II Chronicles 19:3: “Nevertheless there are good things found in thee in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.”
This passage is referring to the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was a Godly king who teamed up with the Godless king of Israel, Ahab to eradicate the Armenians at Ramoth Gilead. It is odd that they would want to do battle with the Armenians as the Armenians were a semi-nomadic people who were not really that much of a threat to Israel and Judah. For Ahab this was more of an offensive battle to help free up more trade lines which would also prove to be of great economic benefit to Judah as well. Ahab stood to make a killing off this venture. Jehoshaphat, however, who was quite wealthy to begin with thanks to God’s blessings (18:1), would just get a little richer from this venture.
I don’t believe Jehoshaphat was entirely mercenary in his alliance with Ahab. In 19:2-3 we learn that even though Jehoshaphat aided a Godless king, which was not in accordance with God’s will, God did find some good things in him in that he took away the groves out of the land. The word groves is really a proper name, Asherah, which is the name of a Canaanite goddess who has her roots in Ugaritic culture as the goddess Anat. In studying the Ugaritic language I found Anat held quite a place of prominence in Ugaritic literature. She was the goddess of war, sex and fertility. She has appeared in many incarnations throughout Middle East culture and is most likely the Queen of Heaven that was worshipped by Israel during Jeremiah’s time and eventually evolved to be the goddess Venus in Greek culture. How did they worship this goddess? Well stop at your local 7-11 and pick out any tabloid with the latest dirt on our Anats from Hollywood and you will get an idea how one can worship the goddess Anat. This gal loved to frolic with mortals and she went both ways, sexually. She had this amazing ability to bring wealth to people, sort of like she does today only with far more effective tools like movies, advertising etc. People paid regular tithes to Anat. Heck, today American’s Anat demands almost $10.00 for a couple hours, $12.00 if you want 3-D.
Some translations likely translated Asherah as groves because the standard symbol of Asherah was a tree trunk with all the branches removed and pictures drawn on it, pictures that leave little to the imagination. Some have likened this to the totem poles, and although it may have some parallels, they are not the same. Nonetheless Jehoshaphat was on a campaign to rid the nation of Judah of Asherah and its pornographic totem poles. That would be an event likened to Obama shutting down Hollywood. Pull a stunt like that he can kiss the next election goodbye, if he is not summarily impeached first. Yet, Jehoshaphat pulled this off and God blessed him for it. The Armenians didn’t practice censorship like Jehoshaphat so their religious totem poles made their way into the Judean culture and this may have been a motivation for Jehoshaphat teaming up with Ahab to rid the land of the Armenians. Clearing up a trade route was, shall we say, a fringe benefit.
In verse 2 the seer, Hanani, told Jehoshaphat that the Lord’s wrath was upon him for helping the godless king. The English word wrath is an unfortunate rendering. It is the word keseph which could mean wrath, but in its Semitic origins it has the idea of a brokenness. I remember when I was taking classes for a CNA certification we learned how a patient may appear wrathful to the caregiver for no apparent reason. Actually, the patient is not angry with the caregiver, but is feeling fearful, or in pain or feeling humiliated over the circumstances and this is expressed as anger. This is more in keeping with the word keseph. It was not so much that God’s wrath, as we understand wrath in English, was upon Jehoshaphat but that God was broken hearted that Jehoshaphat was leaning on the arm of the flesh to carry out God’s will to eradicate the land of the influence of Asherah. But God did recognize that what Jehoshaphat did was good or tov, in harmony with Him and that he was preparing his heart to seek God. The word prepare is kavan which is a hiphal infinitive and should actually be rendered as it “caused his heart to purpose and seek after God.”
There lies the message that I believe God prepared for me today. Jehoshaphat may have messed up by leaning on the arm of the flesh with Ahab, he may have blown it by being a bit mercenary in his alliance with Ahab, but ultimately he approached the whole operation as part of his plan to rid the land of the cult of Asherah. The prophet Hanani indicated that despite the fleshly overtures, the fact that he was trying to do something that was in harmony with God was turning his heart to God.
There is the story in the Talmud about a student who complained to his rabbi that another student only studied Torah so he could be a great scholar and impress people with his knowledge. The rabbi replied that it didn’t matter what his motives were, the study of Torah would eventually purify his motives. Lately, as I find my books becoming successful and reaching bestseller lists I find myself feeling guilty as I struggle over my motives to study the Word of God, pray, and serve Him. I wonder if I am just doing this because I like to see my works recognized or read the flattering reviews about myself as a writer. I believe II Chronicles 19:2-3 is God’s reply. Don’t worry about your motives, just keep studying, praying serving and seeking and the closer you draw to God, the more your motives will be purified.
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