King of Israel vs. King of Judah

2 Chronicles 21:2; 2 Chronicles 18:3  •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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Answer: It is clear that historically Jehoshaphat was King of Judah; and this was necessarily stated in the second passage and throughout the chapter where he is shown in guilty alliance with the then King of Israel. But he was a man of faith and ought to have kept clear of so compromising an association. Even after Jehovah’s great intervention against the vast gathering of Moab and Ammon, Jehoshaphat joined with the wicked King of Israel, Ahaziah, and had his fleet broken, and so the joint design came to naught. Was not the name “King of Israel,” attached to Jehoshaphat to mark that he ought to have stood as de jure sovereign, while owning de facto the chastening which broke up their unity? We see how Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Chron. 30:1; 34:33; 35:31And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. (2 Chronicles 30:1)
33And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. (2 Chronicles 34:33)
3And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel, (2 Chronicles 35:3)) went out in heart to fraternize with the godly in Israel. How much more had Jehoshaphat wrought for Jehovah’s glory, if he had in his life kept aloof as “King of Israel,” the title given to him after death? How sad his son Jehoram’s course in every point of view! The remarkable scripture in Isa. 48:11Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isaiah 48:1) may be compared in some respects: “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah,” etc.