Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 8, No. 5
“When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you.” (2Chronicles 19:1-2)
Why was the wrath of God on King Jehoshaphat? It was because he helped a wicked man. And who was the wicked man that he helped? It was King Ahab.
According to the story, Ahab once invited Jehoshaphat to join him in fighting against the Arameans over a place called Ramoth Gilead. He did that because Jehoshaphat had visited him. And why did Jehoshaphat visit him? He visited him because he was his in-law. (Cf. 1Kings 22:1-4; 2Chro 18:1-3)
Now is anything wrong with visiting our in-laws? No! On the contrary, it is something that is expected of us, if we take our relationship with them seriously and want it to continue to blossom. So, it was not wrong of Jehoshaphat to visit Ahab as his in-law.But then, Ahab was a wicked man. And it happened that the time Jehoshaphat visited him was the time God had set to judge and kill him.
Yet, in His mercy, He revealed through one of His prophets, Micaiah, to these kings that he had decreed death for Ahab. So, all that Ahab needed to do at that time to escape God’s judgment on his life was to respect and obey the divine revelation he was given. But he would not do that because he was wicked and did not have much regard for the Lord. Instead, he would go on with his plan of going to war against the Arameans, especially since he had the support of his false prophets. (Cf. 1Kings 22:5-28; 2Chro 18:4-27)
Unfortunately, even though Jehoshaphat could see that his in-law was godless and also disobeying a divine revelation, he still joined him in going to war against the Arameans. And if God had not shown him mercy, he would have perished along with Ahab on the battle field. But God showed him mercy and saved him. (Cf. 1Kings 22:29-38; 2Chro 18:28-36)
However, when he came back to his own country, God sent a messenger to him to ask him if it was right to help the wicked or to team up with those who hate the Lord? And did he answer this question or not? We are not told in the account. But we are told that he did not learn much from what had happened to him. That was because he still later made an alliance with Ahaziah, the son of Ahab. He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. And God’s wrath manifested against him, as he had been told before, and those ships were destroyed. So, he lost his huge investment on them. What a shame! (Cf. 2Chro 20:35-37)
Now why was Jehoshaphat being continually dragged into such messy situations? Why was he continually being exposed to God’s wrath, even though he was a godly man? The reason was his marriage ties with the house of Ahab. If he had not been in marriage ties with that family, he would not have found himself helping them to promote their wickedness and so exposing himself to all kinds of danger.
So, if we don’t want to find ourselves helping the wrong people, we need to watch what sort of relationships we get ourselves into. Yes, we may love God and be truly devoted to Him. But as long as we are in certain work, family or neighbourhood relationships, we may find ourselves helping those with us to promote things contrary to the will of God. And that will surely expose us to God’s judgment or satanic afflictions.What, then, do we do, if we are already in legitimate relationships that keep exposing us to God’s wrath or satanic afflictions?
First, we need to continually pray that God, in His mercy, will do the needful about such relationships for us to have peace of mind over them. Second, we must make up our minds never again to help those with us in those relationships to do anything contrary to the will of God. And will that be easy? It may not be easy at all. But it will be easier and better than unduly exposing ourselves to God’s wrath or satanic afflictions.
So, mind yourself.