Ahab inherited the throne of Israel from his father Omri during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. Asa reigned for forty-one years and was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, who assumed the throne during the fourth year of King Asa of Israel. At first we will find Jehoshaphat fortifying the kingdom of Judah against any attacks from the kingdom of Israel but at some point early in his reign he made an alliance with King Ahab with marriage between his son Jehoram and Ahab's daughter Athaliah. This alliance explains why we will find both these kings fighting together against Aram in 1 Kings 22.
After the death of King Asa of Judah, the author of 2 Chronicles tells us, "Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured." (2 Chronicles 17:1-2)
Jehoshaphat is faithful to the Lord. As a result, the Lord blesses him. "The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed His commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah." (2 Chronicles 17:3-6) In 1 Kings 22:43 we'll see it stated that Jehoshaphat did not remove the high places but this is not a contradiction. In one passage of the Bible it was said that Jehoshaphat's father, Asa, did not remove the high places but in another passage it says that he removed the foreign high places. I think the same thing occurred during Jehoshaphat's reign: he removed the foreign (idolatrous) high places but left the high places where offerings had been made to the Lord.
"In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nathanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. With them were certain Levites---Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah---and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people." (2 Chronicles 17:7-9) Not only did Jehoshaphat study the word of God and strive to live by it, but he made the word of God available to all the people so they could live by it too. The word of God is very effective. Not everyone who hears it will accept it but many who hear it do. That's what happens in Judah during the reign of Jehoshaphat.
"The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts of silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks; seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats." (2 Chronicles 17:10-11) The surrounding nations saw how the Lord was bestowing great prosperity upon Judah and it caused them to be afraid of tangling with Judah's God. A God who can prosper His people mightily can also defend His people mightily.
Is this why King Ahab gave his daughter in marriage to Jehoshaphat's son? Was he afraid that Judah's king would become so powerful that he would attack Israel and prevail? The way the marriage alliance is described in 2 Chronicles 18:1 makes it sound as if Jehoshaphat initiated this arrangement: "Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage." However, it could be that Ahab proposed the alliance because Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor---in other words, because Ahab felt threatened by the prosperity of the king of Judah. Whatever the reason for making an alliance between the son of a godly king and the daughter of an idolatrous king, it won't be a good thing for Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat. Jehoram will be an idolater, perhaps due to the influence of his wicked wife, and he will have his own brothers put to death due to a fear that they will conspire together to usurp the throne. I couldn't find any indication in the Bible that there was any evidence of such a conspiracy but evil people often suffer from paranoid fears that others are out to get them. You'll recall King Saul's paranoid fears that David would lie in wait for him somewhere to kill him, although David never had any intention of doing such a thing.
"Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah and had large supplies in the towns of Judah. He also kept experienced fighting men in Jerusalem. Their enrollment by families was as follows: 'From Judah, commanders of units of 1,000: Adnah, the commander, with 300,000 fighting men; next, Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; next, Amasiah son of Zikri, who volunteered himself for the service of the Lord, with 200,000. From Benjamin: Eliada, a valiant soldier, with 200,000 men armed with bows and shields; next, Jehozabad, with 180,000 men armed for battle. These were the men who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout Judah." (2 Chronicles 17:12-19) This is an impressive army and the numbers given here do not include the soldiers stationed all over the nation.
No wonder King Ahab gives his daughter in marriage to the king of Judah! Because of this alliance he will request the military help of King Jehoshaphat in our next study session.
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