2 Chronicles 19 Study Notes

19:1-3 Jehoshaphat was able to return safely to Jerusalem where he had to face God’s evaluation of what he had done. Just as Asa, his father, had been greeted by the prophet Hanani, now Jehu son of . . . Hanani scolded Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. It was wrong for Jehoshaphat to team up with a king who was not a worshiper of Yahweh. But because Jehoshaphat was a good king who had gone further than any other in purging the land of idolatry, he would not have to face serious judgment as his father did.

19:4 Another difference between Asa and Jehoshaphat is that Jehoshaphat did not turn against the prophet who had declared God’s anger to him but resumed his reforms.

19:5-7 In appointing regional judges, Jehoshaphat reminded them of two things: that God would be watching them, and that God was the model for impartiality. Jehoshaphat was not merely pragmatic in his governing but led the country in spiritual matters as well.

19:8-11 Jehoshaphat also carried out judicial reform in Jerusalem. Some of these judges were Levites and priests and thus were accountable only to the Lord. Their supervisor was not the king but Amariah, the high priest. They would serve as an appeals court for the regional judges. Zebadiah . . . the ruler of the house of Judah, along with the Levites, was to be the final authority in cases that involved the king himself.