T g 1,2. Invasion. Made and reported.
h 3. Fear of Moab. Jehoshaphat.
i 4. Assemblage. To seek Yahaveh.
k l 5-13. Prayer.
m 14-17. Prophecy. Given.
k l 18,19. Praise.
m 20-25. Prophecy fulfilled.
i 26-28. Assemblage. To bless Yahaveh.
h 29. Fear of God. The kingdoms.
g 30. Invasion. Repelled.
799 B.C.
2 Chronicles 20)
1 It came to pass after this also, (i.e. after Ahab's death [2 Kings 3:5]) that the son of Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, "There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi."
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to to seek counsel of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood (on the platform provided for such purposes as this [2 Kings 11:14; 23:3) in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, (The court of the priests, built by Solomon [4:9; 15:8])
6 And said, "O Lord God of our fathers, are not You God in heaven? and You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? (Dan. 4:34,35) and in Your hand (the words of David were accessible to Jehoshaphat [1 Chron. 29:12]) is there not power and might, and there is none able to withstand You?
7 Are not You our God, Who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham Your friend for ever? (3 times so called: here, Isa. 41:9, quoted in Jas. 2:23. Cp. Moses [Ex. 31:11])
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built You a sanctuary therein for You name, saying,
9 'If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Your presence, (for Your presence is in this house,) and cry to You in our distress, then You will hear and help.'
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, (the Edomite Mehunim) whom You would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; (Cp. Deut. 2:9)
11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of Your possession, which You have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will You not judge them? for we have no might against this great rout that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon You."
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, (probably Ps. 83 written at this time) came the Spirit of the Lord (i.e. spiritual power from Yehovah) in the midst of the assembly;
15 And he said, "Hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the Lord to you, 'Be [he] not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16 Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, (cp. Ex. 14:13) and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.' "
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
19 And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall you prosper."
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the Lord, and that should praise in His glorious sanctuary, as they went out before the army, and to say, "Praise the Lord; for His loving-kindness (or grace) endures for ever."
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set liers in wait (angelic powers) against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the apparel, and precious jewels, which they raked-together for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, (= blessing) to this day.
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.
29 And a great dread of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
819-794 B.C.
31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu (cp. 19:2) the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah (in the 20th or 21st year of his reign. Cp. 1 Kings 22:51. "After" this wonderful deliverance. "After" the solemn warning of 19:2. "After" his experience in 18:31) join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, (this is the 3rd alliance [Commercial]. See 18:1. Great emphasis is laid on these words by their repetition in vv.33 and 37) who did very lawlessly: (This is added to show that the reason against such an alliance was just as strong with Ahaziah as with Ahab.)
36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: (this was prior to the similar event recorded in 1 Kings 22:48,49, where he made [himself] "Tarshish ships to go to Ophir". Ahaziah again sought to implicate Jehoshaphat. But he failed in the attempt, for we there read "Jehoshaphat would not" [v.49]. And the ships "did not go", for they were "broken" [v.48].) and they made the ships in Eziongaber.
37 Then Eliezer (sent by Yahaveh, just as Jehu had been sent [19:2]) the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you hast joined yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken your works." And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.