What I Noticed Today (2 Chronicles 19-23)
2 Chronicles 19
In verses 1-3, Jehoshaphat returned home to Jerusalem.
- Jehu, son of Hanani, the prophet, confronted Jehoshaphat telling him that God was not pleased that he had entered into this alliance with Ahab, and now the wrath of the Lord would be upon him.
- However, said Jehu, there was some good in Jehoshaphat; he had removed the Asherah poles and decided to seek God.
In verses 4-11, Jehoshaphat instituted several important reforms.
- He toured the country to bring the people back to God.
- He appointed judges and gave them detailed instructions for carrying out God’s law.
- He also appointed Amariah as the chief priest to judge the people regarding aspects of the Law and Zebadiah to be the judge over civil matters.
2 Chronicles 20
Jehoshaphat defeats the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites.
In verses 1-4, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites came up against Jehoshaphat.
- When he heard about the approaching army, Jehoshaphat proclaimed and fast and sought the Lord (v. 3).
In verses 5-12, Jehoshaphat stood in front of the assembly at the Lord’s temple and prayed.
- He recognized God’s power (v. 6),
- He reflected on what God had done for them in the past (v. 7), and
- He remembered God’s promises for the future (v. 8-9).
- Finally, he summarized the current situation and asked God what to do.
In verses 13-19, all of Judah came out before the Lord, and the Spirit of God told the people not to be afraid as they would prevail in the battle.
- Jehoshaphat and the people fell down before the Lord and worshiped Him.
- The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahazeil, a Levite who gave the assembly an encouraging message from the Lord. He told them the next day they would go to battle, but the Lord would fight the battle for them.
- The assembly worshiped and gave praise to the Lord.
In verses 20-30, the next day Jehoshaphat and the singers led the way to the battle in the wilderness of Tekoa.
Note: Tekoa was 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
- The Lord set an ambush for their enemies, and they were defeated
- When Jehoshaphat arrived at the battlefield, all they saw were the corpses of the enemy.
- They took plunder for three days.
- The people returned home full of joy worshipping the Lord and giving God thanks.
- The terror of God was on all the surrounding nations, and Jehoshaphat had peace because God had given him rest.
In verses 31-34, Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned from Jerusalem for 25 years.
- Although he walked in the way of his father Asa, the high places were not all removed, and the people had not fully turned their hearts to the Lord.
In verses 35-37, Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel, to build ships and go to Tarshish. This upset the Lord, the ships were wrecked, and Jehoshaphat was unable to go to Tarshish.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- What an up and down life! Jehoshaphat did so much that was right in that he restored the people’s worship of God, and took action with judges and Levites to teach the people about worshipping God. Yet in his own decisions about the marriage alliance with Ahab, and the later alliance with Ahaziah he acted against God. The marriage alliance with Ahab became especially hurtful to the people of Israel as we shall see in 2 Chronicles 21. Often what seems like a good alliance turns out to be a disastrous decision when it is outside of God’s will.
2 Chronicles 21
In verses 1-4, Jehoshaphat died and his son, Jehoram reigned in his place.
- Once he had established himself as king, he killed all of his brothers as well as some of the princes of Israel.
Note: Jehoram was the fifth king of Judah. He was a bad king who promoted Baal worship in Judah.
In verses 5-11, Jehoram was 32-years old when he became king, and he ruled eight years over Judah from Jerusalem.
- Jehoram walked in the evil ways of the kings of Israel because Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah was his wife.
Note: Jehoshaphat may have thought that having the marriage alliance with Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, would bring the nation of Israel and Judah back together, but just the opposite happened, Baal worship spread throughout Judah.
- The Edomites rebelled against Jehoram’s rule, as did Libnah (a Levitical city) because he had abandoned God.
- Jehoram built high places and caused the people of Judah to prostitute themselves by worshiping other gods.
In verses 12-15, Elijah, the prophet, sent a letter to Jehoram rebuking him for the same sins as Ahab, the king of Israel, for killing his brothers and leading the people of Judah away from the Lord.
In verses 16-20, when Jehoram failed to repent after receiving Elijah’s letter, the Lord allowed the Philistines and Arabs to attack Jehoram.
- They carried off all of the king’s possessions, wives, and sons (except for Jehoahaz his youngest, only a year old).
- After this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an intestinal disease. He died after two years. He was buried in Jerusalem but not in the tombs of the kings.
2 Chronicles 22
In verses 1-6, after Jehoram died, his son Ahaziah (previously called Jehoahaz) became king when he was 22-years old. Ahaziah’s mother’ was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri.
- Ahaziah followed his mother’s advice and was a bad king doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
- He reigned one year in Jerusalem.
- Ahaziah went with Israel’s king Joram (aka Jehoram) to do battle against Hazael, king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead (see 2 Chronicles 18:34).
- Ahaziah went to Jezreel to visit Joram who had been wounded in the battle.
In verses 7-9, Ahaziah and Jehoram went out to meet Jehu.
Note: Jehu was the military officer the Lord had chosen to be the next king of Israel (2 Kings 9:1-13).
- Jehu killed Jehoram (2 Kings 9:24) and Ahaziah’s brothers.
- Jehu chased after and captured Ahaziah and killed him.
- No one from the house of Ahaziah had the strength to rule the kingdom.
In verses 10-12, Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah killed all the remaining royal heirs, except for Joash who was hidden away in God’s temple by Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter and her husband, Jehoiada, the priest. Athaliah then installed herself as queen ruling over Judah.
2 Chronicles 23
In verses 1-7, in Athaliah’s seventh year (835 B.C.), Jehoiada made a covenant with the commanders and Levites and installed Joash as king.
Note: This was the first of three covenants Jehoiada made.
- Jehoiada gathered the Levites from all of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
- He divided the priests and Levites into three groups. He stationed a third of them at the temple, a third at the palace, and a third at the Foundation gate (aka Sur gate in 2 Kings 11:6).
Note: Jehoiada’s second covenant was between himself, the priests and Levites, and leaders to declare Joash as king.
In verses 8-15, the commanders did everything Jehoiada the priest commanded.
- Jehoiada took the spears and shields from the temple and gave them to the men.
- He stationed the men around the altar and brought Joash, the king’s son and anointed him as king.
- When Athaliah heard the commotion, she realized what had happened and shouted treason!
- Jehoiada then had men capture Athaliah and put her to death at the Horse’s gate to the king’s palace.
In verses 16-21, Jehoiada then made a third covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people.
- They tore down the temple of Baal and killed the priest of Baal.
- Jehoiada then ordered the Levitical priests to assume responsibility for the temple and for offering sacrifices to God.
- Then Jehoiada took the commanders and Joash down from the temple and seated the king on his throne in the palace.
