2 Chronicles 19:4-11

2 Chronicles 19:4–11 (NIV)✞: Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

Passage

In this passage Jehoshaphat (King of Judah) appoints judges across the land and it’s short enough that I’m just going to quote the whole thing.

Before I do, however, I want to clarify what this passage means by judges. In the modern world we have two very distinct roles:

• Judge: a position where someone makes judgements according to the law of the land, regardless of religious beliefs
• Priests or Pastors or Ministers or whatever term you prefer: a position where someone makes judgements according to a set of religious beliefs – technically, they should do this regardless of the laws of the land, though cases where the laws of the land disagree with religious beliefs aren’t as common as alarmists might have us believe.

In this passage, however, when Jehoshaphat appoints “judges,” it’s not the modern definition of a judge, it’s more a combination of these two roles as I’m defining them. They are to judge according to the Law, yes—and Judah is a theocracy, so doing so is also judging according to God’s will (at least in theory)—but they’re also looking beyond just the basic rules of the law. Many of the cases that are going to be brought to these judges are going to be brought because they’re more complex than simply applying a law, so these men are going to need to judge what’s best according to the Law and according to their understanding of the LORD’s will. We’ll see that Jehoshaphat goes even further, instructing the judges to warn the people not to sin against the LORD.

Again, Judah is a theocracy, so we could take the view that encouraging people to obey the Law is the same thing as encouraging them not to sin, but I think we all know it’s not that simple. No matter how detailed a set of laws is, it will never cover the entirety of “sin.”

So with that said, here’s Jehoshaphat’s appointing of judges, which we should read without seeing the word “judge” the way we normally see it:

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their ancestors. ⁵ He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ⁶ He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. ⁷ Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

 

⁸ In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families to administer the law of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. ⁹ He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD. ¹⁰ In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations—you are to warn them not to sin against the LORD; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.

 

¹¹ “Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well.”

2 Chronicles 19:4–11 (NIV)✞

Thoughts

My main thought, in reading this passage, is that it’s almost (but not really) incongruous with the previous passage.

It’s almost incongruous because the previous passage had Jehoshaphat being harshly criticised by a prophet of the LORD for partnering with “the wicked” (i.e. King Ahab of Israel), but it’s not really incongruous because, even in that admonishment, Jehoshaphat was also told he had some good in him because he’d been setting the people’s hearts on seeking God. This passage is drawing out that exact point: he’s setting up judges across the entire nation, with the sole purpose of turning people’s hearts toward God.

In other words, the Bible is once again refusing to let us have a simplistic view of one of the people mentioned. Is Jehoshaphat a good man who sometimes did bad things? Or a bad man who sometimes did good things? Or is he a person just like every other person—especially people who strive to follow God—who sometimes does right, sometimes does wrong, sometimes makes honest mistakes, and sometimes commits wilful sin? The Bible seems to be telling us that he’s the latter.

My guess is that we’ll see him in the next life, in fellowship with God, so if we want to probe him on all of this we’ll get a chance!