- Jehoshaphat maybe thought he could get security for his family line by giving many sons fortified cities. Jehoram thought he could get security for the throne by killing his brothers.
- He reigns just eight years and spends the last two with a painful disease. No one mourns his death.
- His family had already been taken away by his enemies. When Jehoram is warned this will happen, we have no record of weeping and mourning and turning to the Lord.
- Jehoshaphat joins a greedy adventure at the end of his life. It ends in failure. Trying to store up more gold for his sons’ future wasn’t going to buy them security. They were about to die. They needed to be taught the fear of the Lord.
- The fear of the Lord was the safety they needed. That would have bought security for the throne. His son doesn’t learn the fear of the Lord. He learns to align himself with Israel.
- God knows the danger we see isn’t the real danger. We have to learn that. The physical world is a distraction from the “real” world. Yes, what we see and hear and feel is really there, but it’s not the truth of the matter.
- The Egyptians chasing the Israelites during the Exodus weren’t the real danger. The Egyptians were never going to get them. The danger was in Israel fearing their surroundings, what they could sense in the physical, and turning back instead of fearing the Lord and following Him to the Promised Land.
- Israel wasn’t in danger when a million-man Ethiopian army came against them. At least, they weren’t in danger from the army.
- The danger was in trusting in themselves or turning to other gods to save them. Their security was in going to prayer and telling God they needed His help.
- Their security was fearing God.
- Jehoram didn’t fear God when he killed his brothers. He didn’t fear God when he set up places of prayer to other gods.
- Jehoshaphat didn’t fear God in placing his oldest son as his heir even though he wasn’t walking in the love and fear of God.
- The things of this world are a distraction from the reality we NEED to be walking in. Our eyes need to be UP. We need our eyes fixed on Jesus, our minds staid on Him, so the things of this world can’t confuse the truth of our reality.
