I’ve was
reading about King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and found he had a pattern in making bad
decisions. Even so, he was a wonderful champion for God.
“The Lord
was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the ways of David and sought not to
the idol Baal; but he sought the Lord God of his father, Asa. He walked in his
commandments and not after the doings of Israel and its kings.” 2 Chronicles 17:3-5
Not only did
Jehoshaphat follow God, but he sent teachers of God’s laws to all the towns of
his realm. God blessed him with riches and honor.
But
Jehoshaphat had a failing in his character. Instead of staying apart from the
evil kings of Israel, he made treaties with them. He allowed his eldest son to
marry the daughter of Jezebel.
One day,
Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat to come and visit. He then asked him to
go to war against the king of Aram. Aram had promised to give the city
Ramoth-gilead back to Israel, but he wouldn’t do it.
Jehoshaphat
said, “I am as you are and my people as your people; and we will be with you in
the war.” Ahab’s false prophets had told
the king he would win the war. But Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet of God, so
they sent for Micaiah. He told them they would lose the war and Ahab would die.
Ahab threw him in prison and they went to battle anyway.
Thousands of
their people died fighting and the battle turned out exactly as the prophet of
God had said. Jehoshaphat barely escaped with his life. When he returned home,
Jehu the prophet met him and said, “Do you help the wicked and love those who
hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. However,
some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land
and have set your heart to seek God.”
Why did
Jehoshaphat help Ahab? I think it was because he considered the people in
Israel his family, which they were by blood. And I think he felt his country was
too small to fight against Israel and other countries so decided to make them
allies. Israel was composed of ten tribes, whereas Jehoshaphat ruled over only two
tribes, Judah and Benjamin. But this showed a lack of faith, for the Bible
shows God doesn’t need a huge army to win a war. He doesn’t need us at all. He
can do it all himself, if we believe.
After Ahab’s
death, his son Jehoram ruled Israel. The king of Moab rebelled at paying taxes
so Jehoram went out to fight them. He asked Jehoshaphat to go with him. You
would think Jehoshaphat would have learned from what happened before, but he
didn’t. He took his army with Jehoram. This battle was won by the hand of God.
After
Jehoram died, his son Ahaziah ruled. “King Jeoshaphat of Judah joined with him Though
they did not go to war together, they went into business building ships to go
to Tarshish. Then Eliezer the prophet went to Jehoshaphat and said, “Because
you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And
the ships were wrecked on the way to Tarshish.
Jehoshaphat
chose his eldest son Jehoram, the grandson of Jezebel, to be the next king. But
he had been taught by his mother to worship idols. He immediately murdered his
brothers so no one else could be king and he taught the people to worship Baal
and other idols which included burning children alive as a sacrifice.
So,
Jehoshaphat was a strong believer in God. He did follow him except in this one
area of uniting with those who did not worship God. But the consequences of his
decisions were, monetary loss, death for his people and then the death of his
sons. He couldn’t seem to see the evil in the kings of Israel nor in his eldest
son.
I believe
his bad choices are in the Bible to teach us what can happen when we ally
ourselves with unbelievers, either through marriage, war or business dealings.
I think God made it clear how he felt about what Jehoshaphat was doing. This
doesn’t mean he wasn’t saved. I believe he was, but it does show the terrible
results of not trusting God enough and making decisions without consulting Him.
So, what is
my Achilles heel? I would say I keep looking to people too much for love and
attention. I have done that all my life and it has caused numerous problems.
When I was a teen, I was desperate for someone, anyone, to love me. This led me
into all kinds of trouble as you can imagine.
This carried
over into adulthood where I made many choices out of God’s will because I wanted
someone to love me. I am learning, slowly but surely, to find all the love I
need in him. And what I like about this is his is a kind of love that never
wavers and never ends; he is always there the moment I need him. People cannot give me the all-encompassing love I want,
but he can and he does.
I’ll leave
you to figure out what your Achilles Heel may be.
