Welcome once again to another edition of the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. I went out to dinner with my brother and his wife.
My new job is going well. I am still looking for more work, so please continue to pray for me. In your prayer time this week, please pray for those who are unemployed and looking for work. In spite of what the statistics may show, there are still many people without jobs. Also, continue to pray about the Ebola situation in Africa. Pray for peace in this troubled world.
In last week's message, we looked at four kings who had one thing in common. Each of these men had an encounter with the power of God, yet they would not turn from their wickedness and serve the True and Living God and Him only. Whatever their various reasons, these individuals turned to idols in spite of knowing the truth. So many people do the same thing today. It is a very hard thing for me to understand.
Today, we are going to look at a king who was the complete opposite of the four men we looked at last week. In fact, the king we will look at today is one of the very best rulers in the history of the land of Israel.
Jehoshaphat was the son of another king we looked at named Asa. When Asa died, Jehoshaphat assumed the throne. Jeshoshaphat began his reign well. He rejected the worship of false gods, and he placed his trust in the Living God.
Jeshoshaphat was committed to the law of God. In order to teach his people what God required of them, Jehoshaphat sent Levites throughout the kingdom to instruct people in the ways of the Lord. Jehoshaphat was a strong king, and he was very wealthy.
Then, Jehoshaphat started to go in the wrong direction. Jehoshaphat made an alliance with the evil king Ahab. They decided to go to war against the Syrians. Before the battle, Jehoshaphat did try to inquire of the Lord what should be done. The prophet Micaiah was brought before Ahab and Jehoshaphat. (We studied more about Micaiah a few sermons ago). Micaiah prophesied against Ahab, and Ahab had him throne into prison. Jehoshaphat did not come to the aid of the prophet of God, and he did not heed his warnings. Unless the Lord had intervened, Jehoshaphat like Ahab would have been killed.
When Jehoshaphat returned to Judah, the prophet Jehu confronted him. In 2 Chronicles 19: 2-3 we have Jehu's words that say, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God."
After this, Jehoshaphat set about improving his kindgom. He appointed fair judges to rule rightly and fairly over the people.
Jehoshaphat learned from his mistakes. When the kingdoms of Ammon and Moab came against him, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord this time. 2 Chronicles 20 contains the prayer of Jehoshaphat for aid. The Ammonites and Moabites were defeated.
In all, Jehoshaphat reigned for 25 years. He was a good king. Up to this point, he was the best ruler of God's people since David. As we will see as we continue our study of the kings, he was probably the third or fourth best ruler of Israel or Judah.
So, what do we learn from Jehoshaphat. The first thing that strikes me about Jehoshaphat is his dedication to serving the Lord. He made a decision to follow God early on in his life, and he never wavered from that. He is one of the few kings who did not turn at some point to false gods. Even Solomon would turn from God at the end of his life, but Jehoshaphat remained faithful along with David, Hezekiah and Josiah.
Jehoshaphat did have a bump in his spiritual journey. It is one that affects many Christians. Jehoshaphat got into trouble when he joined with an evil person. Many Christians today do not practice the separation from the forces of this world as they should. I know businessmen for instance who will go into deals with those who do not honor the things of God, and they think nothing of it. In the end, this can only end in trouble for the Christian. The Bible says, "What fellowship has light with darkness." The Apostle Paul also said for the Christian to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
Those who are not followers of Jesus Christ have a fundamentally different outlook on life and a different worldview than Christians do (or should have). Often, close association in business or personal relationships with worldy individuals leads to Christians falling into sin or compromising with the values of this world and casting aside the principles taught by Jesus.
Look at what happened to Jehoshaphat when he compromised with Ahab. Jehoshaphat stood aside while God's spokesman was abused. He did not heed what God's prophet said. As the Scriptures say, "Bad company corrupts good morals." As we will see next week, the same thing happened to Solomon.
The follower of Jesus should stand firm in following the commandments and teachings of Jesus. He is our example. It may cost us some material gain and some friendships, but faithfully following Jesus is well worth it.
Jehoshaphat did learn from his mistakes. When confronted about his sin, Jehoshaphat turned in the other direction.
I would also like to point out another good point about Jehoshaphat's reign. He believed in social justice. He appointed judges who would not be respecters of persons in regard to wealth or power. He believed in equality under the law of the Lord. Rulers today should follow this example. Leaders should promote the values of equality and fairness. They should make sure that the poor are taken care of, and that their people's needs are met. They should be leaders of the 100 percent not the top 1 percent.
Finally, we see that Jehoshaphat prayed and sought the Lord when he needed help. We must be people of prayer. We should follow Jehoshaphat's example of prayer and pray for all of our needs. We should not follow the example of Jeshoshaphat's father Asa who did not seek the Lord in his distress.
Next week, we will look into the life of Solomon. This is a man who I do not understand at all. We will see what we can learn from his life. I will post a verse on Monday. There may be a review on Wednesday. The sermon will appear on Friday or Saturday. May God bless you. Amen.
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