By marriage he allied himself

Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab. – 2 Chronicles 18v1

Jehoshaphat seemingly had it all together. He delighted in doing God’s work. He had riches. He had honour. He was on top of the world.

But he had a problem. He had a problem that a lot of men had. He had a problem with women.

I don’t fully understand how all the guys, even the godly ones, had a bunch of wives. I know all the pat answers, but I really don’t ‘get it.’

But I’ll leave that aside. The problem here was not the multiple wives, but how Jehoshaphat messed things up in his desire for wives. Here we read that He ‘by marriage allied himself with Ahab.’

No wonder the New Testament warns against being ‘unequally yoked with unbelievers.’ Marriage is a God ordained institution. It is not to be taken lightly. As Jehoshaphat hurried to build his stable of wives he compromised his delighting the Lord. Allying himself with Ahab just to get another wife was just plain stupid.

But then, men can do stupid things when it comes to women. God gives clear instructions about marriage. To the church marriage is a picture of Christ and His church.

A wife is intended to be a ‘good thing’ according to Proverbs. The result of marriage should always be joy and comfort.

Let us ever be on guard to ensure that our marriages are what God wants them to be.