Jehoshaphat's Reign and Alliance with Israel

The event

Jehoshaphat is remembered as a king who "walked in the earlier ways of his father David," and he backed that devotion with action: he sent officials, Levites, and priests throughout Judah's towns carrying the Book of the Law to teach the people. Under his rule Judah grew strong, wealthy, and respected by neighboring nations.

Jehoshaphat's weakness was his alliances with the northern kingdom of Israel, sealed by his son's marriage to Ahab's daughter Athaliah. He joined King Ahab in a disastrous campaign against Aram at Ramoth-gilead — surviving only because the enemy realized late that he wasn't the king they were hunting — and later partnered with Ahab's son in an ill-fated trading fleet. Each time, a prophet warned him plainly about allying with the wicked, and each time Jehoshaphat took the warning to heart, even if the entanglements had already been made.

Jehoshaphat's finest hour came when Moab, Ammon, and others massed against Judah: rather than muster an army first, he called a fast and prayed before the whole assembly, and the Lord routed the invaders while Judah's choir sang praises at the front of the march. It's one of Scripture's clearest pictures of victory coming through worship and trust rather than military might.

Dating

Thiele dates Jehoshaphat's coregency with Asa from 872 BC and his sole reign to 848 BC.

Scripture references

• 1 Kings 22
• 2 Chronicles 17-20