King Jehoshaphat a Friend to All

 I guess you have probably heard of Wicked Ahab, King of Israel and his Evil wife Queen Jezebel. Elijah was in Israel feeling like he was the only one who still loved God with all of his heart and having contests to prove God is REAL. More real than anyone or anything. Meanwhile the kings of Judah were following God's ways, for the most part. Including a king named Jehoshaphat.

King Jehoshaphat had a fairly peaceful reign. He set up people to teach God's laws and kept law and order in his kingdom. His Dad had fought with the king of Israel, but  Jehoshaphat was a peace-loving guy and figured he'd have a chat with King Ahab. I mean, what could go wrong? They were distant relatives, both descendants of Abraham. In fact, even closer than that! 

So, when King Ahab, (of Israel) invited King Jehoshaphat, (of Judah) to come over for a barbeque, he happily accepted the invitation. And, boy was it a feast! Jehoshaphat and his men feasted on mutton and beef roasted to perfection! At the end of the meal King Ahab invited King Jehoshaphat to join him on his next activity- a battle. Evidently fighting was one of the favorite pastimes of kings in those days. 

"Do you want to come with me to Ramoth-gilead?" the king of Israel asked.

"My men are as your men!" the king of Judah answered like an idiot. 

Of course, Jehoshaphat king of Judah had no way of knowing that King Ahab couldn't be trusted. 

"We can coexist. I have no idea why Dad didn't like this guy. He makes really good steaks!" 

But, the king of Judah hadn't forgotten his God. He politely asked if they could enquire of God before they went to battle, as that was his custom.

"Of course!" the king of Israel agreed as he called in his 400 favorite prophets with pomp and circumstance.

As the crowd of advisors stood at attention, their master asked them a question:

"Shall we go fight against Ramoth-gilead, or not?"

The 400 prophets answered in one accord, like they were robots: "Go up! God will deliver it into your hands!"

Now, Jehoshaphat wasn't as dumb as Ahab thought because he kind of didn't feel right about this. So, he turned to his buddy, the king of Israel, and said, "Umm, that's great, but, is there a prophet of the LORD besides these 400, that we could ask? -just to be sure?"

King Ahab got a bit quiet and everyone in the court kind of held their breath. I mean, the Queen of Israel had gone on a killing spree once killing prophets of the LORD, so it was kind of a touchy subject. 

"Well... there IS one guy." King Ahab admitted "But, I HATE him! He never prophesies good prophecies. He always tells me bad things are going to happen to me."

King Ahab looked sullen and pouty.

"Aw!" The optimistic King of Judah encouraged "Say it isn't so, oh King."

"What are you waiting for?" King Ahab barked at a nearby officer. "Go get Micaiah the son of Imla!"

 [Did you think I was going to say he called for the prophet Elijah? Well, somehow Elijah could never be found when Ahab wanted to find him. He only showed up when Ahab didn't want to find him.]

The two kings sat side-by-side in an open area by the gate of Samaria waiting for Micaiah. They were dressed regally, in their best robes. The 400 prophets entertained them while they waited. 

Zedekiah presented the kings with horns made of iron. "With these horns you will push your enemy until they are consumed!" 

All the prophets agreed. "Oh yes! Amen! Go up and prosper! The LORD will deliver them into your hand!"

Meanwhile the messenger is escorting Micaiah to the plaza:

 "Okay. Here's what is going on," he explained nervously. "King Ahab is surrounded by prophets who are all agreeing that he should go fight, but the king of Judah will only join him if he hears from God, like THE GOD! So, just go in, tell him all is good and you can go home. Let's not make the king mad today. Okay?"

Micaiah said, "As the LORD liveth, even what my God says, that is what I will speak."

The messenger didn't say anything more and soon the prophet of God was standing before the two kings. 

The crowd got quiet.

 The 400 prophets stepped back.

King Ahab, king of Israel, looked at the prophet with forced diplomacy. "Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or should we forbear?"

Miciah matched him by answering what the king wanted to hear. Like a dutiful subject, he robotically answered, "Go up and prosper, your enemy will be delivered into your hand." 

The messenger took a deep breath and smiled. 

The 400 prophets nodded in unison. "Amen! Amen!" they muttered.

I don't know why he did it. Maybe he wanted to prove to his buddy, King Jehoshaphat, how mean the prophet of God was to him, I don't know, but King Ahab looked Micaiah straight in the eye and said, "How many times have I told you to only tell me the truth in the name of the LORD?"

"I saw the army of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd, and I heard God say, 'These have no master, let them all go home in peace." Micaiah boldly answered.

Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you he wouldn't prophesy good about me?!"

A quite lively discussion followed with Micaiah ending up in the dungeon, but I want to focus more on Jehoshaphat in this story, so if you want to know more about that, read II Chronicles chapter 18.

After things quiet down a bit King Ahab smiles at King Jehoshaphat. "So, buddy! You still up for a battle? Hey, I'll let you wear my robe!"

"Sure!" Jehoshaphat says.

So off they go: The armies of Judah and Israel; King Jehoshaphat wearing Ahab's kingly armor; and King Ahab himself disguised as a common soldier. What could go wrong, right? The prophecy said the king of Israel was going to be killed. Jehoshaphat wasn't the king of Israel and, since King Ahab was disguised, he would be fine too! It was a great day to fight!!

The King of Syria talked with his captains as they planned their strategy. "Go capture the King of Israel!" he said. "Don't fight anyone else. I just want him!"

The armies got closer. It was easy to tell who was the king. He had his well-known robes on. The Syrian captains gave the commands and they began to chase King Jehoshaphat, king of JUDAH! I don't know what he said, but he began to holler something, and soon the Syrian army realized this was not Ahab, king of Israel. As they regrouped, some guy was playing around with his bow and shot an arrow at random. It flew out over the army of Israel and struck a man standing on the edge of the battlefield in his chariot. And, with that, the battle was over, because THAT was the REAL King of Israel. He was mortally wounded and the army of Israel was scattered and went home in peace.

 But, we aren't going to Samaria, Israel. We are following Jehoshaphat, King of Judah back home to Jerusalem.

The King of Judah and his men arrive at the city and were greeted by their friends and family. And, who should meet King Jehoshaphat, but his seer (or prophet), Jehu, the son of Hanani. 

"So, we go make friends with just anybody these days, huh? -being all buddy-buddy with people who hate the LORD? Helping ungodly people? Don't you realize you could have gotten yourself killed? God isn't too happy with you right now!" King Jehoshaphat grinned sheepishly. He kind of knew it was dumb, but, it was fun to go hang out with other kings sometimes and talk about kingly things. Yep, that was a pretty stupid thing to do. But, he was home now.

"It's a good thing you have done so much good and your heart is after God." Jehu said. 

Well, Jehoshaphat went back to being a good king. He continued encouraging his people to seek God. He sent judges and Levites throughout the land of Judah to teach the people. He was a very good king. Another altercation came up a few years later and he again inquired of the LORD first! The army of Judah didn't even have to fight! God destroyed the enemy before the day of battle. Judah went in and everyone was dead. It took them four days to gather up all the booty!

I just love the stories of this king! He seems so genuine to me. I laugh when I imagine Seer Jehu coming to meet him and telling him that God was not at all impressed with what he had done. I am in awe of how God defeated his enemies before him! He was a Godly king up until his death!

But, in preparing to write this story, I came across a verse that mentioned his name and my face went white. II Kings 8:18 mentions his son, Jehoram, who reigned after him. He was wicked! He acted more like one of those kings of Israel than a son of David. And, it mentions his wife was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel! Elsewhere we learn her name was, Athaliah. The story of Athaliah is one that I often skip when reading the Bible to small children. She reminds me of someone who would be in a Disney movie. Evil and cruel! That Athaliah was the one who married Jehoshaphat's son and taught him all about her religion. 

I guess Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had no way of knowing, when he accepted that invitation to the barbeque, the corruption that would follow. How could he have known it would be unwise to make an alliance with someone who believed in God AND worshipped Baal? I guess, when he chose Ahab's princess daughter for his son to marry, he had no way of knowing they wouldn't live happily ever after.

But, somehow the scolding seer shaking his finger at the ruddy-faced king doesn't make me laugh anymore. Now I realize it was more than just a narrow brush with death. The God who created time knew what would become of this. This good king, who sought after God with all of his heart, was strong enough to not follow the ways of his friends in Israel, but his kids weren't. Dad's friends became their family and soon both kingdoms were worshipping false gods and killing their own children. And, here I was excited to share this war story with you, where only the bad guy dies. Why did I have to read the next page? Well, the good news is, God's mercy shines through in the end. Righteous ones arise in each generation. There are some who fear God and keep His commandments. And, each person is responsible for their own choices. Even Jehoram had a choice. Blaming the woman has never worked! He should have known better. His Dad had teachers on every street corner. He grew up reading the proverbs of Solomon. Yes, Jehoram knew better. King Jehoshaphat made sure of that. He was a good King, known for seeking the LORD God.

(I have added some words, but they are based on the connotation of the Biblical passage. What is in quotes only means it is spoken by a character in my story. It isn't, necessarily, a literal quote from scripture. Please read II Chronicles 18-19 to get the accurate version.)

The Biblical Feast of the Nations

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the fall rains have already begun. After about three months of hot, dry weather and wildfires, we were suddenly blessed with a nice soaking rain. Day after day of drenching, beautiful rain! The cooler, wetter weather means the Fall Feasts will soon be here, so it is time for me to write about these increasingly popular festivals. 

First comes Feast of Trumpets 

In years past we acknowledged this day many different ways. When my kids were little we ate apples dipped in honey and blew homemade paper trumpets. Some years we had friends over and had shofar blowing contests, made circular challah bread, and squeezed our own grape juice on Trumpets. 

            

Last year my youngest was 10 years old, so none of the little kid crafts, like the paper trumpets, interested anyone. Young adults and big kids, busy with jobs and crazy schedules made it look a lot different from previous years. A relative came over and brought honeycomb. I picked apples off of our tree. We blew our shofars and laughed. It was short and sweet and kept me smiling all day. Later that evening, I stood on the porch by myself in the stillness and took a picture of the moon to share digitally with the kids. It was peaceful and joyous. I realized that meeting with our Creator is the most important. I sang praise songs to Him into the night.

The Holiest Night of the Year

On Day of Atonement we sometimes dress in white, sing songs and read scriptures.

It's strange that, this holy day, was the last one that I began to observe. I wasn't sure what to do on this day. Some years we fasted from something. We would also go to the river with some friends and throw bread into the water and talk about our sins being thrown into the depths of the sea. 

Last year, when Yom Kippur came, I resigned myself to, and even looked forward to observing this day alone with my Savior. I wore my white shirt and took my Bible and a blanket and headed for my favorite spot in the yard. Soon my oldest daughter joined me. It was an amazing experience. I opened the Bible and it just happened to open to something that related to the day. We prayed and sang and read and just sat and listened to the quiet. We felt so clean. Washed. It was a beautiful experience. We felt like burdens were lifted and chains were broken. So often it is in the simple, quiet, unplanned moments that our Creator makes Himself known.

Feast of Tabernacles 

  

For Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, we have gone to Feast of Tabernacle Camp meetings a few times. Some years we build a sukkah on our porch using branches from trees in our yard. Every day we add something to the sukkah to make it more comfy and beautiful. We put pillows and blankets in there and go out there throughout the day to read and snuggle. I fix easy meals, like soup, that we can grab when we are hungry. I love sneaking out there to just breathe for a few minutes throughout the day. In the evening we sit out there as a family and play games and eat snacks. I do a minimal amount of housework that week. We use disposable dishes and eat a lot of finger foods.

Some years we often camp at the nearby river with some friends. During the day each family does their own thing, but we eat dinner together. Each family takes turns being in charge of dinner. In the evening we sit around the fire and talk, play games, discuss scripture and sing songs.

Last year. at Sukkot time, we couldn't get everyone together to camp, or even build a proper booth. We decorated the grape arbor with colorful cloths and a branch in each corner. I set up a little mattress and comfy chairs. I set a waterproof container with snacks and drinks in it out there. My youngest and I went out there to do schoolwork each day. In the evenings, whoever was home would go out there and read a scripture and eat snacks and pray.

My daughter and I embroidered with gold thread on the hanging cloths some evenings. We strung lights up in the grape arbor. At night the light reflected off of the embroidered thread.

One evening I was driving home and noticed all the dark Halloween decorations in our neighborhood. As I reached our driveway I saw the light. The sukkah shone bright with gold and blue and purple. I realized that this October I hadn't felt depressed or sad. I felt warm and hopeful. May we always have light in our hearts, even if we are surrounded by darkness.

This year I want to do more. I didn't grow up celebrating holidays, except Thanksgiving and birthdays. I realize that I have an opportunity to start family traditions that future generations may enjoy. Besides, my middle child asked me to be more organized this year!  So, I better start planning! 

My Plan This Year

It seems like I get a theme each year, even if I don't really do much with it. 

This year, my word is: Nations! 

These feast days look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus. We practice listening for the Trumpet. Ten days later, we think about the Lamb of God and our names being written in the Book of Life. Five days after that begins an eight-day celebration of dwelling in tents, or booths and looking forward to that Last Great Day when people from every tongue, nation, tribe and people, will dwell together in unity! 

If you are honoring these special days this year, please share any thoughts and ideas you have.

May God bless your day!