Book of 1 KingsUddrag

TOTAL TRANSFORMATION Jehoshaphat was one of the Kings of Judah who lived according to God’s way and did what was right before God and followed the ways of his father Asa. God appreciated what Jehoshaphat did.  During his reign, Jehoshaphat reformed the life of the people of Judah back to worshipping the Lord God of their fathers. Nevertheless, the high places where the Israelites gave sacrifices to other gods were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers. Jehoshaphat also allied himself to the king of Israel who acted very wickedly and did not worship the Lord God. Jehoshaphat did not really depend on God but relied on the strength of man. Jehoshaphat’s shortcoming made a big impact to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, did not walk in the ways of his father. When Jehoram was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers and all other princes of Israel with sword. He did wicked things before God.  We learn here that because Jehoshaphat did not settle all the high places to give sacrifices to other gods, it led the people of Judah back to sin. Because he reformed things incompletely, it couldn’t become a strong foundation for his people. The life story of Jehoshaphat reminds us that our spiritual life will impact our family, descendants and community. Spiritual transformation that we experience have to impact our minds and the people around us. As Christians it is our duty to spread the fear of God to our family members and community so that they will worship the real God. When the spirit of the Lord is leading our life, our life will be transformed.