Judah's King Jehoshaphat
Ahab's reign along with his accomplishments including his ivory palace are recorded in the historical books of the kings
He rested with his fathers and his son Ahaziah became king in his place Israel never had a resurgence after Jeroboam’s sin
Both Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah have already been introduced as characters in Ahab's chronicles in Israel
Now we encounter Jehoshaphat in a narrative place of his own in the city of the kingdom of Judah
He was the son of Asa and began his reign in Judah in the fourth-year of king Ahab of Israel
And was thirty-five years old when he became king and reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem
His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi he walked in the ways of Asa father
He did not turn from what was right he removed the male cult prostitutes that remained was a good king as Judah prospered
However the high places were not taken away the people still sacrificed on them and he made peace with the king of Israel
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold but did not go for the ships wrecked at Ezion-geber
At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab tried to convince him to rebuild merchant ships again but he was not willing
For the prophet Eliezer had warned against his alliance with Ahab’s family but he did not listen so God destroyed the vessels of sailing
These were not glory days at the height of Israel's summit as in the days of Solomon
So he did not benefit from the fleet of ships he built for Israel and Judah were not unified these now were days of humbling
These accounts of history can be cumbersome as they vacillate between Israel in the north and Judah in the south
First and Second Kings record history taking place in the kingdom of Israel and characters of Judah are introduced with only details throughout
The period of the divided kingdom detailed blessings for obedience and curses for rebellion and sin
Emphasized were kings who led people in righteousness and were blessed and triumphed against all odds and prospered again
And kings who were evil were punished as prophesied and so were the people the kingdom suffered as well
Israel had no good kings to counteract the bad ones so their spiral downward was faster and their kingdom was the first that fell