be the same. “They come,” says he, “to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit.” How simple; they would take what “Thou hast given.” This was putting it on God to maintain His own covenant. “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.” Surely, we may say, victory was already secured to one who could thus deal with God. And so Jehoshaphat felt; for “when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord: for His mercy endureth forever.” Nothing but faith could raise a song of praise before the battle had begun. “Faith counts the promise sure.” It enabled Abraham to believe that God would put his seed into the possession of Canaan, and so it enabled Jehoshaphat to believe that He would keep them therein, and therefore he did not need to wait for victory in order to praise; he already stood in the full results of victory. Faith could say, “Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation,” though they had but just entered on the wilderness.
But what a strange sight it must have been for the enemies of Jehoshaphat, to see a band of men with musical instruments instead of weapons in their hands. It was something of the same principle of warfare as that adopted later by Hezekiah, when he clothed himself in sackcloth instead of amour (Is. 37:1).2 Yes, it was the same; both had been trained in the same school; both fought under the same banner. Would that our warfare with this present age – with its habits, manners, and maxims – were conducted more on the same principle. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
What a contrast between Jehoshaphat impersonating Ahab at Ramoth-gilead, and standing with the Lord against his enemies, the Moabites. His mode of seeking help and guidance of the Lord was different, his mode of proceeding to battle was different; and the end was different, too. Instead of being well-nigh overwhelmed by the enemy, and crying out in the depth of his distress and danger, we find him joining in a loud chorus of praise to the God of his fathers, who had given him a victory without striking a blow, who had made his enemies destroy one another, and who had graciously conducted him from the dark valley of Achor into the valley of Berachah. What a blessed contrast – may it lead us to seek a more decided path of separation; an abiding dependence on the Lord’s grace and faithfulness. The valley of Berachah, or praise, is always the place into which the Spirit of God would conduct; but He cannot lead us there when we join ourselves with the “Ahabs” of this world for the purpose of carrying out their schemes. The word is, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
It is wonderful how worldliness hinders and destroys a spirit of praise. Worldliness is hostile to such a spirit, and, if indulged in, will either lead to deep anguish of soul or to the most thorough and open abandonment of all semblance of godliness. In Jehoshaphat’s case, it was happily the former. He was humbled, restored, and led into larger blessedness.
But it would be sad were anyone to plunge into worldliness with the hope that it might lead to an issue similar to that of Jehoshaphat. Such would be a vain, presumptuous hope; a sinful expectation. How could anyone who valued a pure, calm, and peaceful walk, entertain such? “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation,” but shall we, on that account, go and deliberately plunge ourselves into it? God forbid.
Yet, who can sound the profound, malignant depths of the human heart? Who can disentangle its complicated mazes? Could anyone imagine, that after such solemn lessons Jehoshaphat would again join himself with the ungodly, to further their ambitious; their avaricious schemes? No one could imagine it, save one who had learned something of his own heart. Yet so he did. “He joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did very wickedly. And he joined himself with him, to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-gaber. 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, and they were not able to go to Tarshish” (vs. 35-37).
What is man, but a poor, stumbling, failing, halting creature; always rushing into some new folly or evil. Jehoshaphat had just recovered from the effects of his association with Ahab, and forthwith he joins himself with Ahaziah. Though with difficulty, or rather through the special and gracious interference of the Lord, he escaped the arrows of the Syrians, still, we find him in league with the kings of Israel and Edom, to fight against the Moabites.
Such was Jehoshaphat – such his extraordinary course. There were some “good things found in him”; but his snare was worldly association; and the lesson we learn from the consideration of his history is to beware of that evil. Yes; with ceaseless solemnity we need to have sounded in our ears the words, “Come out, and be separate.” We cannot mix with the world, and allow ourselves to be governed and led by its maxims and principles, without suffering, and marring our testimony.
In conclusion, it seems like a relief to the spirit to read the words, “Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers” (2 Chron. 21:1). We feel assured that he has at last gone beyond the reach of the enemy’s snares and devices; and further, that he comes under the Spirit’s benediction, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours” – yes, a rest from their conflicts, snares, and temptations.
