2Ch 17:1-6 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. (2) He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. (3) The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals (4) but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. (5) The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. (6) His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
Pastor Chew mentioned his book Is Life Worth Living?
Pastor Chew told us this is the 10 time God sent him to talk to us in DUMC.
Obedience is better than sacrifice. It’s absolutely fine to give to God. However, one thing the enemy will tempt us not to do is to be obedient. Even partial obedience (which is partial disobedience) is not acceptable to God.
The Life of Jehoshaphat
1. The Early Years
Total obedience (2 Chron 17:1-9)He followed the LORD (v3.) As a result, God gave him great wealth and honour (v5.)
He sent the Levites to teach the LORD’s Words.
2Ch 17:7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben- Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah.
2Ch 18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.
v18 is the turning point – Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab, an evil king. Why did he join forces with Ahab? Perhaps to become more powerful and more influential. Was it necessary? Such desires and alliances will make them lost focus on God.
It’s not how we start, ultimately, it’s how we end. Sometimes we rationalize obedience, putting grand and altruistic reasons behind what we are doing.
First principle – in our success, never forget it was God who blessed us. In the midst of our success, it is so easy to forget and start to think we are the reason we made it.
2Ch 18:4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the LORD."
Jehoshaphat was not totally disobedient. He spoke like a follower of God. He wanted to seek God’s counsel.
“Can DUMC take my message?” Pastor Chew. “Can, then are a mature audience.” His wife.
We need to remember that anything we do must honour God.
Pastor Chew said as a senior pastor, he stands for absolute. He will not call grey white.
Pastor Chew said the biggest fight he has is against success, against hubris. Many people started speaking for God but later they speak as God.
“I’d rather be a fool for God rather than to be successful without Him.”
Principl 2 – never stifle the ‘Good of God’ (tub dabar) on the inside of us.
2Ch 20:9 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'
2. The Middle Years
Partial obedience ( 2 Chron 18:1-34)3. The Later Years
Total obedience (2 Chron 19:1 to 20:30)4. Next generation
Partial obediencePrinciple 3 – our partial obedience will cause us not to end well and may even have a negative impact on our children.
2Ch 21:1,6 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. … (6) He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
Jehoram again aligned himself with the house of Ahab. Where did he get it from? His father Jehoshaphat.
2Ch 21:16-20 The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. (17) They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king's palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest. (18) After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. (19) In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no fire in his honor, as they had for his fathers. (20) Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one's regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
We want to go beyond finishing well and crossing the finishing line – we want to leave a good legacy. We want the next generation to be blessed because they obey God.
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