PARTNERSHIP with UNBELIEVERS can lead to COMPROMISE!
May 7
Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles Chapters 16-18
PARTNERSHIP with UNBELIEVERS can lead to COMPROMISE!
Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in
abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab. After some years he
went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance
for him and the people who were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. So Ahab king of
Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me against
Ramoth Gilead?" And he answered him, "I am as you are, and my people
as your people; we will be with you in
the war." (2 Chron. 18:1-3)
Jehoshaphat
was a godly king of Judah who walked in the commandments of God (17:3). He was
delighted to serve God and removed all the high places and wooden images from
Judah (v. 6). So God established his kingdom, and as added blessings he got
riches and honor in abundance (v. 5). He promoted teaching of God’s laws
throughout the land through his leadership team and the Levites (vv. 7-9).
Jehoshaphat and the kingdom of Judah became so powerful with fortresses,
storage cities, vast properties and mighty men of valor (vv. 12-13) that their
neighboring kingdoms were afraid of making war with them.
In contrast
with his early years, Jehoshaphat came under God’s curse because he ignored the
prophetic warning and made an alliance with Ahab, the wicked king of Israel
(18:1) through the marriage of his son Jehoram to Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah
(21:6). This alliance led to Jehoshaphat’s involvement in battle as an ally of
wicked Ahab of Israel against Syria (see I Kings 22:1–38). Although Jehoshaphat
was more spiritual than Ahab, he was drawn into a war with Syria as a result of
this “unequal yoke” of partnership,
and this eventually led to compromise and disaster (2 Kings 11:1). This
incident has been written later as an admonition to the people of God, even for
today (1 Cor. 10:11–13).
King Jehoshaphat’s
life is aptly described in Psalm 1:1–3. He walked in the right counsel (17:3),
he delighted in God’s ways (17:6), and he was fruitful in his service, sharing
the Word with the people (17:7–9). He practiced the fear of the Lord, so he was
protected by the fear of the Lord. But Jehoshaphat allowed his son to marry
from the wrong family and then joined with the wrong allies who forced him to fight
the wrong war, and he almost came to the wrong end of his life journey. By
walking “in the counsel of the ungodly”
and “sitting with the scornful”
(18:9; Psalms 1:1), Jehoshaphat found himself in serious trouble.
Let us
listen to God’s admonition that we should not be “yoked together” with unbelievers as our partnership with them will
eventually lead to compromise in our lives!
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (2 Cor 6:14-16)
