Jehoshaphat's End, and the Broken Ships
31 So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. He reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 He walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn’t turn away from it, doing that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes. 33 However the high places were not taken away, and the people had still not set their hearts on the God of their fathers. 34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is included in the book of the kings of Israel. 35 After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly. 36 He joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion Geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” The ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
A good reign closes with the same fault repeated, and the ships are wrecked before they can sail.
The formal summary is favorable and qualified. He walked in his father's way and did right; however the high places were not taken away, and the people had still not set their hearts on the God of their fathers 2 Chronicles 20:32–33.
The second clause is the sharper one, and it is about the people rather than the king. A reign of teaching circuits, judicial reform, a national fast and a famous deliverance is assessed at its close by whether the population's heart had moved. The verdict is that it had not.
That is a hard finding and an important one. Everything Jehoshaphat did was worth doing, and none of it was sufficient. Instruction can be delivered to every town in the country and still not be received, and a king cannot set another man's heart.
Then the last episode, and it is the first one over again. Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly 2 Chronicles 20:35. The verdict on the partner is stated before the venture is described.
The venture is commercial rather than military — a shipbuilding partnership for long-distance trade 2 Chronicles 20:36. Nothing about it is idolatrous, and no battle is involved. The objection is the one raised after Ramoth Gilead: the company.
The prophecy names cause and effect without a gap. Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works 2 Chronicles 20:37. And the ships are wrecked in harbor, before a single voyage.
So a man reproved once for an alliance with a house of Israel, who accepted the reproof and reformed the courts of his kingdom in response, made the same alliance again at the end of his life with the son of the same house.
The book records it without a closing judgment on the man. His summary verse has already been given and it is a good one. What the last three verses add is that a fault a person has repented of, been forgiven for, and preached to about, can still be the fault they die making.
settled What this mark means