Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to Join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. Today, we're reading Second Chronicles 14 through 18, answering the question, who was Jehosephat?

And as I was talking with Nina, one of my Join thethe-jury teammates, she mentioned that some aspects

of Jehoshaphat reminded her of Ida B. Wells.

And perhaps you're like me, and the name Ida Wells, sounds familiar, but you can't quite place it.

She wasn't a president, a general, or a celebrity.

She was a journalist, born into slavery, raised during reconstruction, and propelled

by conviction. When lynchings swept across the south, Ida didn't stay silent. She picked up her pen

and published the truth even when it made people uncomfortable, even when it made her a target.

She lost friends, she received

death threats, but she kept going because she feared God more than man. Today, we're looking

at someone in the scripture who did the same. His name is Jehoshaphat. He wasn't the flashiest

king or the most famous, but he was a reformer, a truth teller, and a man who tried to lead with courage and humility in a messy world. And like Ida, his story is one we shouldn't forget. Now, if you've never heard of him before, you're not alone. Jehoshaphat doesn't make the top five list of famous Old

Testament kings, but after today, I think he might make it onto your radar as one of the most

fascinating and possibly relatable leaders in Israel's history. So let's set the stage. We're in the era

of the divided kingdom after King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel

split in two. The northern kingdom retained the name Israel, and the southern kingdom became

Judah, and Jehoshaphat is king over Judah. He's the son of Asa, who we read about in

chapter 14, and what we find right away is that

Jehoshaphat inherits a mixed legacy. Asa started off strong, seeking the Lord, purging idols,

even leading Judah in a great national revival. But later, he stumbled. He relied on foreign

alliances instead of God and got angry at the prophet who

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