Devotional Moments- I Kings 22:41-50

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Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And the rest of the perverted persons, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land. There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king. Jehoshaphat made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not. And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. Jehosaphat ruled in Judah from 870-848 BC. If one reads a more detailed passage, in II Chronicles, of Jehosaphat’s reign, one will see that he was quite accomplished. He sent teachers of God’s Word into all the nation, he built a powerful army, and he implement judicial reforms just to name a few. God was pleased with many of Jehosaphat’s decisions and actions. We see in both the Kings and Chronicles passages that God blessed Jehosaphat. Yet amidst the blessings, we see that God also punishes this king. Look at this part of our passage, “Jehoshaphat made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber.” Jehosaphat took a great loss because his ships were wrecked before they reached their destination. Sixty-one years before Jehosaphat, before the nation of Israel had split, King Solomon sent ships on the same mission to the same place. All of his ships returned with great treasure. Why would God allow one king to prosper, yet another, with whom He was pleased to fail? If these events occurred today, and we were in Solomons place we would be praising God for his blessings . However, if we were in Jehosaphat’s place, we would be whining to God about how much we had done for Him and how much we had loved Him, yet He allowed our ships to be wrecked. We would want to know why God had allowed or even caused this. Basically, we would blame God. Along with the Chronicles account, we see that Jehosphat had done many things that pleased God. He had a great testimony, a wonderful “Christian” track record. He had done well except for two things: 1. He neglected to tear down the altars to pagan gods. He did not worship or sacrifice there, but he allowed the people to do so if that was their choice. 2. He had made an alliance (a business deal) with King Ahazaiah, son of former King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Sin in the camp affects the whole camp and sin in the camp will always bring about consequences. God reprimanded Jehosaphat and how does he respond? He doesn’t start trying to manipulate God by pointing out all the things that he has done right. He doesn’t make excuses as to why he made this choice. He doesn’t try to debate God and show why the alliance could be a good thing. He doesn’t try to convince God that by aligning with Ahaziah, he could be a witness to him and possible win him to faith. Look at verse 49. “At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with yours,” but Jehoshaphat refused.” King Ahaziah, again, suggested they make a shipping alliance. Jehosaphat did not even consider the option. He simply refused. We will be tempted to compromise. We will be tempted to sin. We will have opportunities to put specific people or things before God. We need to think twice because choosing any way other than God’s will wreck our ships. If you think about it, it is a loving and merciful God who wrecks our ships. Wrecked ships have probably saved many lives from complete destruction.