2 Chronicles 19

2 Chronicles 19:1

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on 2 Chronicles chapters 10 to 36 www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 19 Jehu’s *prophecy – 2 Chronicles 19:1-3 v1 Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. v2 The *prophet Jehu, son of Hanani went out to meet him. He said to the king, ‘You went to help evil people. You love those who hate the *LORD. Because of that, the *LORD is angry with you. v3 However, you have done some good things. You removed the *Asherah poles from this country. And you have tried to obey God.’

Verse 1 The battle of Ramoth in Gilead was the end of the war. Ahab was dead. The attack by the two kings had failed, and their armies had gone home. The people from Aram did not continue the fight into *Israel and Judah. The *LORD saved Jehoshaphat from the possible results of his bad decision to go with Ahab. So, Jehoshaphat returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem.

Verses 2-3 Jehu, son of Hanani went out to meet Jehoshaphat. Hanani was the *prophet who had met with King Asa about 50 years earlier. Asa had asked for help from the people from Aram when he should have asked for help from the *LORD (16:7-8). Hanani told Asa how the *LORD would punish him. About 35 years before this meeting with Jehoshaphat, the *LORD sent Jehu to Baasha king of *Israel. Baasha had done evil things, as Jeroboam had done before him. Jehu told Baasha that the *LORD would kill his family (1 Kings 16:1-7).

Now the *LORD sent Jehu to Jehoshaphat. The *LORD was angry with Jehoshaphat because he had gone to help Ahab. Ahab hated the *LORD and he did not *worship him. It was a serious error to make an agreement with Ahab. Jehoshaphat should not have made such an agreement.

But Jehoshaphat pleased the *LORD by the good things that he had done. He had removed the *Asherah poles. And he had tried to obey God. Jehoshaphat desired to be loyal to the God of his *ancestors. Jehoshaphat appoints judges – 2 Chronicles 19:4-11 v4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. But he went out to the people, from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim. He brought the people back to the *LORD, the God of their *ancestors. v5 He appointed judges in all of the country. He appointed them in each of the strong cities in Judah. v6 He told them, ‘Be careful what you do. You are not judges for people but rather you are judges for the *LORD. He will be with you when you make a decision. v7 Now let each of you be in fear of the *LORD. Be careful what decisions you make. The *LORD our God is always right and fair. He does not make decisions because of respect for particular persons. He does not accept gifts to change his right decisions.’

v8 Also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed judges. Some of them were *Levites, priests, and leaders of *Israelite families. They should make judgements about the law of the *LORD. They should settle problems that people had with each other. And they lived in Jerusalem. v9 Jehoshaphat ordered them, ‘Do this because of your fear of the *LORD. You must be loyal to the *LORD.

You must serve him with all your heart and with all your mind. v10 People who live in the cities will bring their legal problems to you. These problems may be about deaths. They may be about what the law teaches. They may be about difficulties with the commands of God, about his rules or about some other law. In all of these problems, you must warn the people not to *sin against the *LORD. If you do not warn them, God will be angry with you.

And he will be angry with your people. But if you warn them, you will not be guilty. v11 Amariah, the chief priest, will be over you in all matters of the *LORD. Zebadiah, son of Ishmael, the leader of the *tribe of Judah, will be over you in all matters of the king. Also, the *Levites will serve as officials for you. Act with courage. I pray that the *LORD will be with good people.

That is, with those people who do right things.’

Verses 4-7 Jehoshaphat went to every part of his *kingdom. He went from Beersheba in the extreme south to the mountains of Ephraim in the north. He went to the people to persuade them to *turn back again to the *LORD.

As he went, he appointed judges in each city. He gave to them serious and necessary advice. He told them that they were not responsible to any man. They must not give special benefit to any person. They were responsible to the *LORD who was with them. They had to know and to apply the law of the *LORD. The *LORD is the chief judge and he is their judge.

As judges, they must serve the *LORD well because of their fear of him. They had to be careful to do what is right. They must not accept gifts that might affect them in their work.

Verses 8-10 Jehoshaphat appointed judges in Jerusalem. These judges were *Levites, priests and heads of families. They were the judges in the chief court in the *kingdom. They were specialists in the law of the *LORD. Their job was to settle all problems that people had with each other, by their knowledge of that law. These judges lived in Jerusalem.

This chief court had two divisions. The first division was for the Law of Moses. The second division was for all other matters.

Then Jehoshaphat gave instruction to the judges. First, he told them that they must be loyal to the *LORD. And they must serve him with all their hearts and with all their minds. This is good advice for all who trust in the *LORD.

Then he talked about the kinds of problems that they must deal with. People from the cities would bring to them the legal problems that were too difficult for the local judges. Also, there would be all kinds of other problems for them to solve. But in all these matters, they must warn the people not to *sin against the *LORD.

Verse 11 There were two presidents over the courts in Jerusalem. Amaziah was the chief priest. He was the president over the first division of the court. He was responsible for all that was in the Law of Moses. Zebadiah was responsible for all matters that the second division of the court had to make decisions about. There were *Levites who served as officials on behalf of the judges.

In all their responsibilities, they should act with courage.

© 2010, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2010

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var w1 = new Array;w1[0]=’<b%3Ekingdom</b%3E ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.’;w1[1]=’<b%3Eprophecy</b%3E ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes false prophets tried to speak a prophecy.