The Rebuke, and the Courts Reformed
1 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2 Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? Because of this, wrath is on you from before Yahweh. 3 Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” 4 Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 5 He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment. 7 Now therefore let the fear of Yahweh be on you. Take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.” 8 Moreover in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites, priests, and heads of the fathers’ households of Israel to give judgment for Yahweh and for controversies. They returned to Jerusalem. 9 He commanded them, saying, “You shall do this in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 10 Whenever any controversy comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you must warn them, that they not be guilty toward Yahweh, and so wrath come on you and on your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11 Behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Yahweh; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and may Yahweh be with the good.”
A king is reproved for the company he kept and credited for what was good in him in the same breath, and answers by rebuilding the courts.
He comes home alive, and a seer is waiting at the gate. Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? Because of this, wrath is on you 2 Chronicles 19:2.
The charge is about association rather than about any act in the campaign. Jehoshaphat did nothing wicked at Ramoth Gilead; he lent his army and his person to a man who had killed prophets, and the loan is the offense.
Then the sentence that keeps this book from being merely severe. Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God 2 Chronicles 19:3.
A rebuke and a commendation are delivered by the same prophet in the same minute, and neither cancels the other. The wrath is real and so is the good, and the man is not reduced to whichever the speaker wants to emphasize. That balance is worth marking, because the alternative — a verdict that must be all one thing — is what makes moral assessment useless.
His response is to go out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim 2 Chronicles 19:4, covering the country as his teachers had done in his third year. A man reproved for an alliance goes back to the work that was praised.
The judicial reform that follows is the most detailed piece of civil administration in either volume, and its charge to the judges is remarkable. Consider what you do, for you don't judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment 2 Chronicles 19:6.
A local magistrate in a country town is told that his court is God's court and that God is present in it. The consequences are then spelled out as attributes to imitate: no injustice, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes 2 Chronicles 19:7. The standard for a human judge is derived from the character of the one he stands in for.
The appellate arrangement in Jerusalem separates two jurisdictions and names the man over each — the chief priest for matters of God, a lay official for matters of the king 2 Chronicles 19:11. Religious and civil cases go to different desks, under one body of judges.
And the instruction to the appeal court is preventive rather than punitive. They are to warn those who come, so that guilt is avoided rather than punished 2 Chronicles 19:10. The last words of the charge are practical about what the job will cost: deal courageously.
settled What this mark means