2 And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went to King Jehoshaphat and said to him, Is it right for you to go to the help of evil-doers, loving the haters of the Lord? because of this, the wrath of the Lord has come on you.
But Hezekiah did not do as had been done to him; for his heart was lifted up in pride; and so wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
And the word of the Lord came to Jehu, son of Hanani, protesting against Baasha and saying,
(In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.)
And they gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.
Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me? My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
If you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you.
If anyone comes to you not having this teaching, do not take him into your house or give him words of love: For he who gives him words of love has a part in his evil works.
But if we were true judges of ourselves, punishment would not come on us. But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.
Because the mind of the flesh is opposite to God; it is not under the law of God, and is not able to be:
Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother,
For there is a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against all the wrongdoing and evil thoughts of men who keep down what is true by wrongdoing;
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, but I have no love for him, because he has never been a prophet of good to me, but only of evil: he is Micaiah, the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;
If I make sharp my shining sword, and my hand is outstretched for judging, I will give punishment to those who are against me, and their right reward to my haters.
Let your blessing, O Lord, be on his substance, may the work of his hands be pleasing to you: may those who take up arms against him and all who have hate for him, be wounded through the heart, never to be lifted up again.
And the Lord sent his word against Baasha and his family by the mouth of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, because of all the evil he did in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath by the work of his hands, because he was like the family of Jeroboam, and because he put it to death.
So Zimri put to death all the family of Baasha, so that the word which the Lord said against him by the mouth of Jehu the prophet came about;
(There was no one like Ahab, who gave himself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moved to it by Jezebel his wife.
You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.
Your hand will make a search for all your haters; your right hand will be hard on all those who are against you.
<To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm. A Song.> Let God be seen, and let his haters be put to flight; let those who are against him be turned back before him.
We are burned up by the heat of your passion, and troubled by your wrath. You have put our evil doings before you, our secret sins in the light of your face.
My son, if sinners would take you out of the right way, do not go with them. If they say, Come with us; let us make designs against the good, waiting secretly for the upright, without cause; Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death; Goods of great price will be ours, our houses will be full of wealth; Take your chance with us, and we will all have one money-bag: My son, do not go with them; keep your feet from their ways: For their feet are running after evil, and they are quick to take a man's life. Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird: And they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves. Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 19
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
We have here a further account of the good reign of Jehoshaphat,
2Ch 19:1-4
Here is,
2Ch 19:5-11
Jehoshaphat, having done what he could to make his people good, is here providing, if possible, to keep them so by the influence of a settled magistracy. He had sent preachers among them, to instruct them (ch. 17:7-9), and that provision did well; but now he saw it further requisite to send judges among them, to see the laws put in execution, and to be a terror to evil-doers. It is probable that there were judges up and down the country before, but either they neglected their business or the people slighted them, so that the end of the institution was not answered; and therefore it was necessary it should be new-modelled, new men employed, and a new charge given them. That is it which is here done.