7. King Jehoshaphat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After the prophet who was filled with the Spirit of the Lord had told the people in the temple that they would be victorius without having to fight. Jehoshaphat fell on his face and prayed. And the Kohathites and Korahites praised God in a loud voice. The next day, the people of Judah “went out into the wilderness of Tekoa.”

Jehoshaphat told them: “believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” Meanwhile, God set an ambush for the Moabites and Ammonites at Mount Seir. In the end, they all began killing one another (verse 23. Then the people of Judah “came to the watchtower of the wilderness.” They saw scores of dead bodies, with none left alive. They spent three days taking the spoils for themselves, because there was so much.

On the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Beracah to bless the Lord. It was named Berach later, of course, and the name itself means “blessing.”  The surrounding countries learned of how God had fought for them, and they were afraid and kept their distance. So the rest of Jehosphat’s reign was peaceful He reined for 25 years, and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But the scripture adds that the high places were not taken down.

The chapter closes with the alliance that the king made with the northern king, Ahaziah, who verse 30 says acted wickedly. Together they built ships in Ezion-geber. to sail to Tarshish. Then the prophet, Eliezer, Prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying that because he had joined with Ahaziah, God will destroy what he had made. After that, the ships were wrecked and never made it to Tarshish.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

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All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.