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Jehoshaphat, the King Who Believed God
Called to the throne at the age of thirty-five, Jehoshaphat had the
benefit of good King Asa’s example. In nearly every crisis Asa had
done “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
1 Kings 15:11
. During
his own reign of twenty-five years, Jehoshaphat aimed to walk “in all
the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them.”
1 Kings
22:43
. He tried to persuade his subjects to take a firm stand against
idol worship. Many in his realm “offered sacrifices and burned
incense on the high places.”
1 Kings 22:43
. From the beginning the
king tried to safeguard Judah from the sins that characterized the
northern kingdom under Ahab. Jehoshaphat “did not seek the Baals,
but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments
and not according to the acts of Israel.” The Lord was with him, and
“established the kingdom in his hand.”
2 Chronicles 17:3-5
.
Jehoshaphat “had riches and honor in abundance.” As time
passed, the king “removed the high places and wooden images from
Judah.”
Verses 5, 6
. “And the rest of the perverted persons, who
remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land.”
1
Kings 22:46
. In this way he gradually freed the inhabitants of Judah
from dangers that had threatened their spiritual development.
Throughout the kingdom the people needed instruction in the
law of God. If they brought their lives into harmony with its require-
ments, they would become loyal both to God and to one another.
Knowing this, Jehoshaphat took steps to see that his people received
thorough instruction in the Holy Scriptures. By royal appointment
instructors “went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the
people.”
2 Chronicles 17:9
. And, as many put away sin, a revival
took place.
Great gain comes from obeying God’s law. If the teachings of
God’s Word were the controlling influence in the life of every man
and woman, the evils that now exist in national and social life would
disappear. From every home an influence would go forth that would
make men and women strong in spiritual insight and in moral power.
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