Sending Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat was one of the kings of Judah, and a man whom God's Word reveals to have been a faithful follower of the Lord. In the past when I have heard the name Jehoshaphat, it has been in the phrase "jumpin' Jehoshaphat!" I am not sure where this phrase came from, because I have not found a passage in the Old Testament where Jehoshaphat is jumping. On the other hand, I found a passage where Jehoshaphat is sending. The who and what that he was sending were those willing to teach the Word of God to his people. The Bible records what Jehoshaphat did, saying, "...in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah -- the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people" (2 Chronicles 17:7-9, NKJV).

Jehoshaphat supported the sending of sixteen men for the work of missions throughout their own nation! There is much that can be learned by believers today from what Jehoshaphat did back then. First off, Jehoshaphat's efforts to spread the Word of God began with a personal love for the Word of God. The Bible says of Jehoshaphat that "...his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD..." (2 Chronicles 17:6a, NKJV), and it was just after this statement that the Bible records his sending of preachers throughout the land. Jehoshaphat had tasted of something much greater than man's wisdom and recognized the need for it to be given to his people. If you truly love the Word of God and "delight" in what it has to say, then you will want others to hear about it and come to love it as you do!

There is another lesson that can be learned from Jehoshaphat, which is the fact that not every believer is called to leave their own home to take the Word of God to the rest of their nation, but every believer should support those that do! Missionaries cannot go without being sent. It is God that leads them to go, but it is often other believers that send them away. The Church at Antioch is a good example of this. The Bible records what they did, saying, "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away" (Acts 13:1-3, NKJV). Like Jehoshaphat, they took the best leaders that they had and sent them away to do the work of the Lord. Though it took great spiritual and financial support to send them away, the spread of the Gospel throughout much of the known world was the ultimate result that is still being felt to this day.

Another lesson that must not be missed is that Jehoshaphat's efforts were done out of faithfulness to God and would be rewarded, despite the fact that much of the people still refused to listen to God's Word. Just before the end of Jehoshaphat's life, the Bible notes, saying, "...for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers" (2 Chronicles 20:33b, NKJV). Does that make Jehoshaphat and the preachers he sent failures? No, because their success was found in answering the call to go and deliver the Word of God, regardless of how the people responded to it. As always, the majority will reject the Word of God, but a minority will listen and believe. The hope of the missionary is those individuals who make the right choice concerning the Word of God.

As a pastor, I am one who has been sent and I recognize all the efforts of believers down through the years that have made it possible for me to be doing what I am doing. But I also recognize that I need to be sending others as well. My goal is to be a sending pastor, one who leads the Church to be a sending Church. History has shown that this will result in many people being able to answer the call to go and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, as revealed in God's Word. The mission of spreading the Word of God is about teaching the Word of God throughout our community, our country, and our world. We all need to be going where God has called us to go, but we also need to be sending out those around us with all the support we can give them. That's why I pray that the Lord will help me to be a "sending Jehoshaphat!"