Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Jehoshaphat built a fleet at Ezion-geber to sail for the gold of Ophir, and it never left the harbour. Those few words about wrecked ships raise the real question: why did God break the works of a king He had just rescued?
Solomon's Venture Attempted Again
The plan itself looks like an echo of an earlier reign. One writer reads the harbour's name as a comment on the whole scheme:
Leslie M. GrantJehoshaphat clearly wanted to follow Solomon in building ships to bring gold from Ophir. But the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 2 Chronicles 20:37 shows us the reason. Jehoshaphat had made an unwise alliance with Ahaziah the son of Ahab, who followed his father in wickedness. So God sent a prophet to tell Jehoshaphat that He would destroy his works. Ezion-geber means "the counsel of a man." Jehoshaphat had sought such counsel, not the counsel of God.
The Missing Half of the Story
Kings records the wreck. Chronicles gives the reason: a prophet spoke first, and then God acted on His own word.
An Outline of Sound WordsOn this occasion the partnership was not for war, but for gold, as 1 Kings 22:48 records… From 2 Chronicles 20:37 we learn of God's intervention. First, He sent His prophet Eliezer the son of Dodavah to rebuke him with the words, "Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken your works." Then the Lord carried out His word: "and the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish."
Ahaziah was Ahab's son and king of the northern kingdom of Israel. One writer sets this new alliance against everything God had just done for Jehoshaphat:
The Bible TreasuryHe had already been rebuked, in grace, for his unholy alliance with Ahab. God had delivered him from the united armies of Moab and Ammon, and had given him rest. After all this he joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did very wickedly… The prophet rebuked him for joining with the father, and he repeats it with the son. There is to be no alliance with Israel, with the haters of the Lord, neither for war nor for commerce.
Why a Godly King Repeated the Mistake
Jehoshaphat was a good king, which makes this relapse hard to explain. One writer points to something every believer still carries:
C KnappIt would be impossible to explain how a man of such godliness and faith kept falling into unholy alliances, if we did not know what "the flesh" is. It is no better in the saint than in the sinner. It is always ready to betray the saint into wrongdoing, unless he watches against it in a spirit of humility and self-distrust… So he linked himself during his reign with three kings of the wicked house of Ahab, to his humiliation and sorrow.
Wealth played its part too. One writer notes that Jehoshaphat's riches and honour left him feeling secure in himself before he ever joined Ahab's family (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
Sound Planning, Certain Failure
Nothing about the plan looked reckless. It still failed:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAgain Jehoshaphat had to learn something from the destruction of his fleet at Ezion-geber. When children of God join with those who walk in the ways of sin, the work can only end in disappointment and failure. It makes no difference how well it was planned, or how free from outward danger it looked.
The Same Yoke Today
A business partnership is today's version of Jehoshaphat's fleet:
F. B. HoleA believer may yoke himself with an unbeliever by a business partnership. Before he is finished with it, he may suffer much spiritual loss, and the Lord's Name may be dishonoured. He has to share the responsibility for the evil things his unconverted partner does.
Another writer sees a power at work behind such partnerships:
C KnappThe ships built in partnership were hardly launched before they were broken at Ezion-geber. There is always something of Satan's cunning or power in these unequal yokes. Child of God, beware of them!
Commentators differ on what lay behind Jehoshaphat's later refusal (v. 49). One asks whether he was more worried about losing ships than about obeying God (Leslie M. Grant). Another sees a man who had learned his lesson:
H. L. RossierThank God, after the prophet's word and the destruction of his fleet, Jehoshaphat understood the great weakness of his life. An alliance with the world, whatever its purpose, is a thing God disapproves of, and it will bring judgment on His children.
Summary
- Counsel — The harbour's name means "the counsel of a man." Jehoshaphat followed that counsel, not God's.
- Partner — The fault was not the shipbuilding but the shipmate. He joined himself to Ahaziah, of the house the prophet had already rebuked him for joining.
- Word — God spoke through Eliezer before He acted, then broke the works He had named.
- Wreck — Good planning could not save the venture. Children of God had joined with those who walk in sin.
- Lesson — The loss taught him. He refused the next offer, because God disapproves of any alliance with the world, whatever its purpose.