2 Chronicles 19:4-20:37

What’s Happening?

King Jehoshaphat ascends to Judah’s throne and uses his reign to organize a justice system that guides God’s people to love and obey God’s laws (2 Chronicles 19:4-7). Throughout Judah he commissions judges to mediate court cases according to the guidelines God had written. And inside the capital, Jehoshaphat establishes a similar court system. Members of the priestly tribe and clan leaders are appointed to administer justice according to God’s commands. Finally, Jehoshaphat appoints two chief justices to adjudicate the most difficult cases (2 Chronicles 19:8-11). On the whole Jehoshaphat does even more than David or Solomon to create a system of justice that guides God’s people to love and obey God’s laws.

Immediately, Jehoshaphat’s loyalty to God’s guidance is tested when news of a coalition of three armies, only a two-days’ march away, has come to attack Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 20:1-2). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat calls for a nationwide fast and prays for God’s guidance (2 Chronicles 20:3-4). He reminds God of the victories he granted Joshua when God’s people first occupied their homeland, and how he promised to save his people whenever they cry out for help (2 Chronicles 20:5-9). Jehoshaphat admits he doesn’t know what to do except pray and wait for his help (2 Chronicles 20:10-13). 

Immediately, one of the temple priests stands up and sings a message from God (2 Chronicles 20:14). God tells Judah they don’t need to be afraid. They won’t even need to fight in the coming battle because God will be with them and fight on their behalf (2 Chronicles 20:15-17). So the next morning Jehoshaphat summons his army and they march to the battle line armed only with a song about God’s love enduring forever (2 Chronicles 20:20-21). As they sing, God sets an ambush. The invading armies turn on one another and leave only a field of dead bodies behind (2 Chronicles 20:22-24). Israel plunders the enemy encampment and names the battlefield “the Valley of Praise.” Finally, Jehoshaphat returns to the temple where God spoke to him through song and worships God (2 Chronicles 20:25-28).

The rest of Jehoshaphat’s reign is spent in peace until he partners with the rebellious king of Israel to build a fleet of trading ships (2 Chronicles 20:29-30, 35-36). A prophet rebukes Jehoshaphat for allying himself to a wicked country and God destroys the fleet of ships (2 Chronicles 20:37). It’s a warning to never partner with evil when God is willing to give his people everything they need.

Where is the Gospel?

Jehoshaphat’s sunken trading fleet is not his first doomed partnership with Ahab. He has already lost a war with him. And forebodingly, he has also arranged a marriage between his son and Ahab’s daughter. Each of these partnerships ends in disaster. But every time Jehoshaphat cries out to God he is miraculously rescued. His reign teaches us that God’s Kingdom is not saved through partnerships of power, but simply through trust, prayer, and singing. 

God sent us another King, Jesus, to prove this same point. Jesus was Jehoshaphat’s royal son. And like Jehoshaphat, he was tempted to secure God’s Kingdom through a partnership with Satan (Matthew 4:1-11; John 12:31). But rather than partnering with a wicked ruler to protect God’s Kingdom, Jesus chose to trust God, pray, and sing. God told him that only his death would save his people from their greatest enemies. So, trusting him, he marched towards his certain death on a cross. He sang songs with his disciples on the night he was betrayed. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for strength to obey God’s will. And even while he was dying in agony on his cross, Jesus prayed the book of Psalms (Psalm 22:1). Like God did for Jehoshaphat, he answered Jesus’ prayer, and honored his trust. God raised Jesus from the dead, finishing the psalm he began (Psalm 22:22-25).

This means that you and I can trust, pray, and sing in hope of eternal victory. There is nothing that can separate us from the victory secured by Jesus. But it also means that even graves can become valleys of praise. Even when we lose our battles, we can sing because Jesus has won the war.  

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who rescues his people. And may you see Jesus as the one who obeys, prays, and sings to save us.