The Heart of Reformation Text: 2 Chronicles 17:3-6
Introduction: The Antithesis is Everything
We live in an age that despises distinctions. Our culture is laboring with all its might to erase every line that God has drawn. They want to blur the line between man and woman, between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, and ultimately, between the creature and the Creator. This project is nothing less than a full-blown rebellion against the created order, an attempt to return the world to the primordial state of tohu wa-bohu, formless and void. The great lie of our time is the lie of synthesis, the lie that says we can have a little bit of Baal and a little bit of Yahweh, a little bit of the world's wisdom and a little bit of God's Word.
But the Bible knows nothing of this. The Bible is a book of antithesis. It is light versus darkness, truth versus lies, the seed of the woman versus the seed of the serpent, the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of man. There is no middle ground, no negotiated settlement, no demilitarized zone. You are either for Christ or against Him. You are either gathering or scattering. And so it is with nations. A nation, like an individual, either seeks the true God or it seeks idols. It either walks in His commandments or it walks in the ways of the pagans. There is no third way.
The story of the kings of Judah is a relentless outworking of this principle. The Chronicler is not just giving us a dry historical record. He is teaching us theology by means of history. He is showing us, over and over again, the stark contrast between faithfulness and apostasy, and the inevitable consequences of each. The history of Judah is a rollercoaster of reformation and rebellion, of blessing and judgment. And in King Jehoshaphat, we find a potent example of what happens when a leader understands the antithesis. He understood that you cannot serve two masters, and a nation cannot have two gods. His early reign stands as a vibrant case study in the anatomy of a true reformation.
What we find in these few verses is the divine formula for national health. It is not about economic policy, or military might, or clever diplomacy, though those things have their place. The central issue, the determinative factor, is always theological. Does the nation fear God? Does it obey His law? That is the only question that ultimately matters. And Jehoshaphat, at least in the beginning, got the answer right.
The Text
And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, walked in His commandments, and did not act as Israel did. So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. And his heart took great pride in the ways of Yahweh, and again he took away the high places and the Asherim from Judah.
(2 Chronicles 17:3-6 LSB)
The Foundation of Blessing (v. 3-4)
The passage begins by stating the ultimate reason for Jehoshaphat's success. It was not his political skill or his military acumen. It was the presence of God.
"And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, walked in His commandments, and did not act as Israel did." (2 Chronicles 17:3-4)
The phrase "Yahweh was with him" is the greatest commendation any man can receive. It is the secret to all genuine success. But notice, this is not an arbitrary or unconditional presence. God was with him for a reason, a "because." The blessing was conditioned on Jehoshaphat's obedience. This is the essence of the covenant. God promises His presence and blessing to those who walk in His ways. This is not works-righteousness; it is the simple reality of covenantal cause and effect. Obedience does not earn God's favor, but it is the necessary pathway in which that favor is enjoyed.
His obedience is described in four ways, two negative and two positive. First, negatively, he "did not seek the Baals." The Baals were the Canaanite gods of storm and fertility. Baal worship was a foul mixture of idolatry, sensuality, and materialism. It was the state religion of the northern kingdom of Israel, and it was a constant temptation for Judah. To "seek the Baals" meant to look to them for prosperity, for rain, for children, for security. Jehoshaphat refused this. He understood that syncretism is just apostasy in slow motion. You cannot baptize Baal and call him Yahweh. He chose a side. He embraced the antithesis.
His second negative act of obedience was that he "did not act as Israel did." The northern kingdom had become the gold standard for apostasy. From the days of Jeroboam, they had institutionalized false worship with their golden calves and their non-Levitical priesthood. They were the cautionary tale, the example of what happens when a people forsakes the covenant. Jehoshaphat set his face like flint against this path. He refused to follow the compromised, culturally-accommodating path of his northern cousins.
Positively, what did he do? He "sought the God of his father." To "seek" God means more than just a passing thought. It is a determined, active, whole-hearted pursuit. It means orienting your entire life, and in his case, his entire government, around the reality of the one true God. It means going to God for wisdom, for direction, for help. And secondly, he "walked in His commandments." Seeking God is not a mystical, emotional experience. It is a rugged, practical, ethical obedience. It is about submitting your feet to the path that God has laid out in His law. True revival is always marked by a return to the Word of God, not just as a source of comfort, but as a book of statutes to be obeyed.
The Fruit of Obedience (v. 5)
Verse 5 shows us the direct results, the tangible consequences, of Jehoshaphat's covenant faithfulness.
"So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor." (2 Chronicles 17:5 LSB)
The word "so" or "therefore" is crucial. It connects the blessing directly to the obedience. Because Jehoshaphat sought God and walked in His ways, Yahweh established his kingdom. This means He made it stable, secure, and strong. In a world of constant political intrigue and military threat, this was a profound blessing. God Himself was Jehoshaphat's security detail.
This internal stability led to external signs of prosperity. "All Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat." This was not burdensome taxation; it was the willing tribute of a loyal and prosperous people. When a king honors God, the people are blessed, and they in turn honor the king. This is the opposite of the tyrannical model, where a godless ruler must extract wealth from his people by force. Here, righteousness produces prosperity, which overflows in joyful loyalty. The result was that "he had great riches and honor." This is not the prosperity gospel. This is the covenantal promise of Deuteronomy 28. God promises that when His people obey Him, He will bless them in their basket and their store, and set them high above all the nations. God is not against wealth and honor; He is against seeking them apart from Him.
The Engine of Reformation (v. 6)
Verse 6 takes us from the external results of reformation to the internal motivation. It shows us the heart of the man who led it.
"And his heart took great pride in the ways of Yahweh, and again he took away the high places and the Asherim from Judah." (Genesis 1:3 LSB)
This is a fascinating and crucial phrase. "His heart took great pride," or was "lifted up" in the ways of Yahweh. This is not the sinful pride of arrogance. This is a holy zeal, a courageous confidence, a joyful boldness in the things of God. Jehoshaphat was not ashamed of the law of God. He did not apologize for it. He gloried in it. He saw the ways of God not as a restrictive burden, but as the source of life, wisdom, and strength. This is the engine of all true reformation. Reformation is not driven by timid, half-hearted men who are embarrassed by the stark claims of Scripture. It is driven by men whose hearts are on fire with a holy pride in the truth of God.
And what does this holy zeal produce? Action. "And again he took away the high places and the Asherim from Judah." The high places were centers of idolatrous worship, often blending Canaanite practices with a corrupted worship of Yahweh. The Asherim were sacred poles, symbols of a pagan fertility goddess. They were the visible architecture of apostasy. Jehoshaphat's father, Asa, had begun this work, but it was incomplete. Idolatry is like a stubborn weed; you have to keep pulling it up. Jehoshaphat renews the effort. He understood that true worship requires the removal of false worship. You cannot simply build a temple to Yahweh and leave the altars of Baal standing next to it. The civil magistrate has a duty to suppress public idolatry, to protect the true worship of God from being corrupted and profaned. This is not a matter of private conscience; it is a matter of public covenant. Jehoshaphat's heart was lifted up in God's ways, and so he brought God's ways to bear on the public life of his nation.
Conclusion: The Non-Negotiable Antithesis
The lesson of Jehoshaphat's early reign is a stark and simple one. God blesses covenantal faithfulness, and He curses covenantal rebellion. There is a direct, unbreakable link between a nation's theological commitments and its temporal prosperity and security. When a people seeks the true God and walks in His law, God establishes them. When they seek the Baals of secularism, materialism, and sexual rebellion, He brings them to ruin.
This is not complicated. It is the A-B-C of biblical political theory. And it is a lesson our own nation has forgotten to its great peril. We have become a nation that seeks the Baals. We look to the state for our salvation, to technology for our prosperity, and to sexual license for our fulfillment. We have erected high places and Asherah poles in our public squares, in our universities, and in our halls of government. We have institutionalized rebellion against the created order. And we are reaping the whirlwind.
The only way back is the way of Jehoshaphat. It begins with the church. We must first have hearts that are "lifted up in the ways of Yahweh." We must recover a holy boldness, an unashamed confidence in the truth and goodness of God's Word for every area of life. We must stop being apologetic and start being prophetic. We must stop seeking a synthesis with the world and start proclaiming the antithesis.
And from this heart-reformation, public action must follow. We must begin the hard work of tearing down the idols. This is not a call for violent revolution, but for faithful, principled, and courageous reformation. It means calling sin by its right name. It means building institutions, families, churches, schools, that are unapologetically Christian. It means working and praying for rulers who, like Jehoshaphat, will seek the God of our fathers, walk in His commandments, and cleanse the land of its public abominations. The task is immense, but the principle is sure. Yahweh is with those who are with Him. If we seek Him, He will be found by us. And if He establishes our kingdom, no other kingdom can stand against it.