Thursday
Today we turn our attention to Ahab’s counterpart in Judah, King Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat is a good king for the most part. But lets find out where he goes wrong.
He follows his father’s good examples by following the One True God and encouraging the people to follow by providing religious training. For most of his life, Jehoshaphat was deeply committed to God, but (and there’s that word again) he also made some mistakes. He aligned himself with King Ahab and forms a treaty with him to go against Aram at Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat does remember that before they go to war against Ramoth Gilead that they should seek God’s counsel and so they call in 400 of Ahab’s prophets. Pretty sure these guys were hired by the king to tell him only what he wanted to hear. Again Jehoshaphat asked for a real prophet of God. (perceptive man). Micaiah, son of Imlah is called in against Ahab’s wishes because “he never prophesies anything good about me.” What a whiner. Anyway, Micaiah responds at first in a sarcastic way (vs 14), but then he tells him what God truly showed him. They would not be victorious if they go to war against the Arameans. Well, Jehoshaphat should have realized what happens when you make deals with the devil (Ahab). They lose, Ahab is killed and God reprimands Jehoshaphat for his faithlessness.
When we seek the Lord’s advice, we should be willing to do what He tells us and not only listen for what we want to hear but listen to what God is truly telling us. Jehoshaphat will suffer the consequences of his actions, but because he continues to follow God, all is not lost. We too may have to suffer the consequences of our actions, but God can and will bring us back to him and will carry us through our trials.
Praising God that He is a Forgiving God
Pastor Kathy