Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.


2 Chronicles 18:1-3

Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.

Today’s title is “Who is your friend”

Jehoshaphat was a godly man. The chronicler rated him very highly. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord. He removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah. He also encouraged the people of Israel to follow the ways of the Lord by teaching the word of God from the book of the Law. He sent out his officials, Levites, and priests around the country to teach people the word of God. “They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people (2 Chronicles 17:9). He was blameless in all these things. God blessed him. God heaped up him with wealth and honor that was flowing from in and out. But there was one issue with him that shadowed all the brighter side of his reign. That was his unwavering friendship with King Ahab of the northern kingdom. He even allied himself with Ahab by marriage. Why did he maintain such an alliance and friendship with the notoriously evil man who worshiped idols and persistently persecuted godly people such as Elijah? Maybe it was Ahab’s hospitality to him as we see in today’s passage. Maybe it was a part of his foreign policy. He probably didn’t want to continue the hostility between the south and north. He might have thought that they were brethren who had the same forefathers. Indeed he said to Ahab who courted him to join in his war, “I am as you are, and my people as your people.” What would you say about such personal commitment of a good man to an evil friend? Would you say that he was such a nice man who showed such a friendship to the evil man? Bible apparently does not. Jehoshaphat might have gained peace with the North by becoming Ahab’s friend. But he gained other enemies. Jehoshaphat might have temporary peace through friendship with evil. But he sowed the seed of much greater conflicts in the future. Going into Ahab’s war to gain and maintain the humanistic favor, he ran the risk of losing his own life. He was barely saved by God who remembered his faithfulness to the Lord. Not only that, he also sowed the greater seed of the conflicts in the future. Who is your friend? Whom are you allied with? We should never the issue lightly. It can make a difference of day and night for our life. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)” . How true?