19:22 Chronicles 19:2

The words belong to what followed the battle at Ramoth-gilead, in which Ahab was shot by an arrow and died at evening and a proclamation went throughout the host for every man to go to his own city and to his own country.PK 196.2 As Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem from that disastrous joint battle with Ahab and approached the city, Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him.PK 196.4+1 He rebuked the king for helping the ungodly and loving those who hate the Lord, declaring that therefore wrath was upon him from before the Lord.PK 196.4+1

The rebuke was for Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab, an ungodly king who hated and opposed the Lord, including joining him in battle, and that alliance brought the Lord's wrath upon him.PK 196.3+1 Jehoshaphat had heard warning that the campaign was not favored by Heaven, yet he went into battle because he had promised Ahab his support and was reluctant to withdraw.PK 196.1 Alongside the rebuke, good was also recognized in him, that he had removed the idols and groves from the land and had prepared his heart to seek God.PK 196.3+1

Afterward the later years of his reign were spent strengthening the national and spiritual defenses of Judah and going out among the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim to bring them back to the Lord God of their fathers.PK 196.4 The verse warns against helping and supporting those who oppose the Lord, including strengthening someone who hates God and acts in opposition to those seeking to serve Him.Ms 80, 1904, par. 41–43+1 That warning applies to familiar associations and the choice of close friends.SCE 22.1+2

Christians should prefer and seek the company of people who love God and obey His commandments rather than cultivating close ties with the irreligious, the disloyal, and the non-Christian.SCE 22.1+2 True Christians do not choose non-Christians as their companions, nor help the ungodly or love those who hate the Lord.Ms 49, 1893, par. 27–29 God can place someone in a special position among unbelievers and sustain that person through temptation, as He sustained Joseph and Daniel, but deliberately choosing companions who love darkness rather than light is perilous and not a safe or wise course.SCE 22.1+1