2 chronicles 19 and 20

Read 2 Chronicles 19 and 20 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph divisions:

2 Chr 19:2-11 {p} Jehoshaphat turned the people to YHVH/ set judges in fortified cities to judge according to Torah
2 Chr 20:1-13 {s} Moab + Ammon + Edom join forces against Judah/ Jehoshaphat + all Judah seek the LORD
2 Chr 20:14-30 {p} The praisers before the army/ the coalition destroyed themselves + Jehoshaphat had rest
2 Chr 20:31-21:3 {p} The reign of Jehoshaphat/ expedition to Tarshish wrecked, for he allied himself with Ahaziah

The strong themes:

2 Chr 20:1-30 {s+p} Jehoshaphat’s stood still while the LORD fought for him against his enemies + he had rest

2 Chr 17-19 chiastic structure:

1a) 2 Chr 17:3-19 {p+p+sx6+p} The king sought God, removed images + taught Torah to the people + appointed military;

1) 2 Chr 17:3-6 {p} Jehoshaphat sought God + removed the high places, images from Judah;

1) 2 Chr 17:3-5, The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in His commandments + sought God;

1a) 2 Chr 17:3a, Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat;
1b) 2 Chr 17:3b, Because he walked in the former ways of his father David;
central axis) 2 Chr 17:3c-4a, He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father;
2b) 2 Chr 17:4b, He walked in His commandments, not according to the acts of Israel;
2a) 2 Chr 17:5, The Lord established the kingdom in his hand/ he had riches + honor in abundance;

2) 2 Chr 17:6 {p} His heart took delight in the ways of the Lord/ he removed the high places + images from Judah;

2) 2 Chr 17:7-11 {p} Jehoshaphat sent princes + Levites to teach the Torah in the cities of Judah;
3) 2 Chr 17:12-19 {sx6+p} He put armed men in the fortified cities/ captains in Jerusalem served the king;

1a) 2 Chr 17:12-13a, Jehoshaphat became powerful/ he built fortresses + storage cities/ he had much property;
1b) 2 Chr 17:14a {s} The men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem;
1c) 2 Chr 17:14b-15 {sx3} The captains + numbers of the mighty men of Judah;
1d) 2 Chr 17:16a, Next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri;
central axis) 2 Chr 17:16b, Who willingly offered himself to the Lord;
2d) 2 Chr 17:16c {s} With Amasiah were 200,000 mighty men of valor;
2c) 2 Chr 17:17-18 {s} The captains + numbers of the mighty men of Benjamin;
2b) 2 Chr 17:19a, These served the king;
2a) 2 Chr 17:19b {p} Besides those the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah;

1b) 2 Chr 18:1, Jehoshaphat … by marriage allied himself with Ahab;

1c) 2 Chr 18:2a, After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria;

central axis) 2 Chr 18:2b-34 {s+s} Ahab’s disastrous campaign against Syria, in which he died;

2c) 2 Chr 19:1 {s} Jehoshaphat returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem;

2b) 2 Chr 19:2, The seer met the king: Should you help the wicked + love those who hate the Lord?

2a) 2 Chr 19:3-11 {p} The king removed images, sought God + returned the people to the Lord + appointed judges;

1) 2 Chr 19:3, Nevertheless you have removed the images from the land + prepared your heart to seek God;

2) 2 Chr 19:3a, Nevertheless you have removed the wooden images from the land;
1) 2 Chr 19:3b, And have prepared your heart to seek God;

2) 2 Chr 19:4, Jehoshaphat went throughout Judah + brought the people back to the Lord God;
3) 2 Chr 19:5-11 {p} He set judges in the fortified cities/ Levites + priests + elders in Jerusalem for judgment.

Jehoshaphat went throughout the kingdom of Judah, from the southern end, Beersheba, to the northern end, the mountains of Ephraim, and brought the people back to the LORD God of their fathers (2 Chr 19:4). And this pairs with 2 Chr 17:7-11 {p}, in which the king sent his princes and the Levites throughout Judah to teach the people the book of the Law of God — the Torah. Scripture is teaching us by its teaching tools, that the Law is our tutor to bring us to repentance back to God:

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal 3:24

Learning Torah and continuing to feed and meditate in it, is intrinsically tied to returning our hearts to God, and continuing therein. We see that history bears this out, for during the period of the kings, Israel and Judah were constantly falling into idolatry. Israel in fact never repented of it as a nation, and most of the people of Israel whose hearts were set on the LORD God, emigrated to Judah. But even Judah went back and forth, and by the time they were taken captive to Babylon, Judah, Jerusalem, and the temple was full of idolatry. But when Judah returned from captivity in Babylon, Ezra established the Torah reading cycle which is still in use today, and from that time to this, the Jews have remained loyal to the LORD their God, excepting those who turned from God because of the Holocaust.