2 Chron 19 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 2 Chron 19:1-11

1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, 2 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. 3 There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.’

4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 6 He told them, ‘Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’

8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the Lord and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. 9 He gave them these orders: ‘You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. 10 In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities – whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations – you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.

11 ‘Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well.’

A. Find Out:

1. Who met Jehoshaphat on his return? v.1,2
2. What was he told? v.2,3
3. What did Jehoshaphat do? v.4
4. What did he do in the land? v.5-7
5. What did he do in Jerusalem ? v.8-11
6. What were his commands in respect of the Lord? v.7,9,10

B. Think:

1. Why was the king rebuked? Yet was good about it?
2. How does the king show his godliness in these verses?

C. Comment:

     This chapter shows us the nature of king Jehoshaphat very clearly. He is, first of all in the chapter, seen as a human fallible king who has stepped out without consulting the Lord and allied himself temporarily with an ungodly king, Ahab, and for this he is rebuked.

     But then we see the good side of this king. Even Jehu the seer (prophet) had to acknowledge that Jehoshaphat had set his heart on seeking the Lord, and that is the crucial issue in all that follows.

    We then see Jehoshaphat’s godly activity. First of all he goes out into the country and appoints judges whose role is to serve God and the people to bring the nation to the standard of God’s people. All is done with the Lord in mind.

    Then, when he returns to Jerusalem , he similarly sets up judges. His instructions are even more specific: “warn them not to sin against the Lord” (v.10). Finally he sets up top officials to oversee everything: a chief priest to administer the spiritual, a tribal head to oversee secular matters, and Levites to act as sub-officials to support them. The purpose of all of this activity is to turn the people back to the Lord.

     We thus see a king whose intent is to establish the southern kingdom under God, yet the reality is that it is an organisational restoration that perhaps lacks heart and the sad result is that “the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers” (20:33).

D. Application:

1. Restoration involves more than organisational change.
2. Restoration needs to include a totally committed heart.