THE REFUGE
May the grace of God allow us to look into the pages of holy scripture at a passage that is not hidden from the human eye, but one that could very easily be glanced over. It is a short narrative about a series of events, that merely looking at it from a human perspective, could have been avoided. It is an event that nearly cost Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who was faithful to the Lord, his life. We must understand that every day we’re making decisions based upon certain principles that we’ve come to understand as Christians. There is no doubt, just like King Jehoshaphat, some of those decisions will be made based upon human wisdom apart from the principles that are given to us in the Bible. If we too are not careful, we will find ourselves in a position, based upon those circumstances, that we should’ve never been in the first place.
Earlier in Jehoshaphat’s life he went into battle with King Ahab, a worshipper of Baal, against Syria, to win back the city of Ramoth Gilead. This is a battle The King of Judah should have never engaged in due to the wickedness of Ahab. Nevertheless, he went into battle with the wicked King. In an attempt to defy the Lord, Ahab disguised himself because the Lord had told him through a prophet that he would not return. During the battle, an unaimed arrow that was randomly shot into the air took Ahab’s life. By the providence of God, the King of Judah’s life was saved and the King of Israel’s life was taken.
Sometime later, after the death of Ahab, King Jehoshaphat found himself in a similar predicament, except now it is with Ahab’s son, Jehoram. Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father; nevertheless, he clung to the sins of his fathers and worshiped false idols, causing Israel to continue in sin. Jehoram and already made an alliance with the King of Edom, and then ask Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And Jehoshaphat said, “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” The king of Judah once again found himself leaning on human wisdom without first seeking the wisdom of the Lord.
After a seven day journey the three kings were famished and without water. They had become weak and were now vulnerable to the Moabites. Not knowing what to do Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of?” An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha is here. Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So, the three kings went down to inquire of him. Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother. As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.”
The Lord was faithful to Jehoshaphat and delivered him once again from the evil that he had brought upon himself. As a result, the other two kings were saved as well and witnessed a mighty miracle by the Lord. May we as Christians be sober in mind testing our actions and the motives of our heart to see whether we are truly seeking to honor Christ with every decision that we make. Remember Christian, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.