King Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), son of king Asa, of Judah, was a good king, He followed the example of King David’s earlier days and did not serve the Baals. He sought the Lord God and followed His commandments carefully. The Lord blessed him and established his kingdom. Jehoshaphat removed the high places and the Asherah poles. He also sent his officials and the Levites to teach the people the book of the Law of God. He grew greater and greater and built fortresses and store cities in Judah.

When Moab and Ammon came to make war against king Jehoshaphat and Judah, he depended on the Lord and led his people to trust God, resulting in the routing of the enemy and a great victory by the hand of God.

But king Jehoshaphat made one major mistake; he allied himself with king Ahab of northern Israel. He must have known that king Ahab was a worshipper of Baal and his wife was the notorious Jezebel. Why did he take such a step? Perhaps, he thought it was a wise political move, securing peace with Israel and securing peace with all the neighbouring countries as well. He depended on his political acumen and assessment, ignoring the possible serious spiritual dangers that might follow. He probably saw no major problems in this move as long as he himself followed the ways of God closely.

How wrong he was! King Ahab persuaded him to join him in the battle against Ramoth-Gilead and he consented. Although he was sceptical of the prophecies of Ahab’s prophets, and requested for a prophet of God, he still went along with king Ahab even though Micaiah, a prophet of God, prophesied against this venture. He was naive enough to allow Ahab to disguise himself while he himself wore his royal robes. King Jehoshaphat nearly got himself killed, save for the intervention of God.

His alliance with Ahab caused him to arrange a marriage for his son Jehoram with a daughter of king Ahab, Athaliah. His son, Jehoram, killed all his siblings after ascending the throne. It was a common practice in northern Israel for a new king to kill all the other contenders, including siblings but the practice was generally unheard of in the southern kingdom, Judah. King Jehoram probably took the cue from his wife Athaliah who brought along all the evil ways of Israel with her. When Jehoram’s son, Ahaziah, was killed, along with Ahab’s son, by Jehu, it was the same queen Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, who seized the throne and killed all the other royal offspring of the house of Judah except for Joash who was hidden by his auntie. It could have been the end of the line of king David in Judah if queen Athaliah was successful in eliminating all the royal offspring. This could not happen if king Jehoshaphat did not ally with king Ahab in marriage. What was thought to be a wise political move could have ended in a very serious outcome, not to mention the king Jehoshaphat’s near escape from death in the battle at Ramoth-Gilead.

King Jehoshaphat was rebuked by the prophet of God for acting wickedly in making an alliance with king Ahab and subsequently also with Ahab’s son, king Ahaziah. The ships he made with king Ahaziah were destroyed and broken by God who was displeased with this.

Judah’s subsequent involvement with the worship of Baal and Asherah probably had its root in the marriage alliance of Jehoshapat’s son and Ahab’s daughter. Athaliah was, in all probability, greatly influenced by her mother Jezebel in the worship of Baal and idols.

It is sad that a good and godly king like king Jehoshaphat has been responsible in some ways in introducing idolatry to Judah and it all began when he allied himself with king Ahab.

This holds important lessons for us. We may love God and serve Him but we must be mindful not to compromise our faith and our faithfulness to God by embarking on wrong relationships and unhelpful associations. We may think that it is wise to establish good networking and some of us are inclined to be friendly with everyone and to please them in the hope of securing a good reputation among many. This may generally be alright but we must be discerning in this. Close relationships with various ones or various groups that end up with us being negatively influenced rather than influencing others positively for God may spell disaster for our spiritual lives and ministry.  The evil one can dress as an angel of light and he is very capable of sending various ones into our lives who appear to be positive but are actually snares for our lives.