Avoiding Bad Company
And so I hope you've learned from Jehoshaphat this week, from the way he followed God with full devotion. He sought God's guidance. He relied on God's strength, fixed his eyes on him.
Jehoshaphat’s Bad Alliances
But there's one blemish on his life, and it's that he had a way of making bad alliances with the wrong people. The very last words about him in 2 Chronicles 20 say that later he made an alliance with the king of Israel, “whose ways were wicked”. He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. But then someone prophesies against Jehoshaphat and says, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made” (2 Chronicles 20:36). And it ended up that the ships were wrecked and weren't able to do what they're supposed to do as a result of this bad alliance.
And early in his life, he'd made the same mistake. He made an alliance with another king of Israel, even though a man of God prophesied that it would end badly for them. He went ahead and many people died as a result.
And so a good life, but blemished by some bad alliances that led him astray.
Who Do You Partner With?
Who have you aligned yourself with? Good people? or people who turn you away from God? Jehoshaphat didn’t always make bad alliances. In fact, earlier in the week, we spoke about how he had good men that he sent out to teach God's Word - good alliances.
In chapter 19 he appoints judges of integrity to rule the land - good alliances. And he also appoints some good priests to serve the people - good alliances. But then there were those one or two that dragged him down. Let's learn from him and be careful about who we make alliances with.
Reaching Out But Not Joining Forces
Now, don't misunderstand me. I don't mean consider yourself better than other people and turn your nose up against those who are sinful. Because remember Jesus, he reached out to people in need, even if they were sinful.
But notice, he never made an unholy alliance. He never teamed up with people were set on following ungodly ways. He reached out to those in need and tried to point them to God. But he never teamed up with those who would drag him away from his goal of following God's ways. Jehoshaphat didn't do that. He joined forces with the ungodly people and it caused chaos!
Bad Company
It reminds me of the farmer who one day spotted a flock of crows pulling up his corn and he rushed out with his gun and took a bunch of shots at them. And off they flew and he went down to see how many he’d hit. To his surprise, he'd found that besides killing three crows, he'd wounded his pet parrot, Polly. So he carried Polly home and the kids were so upset - “Who did this to Polly?” And Polly had evidently seen the crows in the field and had left the house because her cage was usually open and gone out to join the other birds. And she'd been among the crows when the farmer fired on them. The farmer said “Polly was keeping bad company, children. Bad company is always dangerous.“
The very first Psalm contains similar words: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.” (Psalm 1:1–2 NIV11)
Don't make the mistake Jehoshaphat did. Choose your alliances wisely so that you can follow God's ways with full devotion.
