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

Day 18: What happened to Jehoshaphat?

I love watching movies that are inspired by true events. I must know what happened to the people after the events of the movie! The filmmakers usually show pictures of the actual people and include summaries of what happened to them later in life.

This is the “later” part of Jehoshaphat’s story. Overall, Jehoshaphat was a great God-honoring king. Remember how he started off his 25-year reign in 2 Chronicles 17:6,“His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.” But as we see the “later” part of today’s reading, over time he let things slip and allowed people in his kingdom to put up idols again. “The high places, however, were not removed. And the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.” 2 Chronicles 20:33

Oh boo! It makes you wonder if he got tired of having those high places removed. Or maybe he thought it wasn’t a big problem and didn’t want to address it again. Who knows?

We come to another “later” time in Jehoshaphat’s life which shows he made a poor decision. He struck up an alliance with King Ahaziah, the son of the late wicked King Ahab who almost got Jehoshaphat killed in an earlier battle. Ahaziah was a bad dude, just like his dad, and yet started a ship construction business with him. Never does it say that he consulted with God on if he should make this deal. And guess what happens? All the ships were wrecked. Hmmmm. Wonder if God allowed that to happen to get Jehoshaphat’s attention? This is a great reminder, seek God first in EVERYTHING you do just like Matthew 6:33 tells us!

“Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.” 2 Chronicles 21:1

I don’t want to end his story on a sour note, but it is noteworthy that in the summary of this great and God-fearing king, we see where he failed to seek God on a pivotal decision which ended in a failed business venture. This also happened after he had such a major victory in battle beforehand.

So what can we learn from Jehoshaphat? You will have spiritual victories and mountain top experiences in life, but you will also have low valley experiences as well. The reminder is to ALWAYS fix our eyes on God and seek Him daily in every situation in life. Never get too big for our britches that we don’t think we need to ask God about a decision we are making. Oh, and sin can creep in at any time if you let it. It sometimes comes very gradually and before you know it, you have a “high place” of idol worship in your life that you’ve allowed. When you’ve discovered you’ve allowed a sin back in your life, confess it to Jesus. Repent and turn from that sin.

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss how you can put on the armor of God for those daily battles in your life.

Questions:

1. Is it surprising to you that Jehoshaphat still made some wrong choices after having won such a spiritual battle?

2. Do you think the ships being wrecked was God’s way of protecting Jehoshaphat from going further with that alliance?

3. Are there any “high places” in your life that you haven’t tried to take down? If so, talk to God about them today!