II Chronicles 19:2

Jehu the son of Hanani - We have met with this prophet before; see the note on Kg1 16:7. Therefore is wrath upon thee - That is, Thou deservest to be punished. And who can doubt this, who knows that he did help the ungodly, and did love them that hated Jehovah? And is not the wrath of God upon all those alliances which his people form with the ungodly, whether they be social, matrimonial, commercial, or political?

JEHOSHAPHAT VISITS HIS KINGDOM. (Ch2 19:1-4) Jehoshaphat . . . returned to his house in peace--(See Ch2 18:16). Not long after he had resumed the ordinary functions of royalty in Jerusalem, he was one day disturbed by an unexpected and ominous visit from a prophet of the Lord [Ch2 19:2]. This was Jehu, of whose father we read in Ch2 16:7. He himself had been called to discharge the prophetic office in Israel. But probably for his bold rebuke to Baasha (Kg1 16:1), he had been driven by that arbitrary monarch within the territory of Judah, where we now find him with the privileged license of his order, taking the same religious supervision of Jehoshaphat's proceedings as he had formerly done of Baasha's. At the interview here described, he condemned, in the strongest terms, the king of Judah's imprudent and incongruous league with Ahab--God's open enemy (Kg1 22:2) --as an unholy alliance that would be conducive neither to the honor and comfort of his house nor to the best interests of his kingdom. He apprised Jehoshaphat that, on account of that grave offense, "wrath was upon him from before the Lord," a judgment that was inflicted soon after (see on 2Ch. 20:1-37). The prophet's rebuke, however, was administered in a mingled strain of severity and mildness; for he interposed "a nevertheless" (Ch2 19:3), which implied that the threatened storm would be averted, in token of the divine approval of his public efforts for the promotion of the true religion, as well as of the sincere piety of his personal character and life.

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer,.... The son of him that reproved Asa, for which he put him in prison, Ch2 17:7, but that did not deter this his son from reproving Jehoshaphat: went out to meet him; as he was returning: and said to King Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly; such an one as Ahab, an idolater, murderer, and persecutor: and love them that hate the Lord? his laws, worship, and ordinances, as he had; intimating, that he had done wrong, by entering into alliance and affinity with him, by showing him friendship, and assisting him in his war against the Syrians: therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord; which appeared in the war of the Ammonites and Moabites with him, related in the next chapter, and in the calamities that came upon his family, his sons being slain by Jehoram that succeeded him, and his grandsons by Jehu.

Jehoshaphat's victory over the Moabites, Ammonites, and other nations; and the remaining items of information as to his reign. - Vv. 1-30. The victory over the hostile peoples who invaded Judah. In the succeeding time, the Moabites and Ammonites, in alliance with other tribes of Mount Seir, invaded Judah with the purpose of driving the people of God out of their country, and extirpating them (Ch2 20:1). On being informed of this invasion, Jehoshaphat sought help of the Lord, while he proclaimed a fast in the land, and in the temple before the assembled people prayed God for His help (Ch2 20:2-12); and received by the mouth of the prophet Jahaziel the promise that God would fight for Judah, and that king and people would next day behold the help the Lord would give (Ch2 20:13-18). And so it happened. On the following day, when the Judaean army, with the Levitic singers and players at their head, came into the wilderness Jeruel, their enemies had by the dispensation of God mutually destroyed each other (Ch2 20:19-24), so that Jehoshaphat and his people found the proposed battle-field full of corpses, and gathered spoil for three days, and then on the fourth day, in the Valley of Blessing, they praised the Lord for the wonderful deliverance; thereafter returning to Jerusalem with joy, again to thank the Lord in the house of God for His help (Ch2 20:25-30).

We have here a further account of the good reign of Jehoshaphat, I. His return in peace to Jerusalem (Ch2 19:1). II. The reproof given him for his league with Ahab, and his acting in conjunction with him (Ch2 19:2, Ch2 19:3). III. The great care he took thereupon to reform his kingdom (Ch2 19:4). IV. The instructions he gave to his judges, both those in the country towns that kept the inferior courts (Ch2 19:5-7), and those in Jerusalem that sat in the supreme judicature of the kingdom (Ch2 19:8-11).