Second Chronicles 17:1-19 and 19:1—20:30 are concerned with the reign of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat strengthened himself against Israel and put forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had taken (17:1-2).
Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of David and did not pursue the Baals, the idols, and removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah. All Judah gave tribute to him, and he had riches and honor in abundance (vv. 3-6). In this record we see a principle that God keeps. This principle is that to whoever behaves before Him God gives rest to enjoy the good land.
Jehoshaphat established the kingdom of God by sending his officials, the Levites, and the priests to teach the children of Judah by the book of the law of Jehovah (vv. 7-9).
Jehovah caused all the kingdoms around Judah to fear Jehoshaphat and give him tribute, so that he grew exceedingly great and built a strong national defense and a great army of 1,160,000 mighty men of valor (vv. 10-19). That means that he was strong and that in his kingship he enjoyed the good land.
Jehoshaphat was rebuked by Jehu the seer for helping Ahab, the evil king of Israel (19:1-3; cf. ch. 18).
Jehoshaphat set up judges throughout all the fortified cities of Judah to take care of the cases of the people. The judges were under Amariah the chief priest in all matters concerning Jehovah and under Zebadiah the ruler of the house of Judah in all matters concerning the king, with the Levites serving them as officers (19:4-11). Here we see a healthy situation. There was a good priest taking care of the worship of God and a good ruler taking care of governmental matters. In addition, the Levites were faithful to Jehoshaphat. In such a healthy situation, Jehoshaphat enjoyed the good land because he feared God.
In 20:1-30 we see that Jehoshaphat defeated the great army of the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir by trusting in Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat set his face to pursue Jehovah and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and all the cities of Judah came to seek Jehovah (vv. 3-4). It was very good that he proclaimed a fast that the people would have a time to pray about their situation.
Jehoshaphat prayed to Jehovah in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem with their little ones, wives, and children (vv. 5-13).
Jehovah answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer through Jahaziel, a Levite. Jehoshaphat and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem worshipped Jehovah, with the Levites praising Jehovah, the God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud voice (vv. 14-19).
The next morning they went to meet the enemy with the encouragement of their king Jehoshaphat: “Believe in Jehovah your God, and you will be established; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed” (v. 20). They went also with the singers giving thanks in holy array before the army. Then Jehovah destroyed and demolished their enemy; and Jehoshaphat and his people gathered the spoil in abundance, more than they could carry, for three days. They came back to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to enter the house of Jehovah. This surely was a triumphant celebration. Thus the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God had given him rest all around (vv. 21-30).
From the cases of the kings covered in this message, we need to learn to be very careful to behave ourselves properly. God is great, but He also cares about all the details. We may be right in big things, but we may be wrong in small things, in the details. We should not think that it is a small thing to be wrong in the small things. In principle, to be wrong in anything, great or small, is a serious matter. In the record of God’s dealing with these kings of Judah, God took every detail of their behavior, even if it was quite small, as a reason to discipline them.