II Chronicles
Chapter 12
Lessons from the Reign of King Jehoshaphat
King Jehoshaphat’s Second Chance
II Chronicles 19
2 Chronicles 19:1 “And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.”
For the good leader, what you do when you don’t have anything to do is what will make you a great leader. It is during the time of peace and prosperity that really good leadership character is needed! Leading when you don’t have to lead because of a crisis, will prevent a lot of crises! This is where king Jehoshaphat excels.
As a review, please learn these steps to follow when there is a time of peace and prosperity. When all the bills are paid, you have money in the bank, you are healthy, and have time, is when the preparation should be done. All the successful, good kings detailed in 2 Chronicles used these things to prosper and continue to prosper:
Set up Defenses
Train others
Prepared for battle
Build, not for show, but for necessity
Save
Most importantly, get closer to God!
King Jehoshaphat continues what he had started. The job becomes more difficult because of his friendship with king Ahab. Notice that it didn’t seem to affect him much but shows up in his family and his followers. Often you can recover from bad leadership mistakes, but they always have an effect on your family and followers. They, many times, see your decisions as the right thing to do and imitate your mistakes, and greatly increase the results! This is what happens to King Jehoshaphat.
In 2 Chronicles 19, he does some very good things, but there is a hint of his mistakes affecting the nation.
This chapter in his life starts with God reminding him of his mistake and forgiving him!
2 Chronicles 19:2 & 3 “And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, 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.”
He accepts God’s judgement on him and continues to serve God. When you make a mistake, the thing to do is return to God. I have found God to be very merciful and forgiving. When I have sinned, He has always forgiven me! When I have reaped, He has always given grace to help me through it. Here God reminds him of his failure in loving and helping God’s enemies. God is also mad at him! Notice how he is reminded of his good qualities and deeds. So he goes back to seeking the LORD and taking away the groves.
This is the hint of how his sinful mistake affected his followers. They continued to build the groves and worship the idols. In fact, 2 Chronicles 18:4 shows us how fast people will fall back into sin if they are not led by the right type of leader, the shepherd who cares about the sheep! It is a never-ending job of leadership. That is, getting people right with God and keeping them in His fellowship!
2 Chronicles 19:4 “And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.”
He also continues in the leadership job of organization by delegation. The purpose of letting others make decisions and oversee things is a leadership character trait that is hard to teach. For some reason, some leaders feel that they must make all the decisions. It is hard for them to realize that other people may be smart, maybe smarter, than them. It is hard to realize that some are closer to God than they are! The right kind of delegation will train others to be good leaders.Often a person will only succeed if given the opportunity to make the decisions and then sink or swim! A person must either experience failure or success based upon his own decisions to really become a great leader. That is what Jehoshaphat was good at. He uses this time, and the failure he experienced. He started appointing the right kind of judges.
I am convinced that having the right kind of judges, especially in the United States, will determine the destiny of the nation! Please see the section on Good Government for a lengthy description of good judges.
2 Chronicles 19:5 “And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,”
A good leader will understand that he can’t be everywhere at once and that more will be done if he gets other people making the decisions and doing the work. A good judge that has these characteristics will increase the righteousness in the land and will allow others to follow God!
The Character of Judge must be initially evaluated. Also, judges should not be appointed for life, but evaluated often to make sure they have maintained these characteristic good qualities. Bad judges need to be removed and eliminated. The qualities that are stressed here are good qualities of judges:
The judge must believe in God and know that the things he does , not just what he says and thinks, affects his judgement. His good testimony is essential!
2 Chronicles 19:6 “And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.”
The next verse gives the important things to look for in a judge.
II Chronicles 19:7 “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”
“…fear of the LORD…” – A healthy fear of God is important. A judge should be afraid that God is watching and will judge him for what he judges!
“no iniquity” – Refraining from sin.
“no respect of persons” – This is essential! A judge cannot make a judgement based upon “who” the person is. He must judge on whether he broke the law or not!
“nor taking of gifts” – A judge cannot be a covetous man that will be corrupted by what is given to him! It should be illegal to reward or bribe a judge!
King Jehoshaphat did a good job in establishing judges to provide stability and let “the rule of law” be the standard. The establishment and fair practice of the law allows for honest, hardworking people to prosper.
Many things can’t be solved with the civil court. Most major problems people have are the result of personal sin, morals, and character flaws. King Jehoshaphat realizes this and brings in the spiritual help that the country needs:
II Chronicles 19:8-11 “Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.
And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass.
And, behold, 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 shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.”
Note very carefully the purpose of the church, or as here, the priests:
“…for the judgment of the LORD…” – The priest’s job was to educate the people on what God thought about things!
“…and for controversies…” – They were there to help people learn doctrine and “get along” with each other.
Notice also, that they were charged with finding leaders that feared the LORD, were faithful, and had a perfect (complete) heart! These are the kind of pastors that are needed to bring the people of the nation back to God!
People that know God and know that He will judge them aren’t law breakers but actually are good citizens!
