“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”
was not so much a question as it was God’s rebuke to Jehosephat, the King of
Judah “who did what was right in the eyes
of the Lord”. (1 Kings 22:43)
Jehosephat’s “heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord” (2
Chronicles 17:6) and he did so much that was right in Judah . He sent
teachers of the Law to numerous towns so that people’s hearts would turn back
to God. As Judah
became stronger in her relationship with God,
the “fear of the Lord fell on the
kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah
Though Jehosephat personally loved the Lord, it appears that
he regarded his physical, racial relationship to Israel
as more important than the spiritual divide between Israel
and Judah . Because Ahab was a fellow Hebrew, a son of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jehosephat aligned Judah
and Israel
politically by countenancing his son’s marriage to Ahab’s daughter. Through
this marriage, Jehosephat’s son, Jehoram, made Jezebel’s daughter into the
future queen of Judah .
Jehosephat who zealously brought Torah knowledge and
teaching throughout Judah
because he thought it was important for Judah ,
lowered the bar for Israel . Isarel had rejected Jehovah, the God of
Israel, and worship Baal and numerous other pagan deities. Spiritually, Israel
was no longer related to Judah . Yet, Jehosephat chose to align himself
politically with a people who unabashedly defied the God of Israel. Jehosephat took his eyes off of his
relationship with God and instead focused on his racial relationship to Israel .
When Jehosephat took his eyes off of what God called
important, he saw only the physical relationship. That Israel defied God and His statutes
and commandments, did not bother Jehosephat.
At a banquet, Jehosephat told Ahab “
I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.” (2
Chronicles 18:3)
Though God told the kings the outcome of this war,
Jehosephat stood by Ahab. After Ahab was
killed and the battle was lost, God spoke to Jehosephat through Jehu the seer. “Should you help the wicked and love those
who hate the Lord? Because of this the wrath of the Lord is upon you.” (2
Chronicles 19: 2)
Though Jehosephat loved the Lord and served Him, he was
being judged for aligning himself with people who defied God.
This brings me to consider the 2012 election in the United States . The Democratic Party champions abortion, gay
rights, and same sex marriage. This part
of the platform explicitly defies God’s Law. (Exodus 20:13; Genesis 2:20 – 24;
Leviticus 18:22)
The Republican Party platform does not formally embrace
these positions.
Given the formal Party statements, I feel that it behooves
believers to politically align themselves with the political party that
acknowledges and embraces God’s Law. While
most of the time responsibility for honoring God’s Law is the individual’s
response to God, abortion and marriage became national federal law issues. As such, each believer really should align
himself with God in the political arena because God really does care how we
vote.
Again Jehu’s admonition: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate God?”
In spite of how good a King Jehosephat was, God’s wrath was
upon him because he sided
politically against God.
If, as a nation we side with God on these national issues,
perhaps we can avert God’s wrath upon the United States .
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