And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.
Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king in his father's place when Asa died. Asa died in the forty-first year of his reign after suffering a severe disease in his feet that began in his thirty-ninth year, during which he sought help from physicians rather than from the Lord. Jehoshaphat made his kingdom strong against Israel by stationing forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and placing garrisons in Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa had captured.
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of David his father, refusing to seek the Baals but seeking the Lord God of his fathers and walking in His commandments rather than following the practices of Israel. Because of this faithfulness the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him gifts, so that he gained abundant riches and honor. His heart was uplifted in the ways of the Lord, and he removed the high places and groves from Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, including Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethaneel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah, and they went throughout all the cities with the book of the Lord and taught the people.
The fear of the Lord fell on the surrounding kingdoms, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. His early reign was a religious revival marked by earnest effort to understand God's requirements and to reduce transgression. The same determined effort to walk in the fear of the Lord and to live lives that convince unbelievers of the power of Christ's grace is expected of God's people today at the close of earth's history.
Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king in his father's place when Asa died. Asa died in the forty-first year of his reign after suffering a severe disease in his feet that began in his thirty-ninth year, during which he sought help from physicians rather than from the Lord. Jehoshaphat made his kingdom strong against Israel by stationing forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and placing garrisons in Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa had captured.
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of David his father, refusing to seek the Baals but seeking the Lord God of his fathers and walking in His commandments rather than following the practices of Israel. Because of this faithfulness the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him gifts, so that he gained abundant riches and honor. His heart was uplifted in the ways of the Lord, and he removed the high places and groves from Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, including Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethaneel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah, and they went throughout all the cities with the book of the Lord and taught the people.
The fear of the Lord fell on the surrounding kingdoms, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. His early reign was a religious revival marked by earnest effort to understand God's requirements and to reduce transgression. The same determined effort to walk in the fear of the Lord and to live lives that convince unbelievers of the power of Christ's grace is expected of God's people today at the close of earth's history.