Trusting God's Plan in the Battle: Lessons From the Life of JehoshaphatMfano

Day 10: Appointing Judges/Fearing the Lord

“Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.” 2 Chronicles 19:4

It’s revival time in the land of Judah! King Jehoshaphat learned from the error of his ways and was challenged to seek God. He knew that he and his fellow countrymen had allowed sin to creep back into their lives. Now it was time to turn back to the Lord and seek His face!

Did you also notice that Jehoshaphat himself went out from the palace to turn his people back to God? He felt a personal call to make these positive changes in his kingdom. This was a leader that would lead by example, a sort of, “Do as I say and as I do.”

Many times, we see leaders setting up rules to follow, but those rules don’t apply to them. This was not the case for Jehoshaphat. God had miraculously saved him from death on the battlefield and given him a second chance to be a righteous leader and man after God’s own heart.

Jehoshaphat appoints judges in the nation. He wanted to make sure these were righteous judges who would administer God’s laws. “He told them, ‘Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’” (v 6)

In tomorrow’s reading, Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah will be put to the test! We’ll see how Jehoshaphat handles the biggest crisis of his life!

Questions:

1. Have you had an “about face” where you were headed down a bad path and God helped you turn back? If so, what happened?

2. Why do you think Jehoshaphat wanted to personally lead this effort to turn his people back to God?

3. What would a revival in your life look like for you?