WORD STUDY – GOOD THINGS
“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). He 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 should really rendered as a proper name: – Asherah which is 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 let me put it this way, she is still worshipped and 30% of the internet is devoted to worshipping her and her offerings exceed that of Christianity. This gal loved to frolic with mortals and she went both ways. She had this amazing ability to bring wealth to her clergy and priest.
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. Some have likened this to X rated Totem poles, and although it may have some parallels to Totem poles, they are not the same. Nonetheless Jehoshaphat was on a campaign to rid the nation of Judah of Asherah. An event likened to Trump shutting down Hollywood. That would get him impeached. Yet, Jehoshaphat pulled this off and rid the nation of porn and God blessed him for it. The Armenians didn’t practice censorship like Jehoshaphat so their “religious” relics 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 it has the idea of a brokenness. In my job driving a disability bus I learned how a disabled passenger may appear wrathful for no apparent reason. Actually, even a bus driver must learn to be professional and realize that the passenger is not angry with him, but is feeling fearful, or in pain or feeling humiliated over needing assistance to perform a simple task like boarding a bus 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. Sometimes we want so much to see God’s good will that we resort to the arm of the flesh to help it along. How many pastors seek to get an emotional response from his congregation through music or show boating. I have seen someone trying to help another person receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and try to get the person to imitate them in speaking in tongues. Good intentions but little faith that God will accomplish His will without out fancied knowledge.
Yet, God did recognize that what he did was good or tov, in harmony with Him. Things is the word davarim which are expressions of the heart. In other words God recognized that his heart was in the right place. Because of that Jehoshaphat 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 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, I have been feeling guilty as I struggle over my motives to study the Word of God, pray, and serve Him. Am I doing it because I like the praise and book sales? I wonder if I am just doing this because I need a miracle, or I need a blessing from God. 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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