But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle.
Now the king of Aram ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone small or great, except the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him.      2 Chronicles 18:29-31 HCSB

This is an excerpt from the historical account of Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab. Jehoshaphat was king of Judah and Ahab was king of Israel. Jehoshaphat had been blessed because he walked in the ways of David and followed God. Ahab not so much. Jehoshaphat goes to visit Ahab and Ahab wants to go to war with Aram. Many of his advisors told him to go that he would be successful, but Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from one of God’s prophets. Ahab didn’t want to consult him because he was afraid the prophet would not tell him what he wanted to hear. He told Ahab not to engage in battle with Aram.

Ahab didn’t listen. Instead, he devised a plan. He would wear a disguise and go into battle. He convinced Jehoshaphat to go into battle wearing his royal attire. He knew that they would think Jehoshaphat was him and would go after Jehoshaphat. Now with friends like these who needs enemies, right? His plan was working pretty well until Jehoshaphat cried out to God and God saved him. Now Ahab was killed in this battle and Jehoshaphat was unharmed and returned home. But God was not happy with him. We are told in 2 Chronicles 19 that upon his return home, his seer confronted him and told him, “Do you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the LORD’s wrath is on you. However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have decided to seek the God.”

Jehoshaphat knew God, he trusted God and feared God. Remember he was the one who insisted on hearing from God’s prophet before marching out to war. But he didn’t heed the words of the prophet. The fact that he had aligned himself with Ahab was a problem that caused God’s wrath to fall on him. When Jehoshaphat was confronted about this, he set about making things right with God. He not only wanted to make his relationship right with God, but he wanted his people to be in right relationship with God. We are told in verse 4, he went out bringing people back to Yahweh. He instructed his leaders to act with integrity in fear of the LORD (verse 9).

It’s a good thing that he did all this because in chapter 20, two vast armies came against Judah. As many of you know, this is one of my favorite historical accounts of battle in the Bible. Jehoshaphat didn’t fret over these two vast armies. Instead, he gathered his people, proclaimed a fast and they prayed to God for deliverance. God heard their prayers and protected them from these armies.

Like us, Jehoshaphat messed up. But as soon as he was convicted of his wrong, he set about making things right with God. 2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us that believers should not align themselves, or be yoked, with unbelievers. Good and evil do not mix.

We have no business yoking up with sinful, evil people. No good can come from it. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 that we should avoid every form of evil. God took good care of Jehoshaphat even when he messed up. Why? God knew Jehoshaphat’s heart. He knew that Jehoshaphat sought after him and wanted to do good.

Jehoshaphat’s biggest mistake was aligning himself with Ahab. We are told that they were aligned through marriage, but Jehoshaphat chose to spend time with him. There were some red flags, but still Jehoshaphat stayed and engaged in battle with him even after God’s prophet told them not to.

We need to be careful when choosing friends. We need to be careful not to align ourselves with those who do not fear the Lord. Jehoshaphat almost lost his life when he aligned himself with Ahab. We are called to love everyone. We are called to be witnesses, but we are never called to be aligned in sin with someone else.

Trust in God and never allow others to lead you astray. Friends don’t let friends go to hell. If a friend is trying to lead you there you might want to reconsider that friendship.

Have a great day!