GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 17:1-6
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17:1 His son Jehoshaphat became king after him. He strengthened his position against Israel, 2 he strengthened all the cities of Judah. He placed garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
Jehoshaphat’s reign coincided very closely with that of wicked King Ahab in the north. Jehoshaphat ruled 872-848, and Ahab 874-853, with the two man sharing many years on their thrones at the same time. Ahab is well-known to most Bible readers because of his interaction with the prophet Elijah.
Jehoshaphat’s first acts were military. We can understand the word “strengthened” in verse 1 to mean a supply of more soldiers as well as more bricks or lumber to the fortresses and castles of Judah. We also see that he reinforced the strongholds north of Judah in Ephraim that Asa had captured (see 2 Chronicles 15:8 and 16:6).
3 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways that his father David walked in the beginning. He did not seek the Baals, 4 but he sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not at all like the deeds of Israel.
The word “seek” often appears in Hebrew in the intensive piel stem to show the naturally repetitive nature of seeking something; looking here, there, and everywhere for it. But our prophet does not use the word that way here. He uses the simplest verb stem (the qal) to say, “he did not seek the Baals– not at all.” Instead, he sought after God, the God of his father Asa and of his ancestor David (the one hundredth anniversary of David’s death back in in 970 BC happened in Jehoshaphat’s second year on the throne).
His reign is compared here with the kingdom of the north. He walked in the “ways” of David and according to the commandments of the Lord, and not in the “deeds” of Israel. These three nouns, ways and commandments vs. deeds, are given special attention in the Hebrew text, although translators naturally struggle with how to make the Hebrew text communicate in English. Notice that this is not actually a comparison of whether we are saved by faith or by works, but whether we are saved by God’s path (faith) or by a pagan path: the “deeds of Israel,” which included worshiping the Baals. When modern Christian churches are abandoning Christ as the only way to heaven, and telling pagan religious leaders that being faithful to their Buddhist, Shinto, Muslim, Jewish, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, or other beliefs is somehow acceptable to God, we must speak out and say NO! Christ tells us that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6), and all other paths of faith lead down to hell. If that is offensive, then it is time to offend, in order that some might turn and be saved (1 Corinthians 9:22). For the whole vast sum of the thoughts and plans of God does not and never has allowed for the salvation of those who reject Christ (Jude 1:4).
5 So the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. All Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. He had great wealth and honor. 6 His heart was bold in the ways of the LORD. More than this, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
God blessed the king, and he moved the hearts of the people to bless him with many gifts. The king showed his faith by being “bold” in his heart to the ways of the Lord. This is the verb for “be high, be lofty,” and we see it in the place name Gibeah, which had been Saul’s home (1 Samuel 26:1). So Jehoshaphat’s heart was high and lofty to the Lord, so that he tore down the high places that were not dedicated to the Lord. This was especially true of the shrines to Baal and the Asherah poles or groves. The king was showing his faith with his deeds.
Luther teaches in the Large Catechism: “Search and examine your own heart thoroughly and you will find whether or not it clings to God alone. Do you have the kind of heart that expects from him nothing but good, especially in distress and want, and renounces and forsakes all that is not God? Then you have the one true God.”
Forgive us, Father, for private idolatries and thanklessness. Teach us to look to you alone for everything good, and to praise you with each breath, each look, each thought, each and every act. Let us seek to obey you, to love, and to thank you for your Son our Savior. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 17:1-6 Jehoshaphat