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2 Chronicles 20:35-37

³⁵Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness. ³⁶He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, ³⁷Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.

Jehoshaphat went down in history as a godly king. Like most of the kings, he did not remove the high places. There was always a remnant of idol worship allowed to remain. Those places seemed to be the enemy's stronghold in Judah that no one had the boldness to conquer. Though Jehoshaphat made his share of mistakes, overall, his heart was after God and he was said to have walked in the ways of Asa his father.

At the end of his life he had a chance to practice a lesson that he had learned early on as a king. Do you remember when he made the alliance with Ahab? A prophet warned him of God's judgment for loving the one that hated God. ( See August 9.) Ahab was the wickedest king of Israel.

In our passage today, Jehoshaphat again made an alliance with a wicked king of Israel. It was not a war, just a business venture. They teamed up to build some ships. Solomon had imported great amounts of wealth, and perhaps these kings thought that they could do the same. The LORD destroyed those ships before they could set sail.

Jehoshaphat may have justified the situation in his mind saying, "It is only business." When we learn a lesson, the LORD often allows us to face the temptation again to see if we have really learned it. Is our heart really given to God and not flesh in those situations? Jehoshaphat failed the test a second time and had this blot on his testimony.

Warning: Watch those areas of weakness where you think you have learned a lesson. They may come again to see if your heart has surrendered to God in that area. It is a chance to examine our hearts and see what is not yet surrendered.