2 Chronicles 19
1 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. 3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.”
4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers. 5 Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. 7 Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.”
8 Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, when they returned to Jerusalem.
9 And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: 10 Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11 And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be with the good.”
Pastor Chris Commentary
Verses 1-3
King Jehoshaphat has just come back from a battle with the Syrians he was not supposed to take part in. He was asked, should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? He had allied himself with King Ahab instead of trusting in God. Jehu, the seer gave a word of correction to him and God had mercy upon him. Do we enjoy being with unsaved people more than brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we love those who hate God and participate in their wickedness? If the Spirit of God lives within us we should be very uncomfortable in the presence of those people who hate God.
Verses 4-7
Jehoshaphat did repent in part and brought the people back to the Lord. He appointed judges in every fortified city and charged them to be just and honest not taking bribes and showing no partiality. He also appointed religious leaders who knew the law well so they could work with the local judges giving God’s perspective throughout the land. Are we grieved when we see injustice or do we ignore it and make excuses for it? Do we take bribes, whether literal or in ways that are not monetary. Do we stand up for the orphan, widow, poor and forgotten people when the wicked treat them badly? Do we politely ignore the millions of unborn children being murdered in the womb and refuse to speak up about it at work for fear of being rejected by the ungodly people? We are called to be salt and light just as the judges were called to bring justice to Judah.
Verses 8-11
Part of the King’s repentance was making sure that all the peoples were following the law as God intended. He was wise in appointing many leaders to be judges and arbiters for the people. He appointed the chief priest over all matters of the Lord (religious matters). He appointed Zebadiah over the matters of the King and state. He did this so that they all should fear the Lord and be faithful to God in all things.
In our culture today we are ashamed to say that our political leaders have very little respect for God. Most of them actually mock Him and do things to show that they hate God. Today we have leaders promoting infanticide, child killing before and after birth. They promote the so-called LGBTQ agenda that openly contradicts God’s Word and even states that men can give birth and women can be men with no regard for the biological gender that the person was born with. They make illegal declarations telling Christians when and how they can worship God, when the USA constitution clearly says that the government may not do this for any reason. We must stand up and speak God’s truth to our generation or we fail in our duty as watchmen for all mankind and to the one who saved us from sin and eternal damnation.
Do we believe that God is interested in all things that concern us? Every detail of our daily life is important to Him. I we wake up in the morning and forget the fact that God is waiting to talk with us about the coming day we commit the same error that Jehoshaphat did. He became great in His own eyes. He was proud and disobedient.
When we begin to think we can live life without God’s guidance and help we are being prideful. We may say, I didn’t have time to talk to God this morning. Is it, that we didn’t have or didn’t make time? We should plan our life around having time with God. Remember, our life is not our own. We Christians have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ.
The price we will pay for avoiding or ignoring God is terrible. We will find ourselves in a battle we were not supposed to be in with people who hate God and do not care if we live or die. When this happens, and it will happen, we will say, if only we had sought the will of God He would have saved us from great pain and sorrow.
Who are the judges God has appointed in your life? We should all have faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who can help us when we are not being obedient. When we want to hide and run from God, is there someone in our life who will come and tell us what God says about our disobedience in a loving manner? We Christians are not supposed to be loners. We are part of a family that has many gifted and loving members. We are to help each other grow in grace and wisdom as God Himself sanctifies our lives while we are here on earth in our mortal bodies.
Just as Israel needed judges to help them know God’s will, we need our Christian family to help guide us into all wisdom and righteousness until we see Jesus at His coming to take us into heaven.