a conspiracy of priests

Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, "Long live the king."
2 Chronicles 23:11

This was a coup d'etat led by a conspiracy of priests. But it was all proper and good. Joash was the only surviving member of the Davidic royal line. The wicked queen Athaliah had seized control of the throne in Judah. She quickly moved to wipe out all the Davidic line, but Joash was hidden in the temple as a baby, just yards from the palace where the pagan queen usurped the throne.

Really, the irony in this story is amazing. Athaliah lived in treachery and ruled with tyranny. Yet she was so pagan that she never set foot in the temple of God which stood adjacent to the royal palace in Jerusalem. She never attempted to destroy the temple (perhaps it stood as too strong a symbol of ethnic identity). So while she raged against God and abused Judah, God was quietly working his plans against her as Jehoida the high priests raised the infant prince in the secure secrecy of the temple. There young Joash was kept alive and instructed in the Law of God.

When the priests finally had enough political momentum to confront Athaliah, Joash was just a mere child of seven. But the day came where the priests armed themselves and the people assembled at a convocation to crown young Joash in coronation. With great dramatic irony, Athaliah runs to the scene only to cry out "Treason"! But she is met with the swords of the temple guard. She is executed and young Joash is placed back on the throne of David in Jerusalem. This combination of human bravery, planning, and sovereign divine providence led to poetic justice. I love it when God makes His plan come together!

while evil reigns

And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
2 Chronicles 22:12

wicked queens, wicked kings
doing all their wicked things
what's a righteous soul to do
while evil reigns? evil reigns

they fill their hands with wicked things
those wicked queens and wicked kings
and the land is filled with iniquity
while evil reigns... evil reigns

O my God, save us all
restore your people from this fall
it is on You our hopes now call
change our hearts... save us now!

wickedness and greed it brings
fill lives with suffering
we bide our time, pray and sigh
while evil reigns... evil reigns

hidden away with secrecy
is salvation from this misery
God ends oppression with irony
when evil reigns... evil reigns

O dear Lord, bring forth the day
when You save us by Your grace
as in You we see the King
Who vanquished sin and death. We sing!

let our God reign! let our God reign!

bad leadership... permanent spiritual disability

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 21:6

Jehoram was a leader. He had tremendous influence. But he used his influence for evil. And in just eight years of his reign, Judah went from a faithful covenant nation to a pagan immoral nation. He led the nation to abandon the faithful worship of the Lord.

Jehoram's leadership was evil because he selfishly sought to hold his power. He had all his brothers killed so that they could not evoke memories of his father's faithfulness to God. The text says that they were better men than he was (2 Chronicles 20:13). And God was very displeased with Jehoram's casual disregard for their lives.

He was easily swayed to worship Baal and the false Canaanite gods that Israel had come to follow. He married Ahab's daughter and quickly adopted the idolatry of his wife's people. He aggressively instituted idolatry in Judah. But his unfaithfulness to God with the love of these new gods gained him nothing. Judah lost political power. Nations that Jehoram's father had subdued rose up and broke away from Judah's rule. Threats again emerged to the safety of Judah when the nation was uprooted from the spiritual security of their covenant with Yahweh.

Jehoram was warned by Elijah that these actions would lead to a painful tragic end of judgment (2 Chronicles 20:12-15). And he died slowly and painfully from an intestinal disease in which his bowels finally emerged from his body. He died unmourned by the nation that he had led. But his idolatry remained as a loathsome legacy. Tragic ungodly leadership leaves a painful and permanent stain on a culture.

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.

"O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."
2 Chronicles 20:12

I have always thought that Jehoshaphat's prayer in this chapter is one of the most realistic moments of insight into prayer. The king convenes a special day of prayer in the temple. Judah assembles to seek God in response to a massive coalition advancing on Judah from the shores of the Dead Sea. Four different ethnic forces have combined an army to invade Jerusalem. And it catches the king unprepared. The invading force is so massive that he knows Judah does not have any military advantage. But they have a spiritual one... and so they pray! And it is a prayer throwing the nation upon God in absolute trust.

Jehoshaphat recounts God's past protection of His people. The king rejoices in the good blessings that God has recently given. He puts his trust only in God and acknowledges the helpless condition of Judah. And that last phrase is one that often joins our hearts when we pray honestly: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

God answers immediately. In the convocation, God's Spirit delivers a message telling Judah to march to meet the force to see what God will do. They obey by marching down to the Dead See wilderness, singing of God's faithful covenant love as they go. There they see a victory only God can give. The mighty force arrayed against them was actually a fragile mixed ethnic coalition and it fell apart. A fight broke out among the armies and instead of attaching Judah they annihilated one another. Not a soldier was left alive to attack God's people. For three days Judah plundered the dead bodies of the warriors they never had to fight. They trusted in God. God fought for them. God rewarded faith when it was all that was left!

the next generation of godly leaders

Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 19:4

King Jehoshaphat was serious about following the LORD and leading the nation to obedience to God's Law. He set up judges in Jerusalem and throughout the land with clear instruction on how to follow the Law and honor the lord in their decisions. He was serious about these reforms. He knew that if his leadership as king was going to successfully turn Judah to God, it would require godly leaders under him. So he spent considerable time and effort developing these judges. All of 2 Chronicles 19 shows the process that he took to raise up good leaders and instruct them in following the Lord as they led God's people.

This is the way to leave a spiritual legacy. Jehoshaphat was convinced of it. It changed his generation. It brought stability to Judah. It turned people to the Lord.

The need to do this is all the more vital in this day and age. It is one reason why in my current season of ministry I am convinced that any impact I will have will be in the discipling of leaders. I am also aware of my time fading... fast. I am almost 50 years old. At best I have a decade left for my most fruitful ministry. If it has gone as fast as the last ten years have... well, I just shudder thinking about life's brevity.

It is time for me to find the next generation of leaders and prepare them so that I can pass the baton to those who will faithfully continue to run the race. I am so glad Mill Creek has identified and developed a year long internship program to meet this challenge. I am fortunate to have helped develop it from its earliest inklings. And I have been blessed the last 3 years to have taught biblical counselors in training at Calvary Theological Seminary. Just this last month I saw the first graduates I have taught leave to start their ministries. I pray that God will bless these men and women that He is raising up to lead the next generation!

faithful to the message

But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak."
2 Chronicles 18:13

This is an interesting account of God's sovereign work. It is one of the significant moments when a king in Israel is detailed in 2 Chronicles. And the only reason is because this was also a significant event in the life of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. It came about because of a political expediency.

Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Ahab through marriage. And the king of Judah traveled to Samaria to celebrate this with Ahab. While there, Ahab tries to convince him to go into a military campaign against Syria. And we get insight into Ahab's spiritual condition at that time. Ahab has 400 prophets at his disposal. It is important to take note that they are referred to as "his" prophets. And they tell him victory against Syria is a sure thing. They are not the Lord's prophets. They are Ahab's prophets.

Jehoshaphat insists to hear from a prophet of Yahweh. Micaiah is summoned. He eventually warns Ahab that he will die in this battle. The cost of this prophecy for Micaiah was imprisonment. But Micaiah stayed true to the word that God had given him.

In the end, God is proven right. Ahab is killed in battle even though he tried to disguise himself and divert attention to Jehoshaphat as the king in command. Jehoshaphat is miraculously delivered by God in spite of his foolish compromises. And the words of Micaiah are proven true... faithful to the message of God.

seeking the Lord

The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.
2 Chronicles 17:3-4

What led to the success of Jehoshaphat was his unwavering commitment to seek God and live by His commandments. This gave him the necessary personal fortitude of character to lead Judah. He kept the covenant and led the nation in the worship of Yahweh. And Judah was blessed as a result of this.

The text comments upon the obedience of the king. Jehoshaphat "walked" in the way that David did. He showed by his life that God was his God. And that visible commitment helped show the nation how to live according to the covenant. He refused to seek the idols that beset Israel. Instead, he sought after God by living by God's commands.

In Jehoshaphat I see three things that led to God's blessing on his life:
1) He walked according to his godly heritage. He honored the God that David worshiped.
2) He sought God personally. He made his relationship with God his very own.
3) He lived out his faith. He did not just pay lip-service to Yahweh. He practiced what the Law said.

These three things set Jehoshaphat apart to God and apart from idolatrous Israel to the north of Judah. These things led Judah to enjoy the blessings of the covenant. They show us how to seriously seek God.