A Family Together
Teams • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsJehosaphat rose above the trechery of King Ahab who followed Jezebel, did the opposite of what he saw in Israel, set his heart to follow God instead of all he witnessed, and God rewarded him with respect, riches, honor, and Joy
Notes
Transcript
King Jehoshaphat
King Jehoshaphat
Finest Ruler in Judah
Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel.
The Hebrew word for the English “Against” is alah, meaning above, upon, or over. The fullest meaning of the word is to ascend.
This indicates that from the onset, Jehoshaphat's intention as King was to rise above the ways of Israel.
2 Chronicles
He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father’s early years and did not worship the images of Baal.
Scripture tells us that Jehoshaphat did not worship the images of Baal. This is interesting because neither his father Asa, nor David, who were before him worshipped Baal. But there was a Kingdom in the North, Israel, led by the notorious King Ahab under the influence of Jezebel who were doing that very thing! Not only did they worship the images of Baal, but they led all Israel into doing the same. King Jehosaphat, had set his heart and the hearts of Judah into rising above the ways of King Ahab and Israel. Because He did...
So the Lord established Jehoshaphat’s control over the kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed.
The people realized the value of his leadership and paid their respect by way of the gifts they gave.
His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.
The Hebrew word for “courageous” is gabbah, and it means to soar or to be lofty, it has the idea that he was flying high! His heart was soaring away to God.
Consider the meaning of the verse in Hebrews...
You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”
Hebrews
Jehosaphat was the living example, the testimony to the validity of this verse, and it is this thought I bring to you today
What does this have to do with a family together… or the concept of teams? I am so glad you asked!