The links to the Livestream & Sermon notes below:
http://www.gracehouseclinton.com/2020/04/jehoshaphat-following-the-ways-of-god
Following the Ways of God
2 Chronicles 17-19
“His heart took delight in the ways of the Lord.” (17:6)
The northern kingdom of Israel with its headquarters in Samaria knew no godly kings until its destruction. The dates for that kingdom were 922 – 721 B.C. They had one sorry sinful king after another. Jehu was kind of good in that he did the will of God concerning the annihilation of the house of wicked Ahab and Jezebel (2Kings10). Although Israel did have some pretty good prophets (Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea), they were not enough to stem the tide of wickedness carried on by the kings of the north, nor turn them from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin and was the reason it was destroyed.
The southern kingdom of Judah had a few godly kings (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah) in a list of many bad ones, and it had several good prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Malachi, and others). This kingdom lasted from 922 – 586 B.C. Judah would typically go from two or three or more bad kings and then have a good one along the way, followed by another string of bad kings. God had mercy on Judah because of the promises made to David and Judah, and the house of God was there. The Messiah had to come from the line of David and He had to come to Jerusalem, “the city of the great king.” Jesus was born and died in Judah.
Jehoshaphat was one of the few good kings who was the son of a good king. Asa his father left him a legacy and an unfulfilled task of ridding Judah of all its idolatry and teaching the people the ways of the Lord. Jehoshaphat had momentum with him, as few kings in Judah and no king in Israel had.No righteous king ever completed the task of ridding all the high places, much like no king in Israel ever removed the golden calves, or they never eliminated all the Canaanites from the Promised Land. Some did better than others, but nobody ever completely cleaned house. The good kings never got the kingdom all the way back to the way it was under David, who was the standard for godliness and worship for the nations of Judah and Israel. But Jehoshaphat was one of the best kings at doing this. It says of him: “Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals (idols).” (17:3)… to read more click on the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/189242644430048/videos/186779476075081
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