2 Chronicles 17

CHAPTER 17

Jehoshaphat King of Judah (17:1–19)

1–6 Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, was basically a godly king, as his father had been during the early years of his reign. But like his father, Jehoshaphat made some spiritual compromises later on in his reign by trusting in human alliances rather than in God alone. Like Asa’s reign earlier,Jehoshaphat’s reign was characterized by success and blessing when he was faithful to God but by defeat and punishment when he was not.

Jehoshaphat opposed the worship of the Baals and removed the Asherah poles, the symbols of the goddess Asherah (verses 3,6); the Baals and Asherahs (or Ashtoreths) were the pagan deities worshiped by the Canaanites (Judges 2:10–13; 3:7). In addition, according to verse 6, Jehoshaphat removed the high places where the Canaanites worshiped; toward the end of his reign, however, he was unable to keep his own people from worshiping there (1 Kings 22:43; 2 Chronicles 20:33).

The modern reader may wonder at the repeated references to the “high places.” Even godly kings like Jehoshaphat and his father Asa did not fully remove the high places (see 1 Kings 15:14; 2 Kings 12:2–3). They removed all other objects of pagan worship and followed the LAW faithfully in all other respects, but they neglected this one thing. These high places may have been on distant hills—out of sight and out of mind—yet they were not out of the sight and mind of God.

Many of us may have some “high places” in our lives—areas of disobedience, areas of our lives that we have not turned over to God. God notices; God cares. One day He is going to ask us why we have not removed these “high places.”

7–19 In these verses, the writer describes how the fear of the LORD⁶ fell upon the nations surrounding Judah (verses 10–11), and how, at the same time, the Lord made Jehoshaphat more and more powerful (verses 12–13). One reason the Lord blessed Jehoshaphat was this: he sent his officials—together with priests and Levites—to teach in the towns of Judah (verses 7–9); they taught from the Book of the Law⁷ (see Deuteronomy 31:24–26). Jehoshaphat’s action reminds us that spiritual renewal among people grows out of a knowledge of God’s word; any renewal or revival that is not based on God’s word will be short lived and have little lasting effect.