Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they didn’t go; for the ships wrecked at Ezion Geber.
Parallel Translations
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Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they didn’t go; for the ships wrecked at Ezion Geber.
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Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
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(22-49) Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 22:48 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 9:26 King Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
- 1 Kings 10:22 For the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- 1 Kings 9:28 They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
- Numbers 33:35-36 They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants. Once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- 2 Chronicles 20:21 When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they go out before the army, and say, “Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving kindness endures forever.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:35-37 After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly. He joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion Geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” The ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
- 2 Chronicles 25:7 A man of God came to him, saying, “O king, don’t let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, with all the children of Ephraim.
- Psalms 45:9 Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
- Psalms 48:7 With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
- Isaiah 2:16 for all the ships of Tarshish, and for all pleasant imagery.
- Isaiah 60:9 Surely the islands will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.
- Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Josephus writeth that Ophir is in India, where the…
Josephus writeth that Ophir is in India, where the Egyptians and Arabians traffic for gold.
By Tarshish the Scripture meaneth Cilicia and all the sea called Mediterranean.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go…
1Ki 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
Ver. 48. To go to Ophir for gold.] See 1Ki 9:28.
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For his ships were broken.] This cross was in great mercy to Jehoshaphat. "Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me," saith David. This should be a patienting consideration; as it is said to have been to Philip, king of Spain, upon the defeating and scattering of his navy here in 1588. He gave and commanded to be given all over Spain, thanks to God, that the loss was no more grievous; and used singular mercy in relieving the distressed soldiers and sailors. {a}
{a} Camden’s Elisab., p. 371.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain See 2Ch 20:36. Or, there were to Jehoshaphat ten…
See 2Ch 20:36. Or, there were to Jehoshaphat ten ships; the ellipsis of the verb substantive, and of the prefix lamed, being frequent in the Hebrew language. Some render the words, he made ten ships; so joining both texts together, and out of both completing the sense.
Of Tharshish; either,
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1. Of the sea, as this word is thought sometimes to be used. Or rather,
2. To go to Tharshish, (as it is expressed, 2Ch 20:36) and thence to Ophir, as it here follows. See more on 1Ki 10:22.
To Ophir; of which see 1Ki 9:28.
Ezion-geber was in Edom, and consequently in Jehoshaphat’s territories.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 48. Ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir…
Verse 48. Ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold] In the parallel place (2Ch 20:36) it is said that Jehoshaphat joined himself to Ahaziah, to make ships to go to Tharshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. Concerning these places, and the voyage thither, see the notes on 1Kg 9:26-28; 1Kg 10:11; 1Kg 10:22. Some translate, instead of ships of Tharshish, ships of burden. See Houbigant, who expresses himself doubtful as to the meaning of the word.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 22:48. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish — These…
1Ki 22:48. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish — These ships were not to go to Tharshish, but Ophir. But, it appears, they were called ships of Tharshish from their form, being made after the model of the ships which traded to that place. And all such ships, wheresoever they were built, were called ships of Tharshish. The ships were broken at Ezion-geber —
Probably by a storm.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The expression, “ships of Tharshish,” probably designates ships of…
The expression, “ships of Tharshish,” probably designates ships of a particular class, ships (i. e.) like those with which the Phoenicians used to trade to Tharshish (Tartessus, 1Ki 10:22 note). Compare the use of “India-man” for a vessel of a certain class. Jehoshaphat’s fleet was constructed at Ezion-Gaber, on the Red Sea 2Ch 20:36, where Solomon had previously built a navy 1Ki 9:26. Being lord-paramount of Edom, Jehoshaphat had the right of using this harbor.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Edom. Hebrew and Chaldean, "but a deputy king," or…
Edom. Hebrew and Chaldean, "but a deputy king," or viceroy; (Tirinus) so that the kings of Juda might equip fleets at Asiongaber, as the country of Idumea was subject to them ever since the time of David, 2 Paralipomenon viii. 17. Under Ochozias, the son of Josaphat, the kings of Edom became independent, 4 Kings viii. 20. (Calmet) --- Hitherto they had paid tribute. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 48. Ships of Tarshish — Ships designed to go…
48. Ships of Tarshish — Ships designed to go to Tarshish, as 2Ch_20:36, explains it. On Tarshish, see note at 1Ki_10:22, and on Ophir, note on 1Ki_9:28. Here observe that ships designed to carry on commerce with Tarshish might be built at Ezion-geber, and also might be used to carry on commerce with Ophir. To some it may seem strange that ships designed to go to Tartessus, in Spain, were built on the Red Sea; but if the circumnavigation of Africa was understood in that ancient time, as we have assumed in note on 1Ki_10:22, then this building of ships at Ezion-geber to go to Tartessus need not seem strange at all. Besides, the former friendly relations between the courts of Jerusalem and Tyre probably no longer existed; and as the Phenicians were masters of the Mediterranean Sea, Jehoshaphat thought his commerce with Tartessus would be safer and easier by way of the Red Sea and the coast of Africa. Keil, however, supposes that this fleet was to be transported from Ezion-geber access the Isthmus of Suez, where Cleopatra afterwards sought to transport her fleet — a supposition hardly probable if the route around Africa were known.
The ships were broken — Probably by a storm, and because the boats were not well-built, and the Jewish sailors had not the proper knowledge of the sea and of the management of ships. In Solomon’s time the Hebrews had the aid of Phenician shipmen both in building and managing their fleets; (1Ki_9:27;) but now, for want of these, they suffered loss.
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Ezion-geber — See note on 1Ki_9:26.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 48. ships of Tharshish] See above on 1Ki_10:22.
48. ships of Tharshish] See above on 1Ki_10:22.
Ophir] See 1Ki_9:28. The Chronicler says the ships were to go to Tarshish (2Ch_20:3-8).
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the ships were broken] According to the Chronicler (2Ch_20:35-37) these ships were built in conjunction with Ahaziah, king of Israel. And Eliezer the prophet rebuked Jehoshaphat for this alliance, and said, ‘because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.’ Thus the breaking of the ships, however it came to pass, by storm or otherwise, was regarded as brought about by divine interposition.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (48) Ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir.—See Note…
(48) Ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir.—See Note on 1Ki_10:22. We note that this revival of maritime enterprise coincides with the renewed alliance through Israel with Tyre. The account in 2Ch_20:35-37 makes the brief narrative of these verses intelligible. The fleet was a combined fleet of Judah and Israel, built at Ezion-geber, which belonged to Judah; the alliance was denounced and judgment threatened by the prophet Eliezer. After the wreck of the fleet, manned, it would seem, by the subjects of Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah of Israel desires to renew the enterprise with the aid of Israelite and probably Tyrian sailors; but Jehoshaphat now refuses.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Jehoshaphat made The Chethib has r ten, obviously a…
Jehoshaphat made The Chethib has r ten, obviously a clerical error for h made ships of Tharshish (see note on 1Ki_10:22) to go to Ophir In 2Ch_20:36, Tharshish is read for Ophir. Wordsworth holds that two separate fleets are intended, but this is most improbable for gold Evidently the great prosperity of his reign had suggested to him the idea of emulating Solomon"s naval exploits, and of reviving the commerce of his people with the East: but they went not Heb. it went not: for the ships were broken Probably they were dashed by a storm against the rocks which "lie in jagged ranges on each side," Stanley at Ezion-Geber.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish.
1Ki_22:48
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish.
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The shipwreck at Ezion-geber
I. This lamentable disaster to King Jehoshaphats shipping. The Red Sea is a long and comparatively narrow sheet of water, running in a north-westerly direction from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. Its extreme length, from the Strait of Babel Mandeb to the Isthmus of Suez, is over 1400 miles, but at the northern end it divides into two arms somewhat like the letter Y, which enclose between them the peninsula of Mount Sinai. The left, or western arm, and the larger of the two, is that with which we are best acquainted, and is called the Gulf of Suez; the right arm runs in a north-easterly direction for upwards of 100 miles, and is known as the Gulf of Akabah. At the head of this latter gulf is the site of the ancient Ezion-geber.
II. The cause of this disaster. It was a judgment from heaven.
III. The lesson which it teaches.
1. Do not choose your associates amongst those who fear not the Lord. The ill-matched fleet was hardly launched when disaster came, and the very house of God was made an Ezion-geber.
2. It is always safest to keep under Christian influences. A man is rarely better than the company he keeps. Ungodliness is infectious: better strengthen what is good in you than put it in peril. Never make a friend of one who would destroy your faith; go not in the way of evil men. True sympathy of hearts is the golden bond of friendship.
3. The lesson of the text bears upon all business alliances. You will do well even to sacrifice a measure of financial interest and worldly prospect rather than be associated in business with a man who is out of all sympathy with you in religion. (J. T. Davidson, D. D.)
The peril of all mercantile enterprises apart from religious principle
I. Covetousness may lead us into forming forbidden alliances and entering upon unwarranted speculative adventures. There can be no doubt that an inordinate thirst for gold tempted Jehoshaphat into this ill-fated project; for we read that he had already riches and honour in abundance. To obtain riches, indeed, there are no dangers men will not risk, no toils they will not undergo, no perils they will not brave. How often does it happen that a man of considerable capital, from the desire to make much more, enters into partnership in some promising speculation with persons of no piety, though professing godliness himself, and constructs his schemes, and lays his plans, all upon their principles, entirely forgetful that without the blessing of Heaven they can never prosper, and that the blessing of Heaven can never rest upon an enterprise in which the requirements of Heaven are disregarded. God has distinctly declared, that a companion of fools shall be broken; and has warned us, that if sinners entice, saying, Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse; we shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with spoil, we consent not, lest, sharing in the sinners godless schemes, we share in the sinners disastrous overthrow, and reap a righteous recompense, if not in actual bankruptcy, in the wreck and ruin of our most costly equipments. Many, we are aware, are the plausible pleas and excuses which may be urged by the man of merchandise, and the adventurous moneymaker, who is greedy of gain, in justification of his joint-stock schemes, and unions of interests in speculative enterprises with men who have not the love of God in their hearts, nor the fear of God before their eyes.
II. The peril there is to the people of God in all mercantile enterprises apart from religious principle. Be assured, that all alliances with the enemies of God, whether they be in the master of marriage, where gold is often more looked to than goodness, or whether they be in the partnerships of business, or in the undertakings of speculative enterprise; or again, whether they be for the purpose of political party, to prop up a ministry, and to gain strength, as is supposed, to a government, they will assuredly, sooner or later, bring down disaster in the desolating hurricane of Heavens displeasure. Over and over again have we seen all such combinations broken up, and scattered to the winds, evincing, that whatever is imagined to be strong through wickedness shall be made contemptible for its weakness. No union can be strong in which God and truth are not the uniting links. Or, to take another case: when oft-occurring calamities lessen the resources of some wealthy company, and a firm in which all men placed unquestioning confidence is overtaken by the desolating tempests of misfortune upon misfortune, and their ships, which were heretofore to be found on every sea, trading for gold, are scattered and wrecked, and bankruptcy is declared, and creditors look blank with astonishment, is there not often reason to believe that the AEolus of the mischief was some ungodly partner, who, because be was thought to be powerful, was taken into the body, without any regard being had to his religious principles. It is only when such alliances are knowingly made that they can, perhaps, be considered criminal. But is there no enterprise upon which man may enter, worthy of his immortal energies, and in which there is no danger of indulging a destructive covetousness, nor of being stricken clown by any desolating disaster. Ah! yes; there is a merchandise that is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold; and for this ye need not voyage to the land of Ophir. Jesus Christ says to you, I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich--rich in justifying righteousness, rich in the gift of faith, rich in sanctifying influences, rich in moral graces, rich in meekness for glory. Heavenly wisdom cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. (S. Jenner, M. A.)
The broken ships
Three places are mentioned in our text: Ophir, Tarshish, and Ezion-geber. The first tells us of gold to be got; the second of ships built in which to carry it; while the third speaks of the broken ships and the failure.
I. Ophir, representing the desire. Where Ophir was we do not know with certainty; probably in Arabia or India. It was a district noted for wealth, for Solomons fleet used to go to Ophir every third year to bring back gold, ivory, and apes. And Jehoshaphat deems his happiness incomplete; he must have the blessings of Ophir added. He has a throne, but he must have gold. He has a crown of precious jewels, won by David from the King of Ammon, but he must have gold; and he tries to get it. And was there any great sin or harm in that? If there was, then alas for us! for there are very few of us who would not like to fasten our boat to one of Jehoshaphats ships, and follow in his wake to a prize so rich and tempting. We should be quite ready to grant Jehoshaphat liberty to tow if he would only throw out his hawser to us. And is this desire for gain wrong? Is it inconsistent with a Christian profession? or injurious to a Christian life? One thing is sure, it is a universal and instinctive desire. Go where you will, you find men hurrying and striving; trapping the furs of the North, gathering the fruits of the South; with careful, plodding industry seeking the treasures of the mine, or the soil, or the sea. Scripture does not condemn the business. It commends it. It approves of doing with our might whatever our hands may find to do. It says the man who is diligent in business shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. It rebukes sloth as well as too much sleep, as it says: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. And what is it keeps these myriad wheels revolving? that makes the world so busy, saving men from an indolence that would be fatal to all the virtues? It is this same desire for gain, the wish to better ones circumstances, Go then to Ophir if you will, and if you can. Be diligent. Leave no stone unturned that lies in your path. Increase your substance; but remember to minister to Christ of that substance.
II. Tarshish, and the design. Tashish was a busy emporium. Tarshish is still a busy place, and shipbuilders are many. Thought is busy drawing out her plans, putting plank to plank. And when our preparation is complete, we launch our little craft, sending it afloat among that fleet of ventures which every day goes steering out into the deep. And as we launch our ventures, what hope, what exhilaration, what self-congratulation, as we set the ribbons streaming, and flags fluttering, and wine dashing on the prow! How early in life we begin our shipbuilding! Even in boyhood our hearts and hopes are away in the future. We are building our phantom ships with shadowy sails; and, standing on our shadowy deck, how near the shores of Ophir are! We can almost touch them! Others, many others, have failed, but success to us is certain; at least it seems so to us, for boyhoods vision is chromatic, it likes to conjure up images. Now most of us have lived some time in Tarshish; and somewhere on the great deep of commercial life our ships are afloat to-day. Some are ordinary merchantmen, whose sails catch the trade winds, and whose voyages are somewhat slow. Some are a more colossal craft, a kind of steamer; your venture is among the manufactures, with its larger capital and its quicker returns. And some have neither of these; so they launch their little row-beat, and, trusting to the skill and strength of their two hands, they hope for a cargo, though it be but a small one And so Tarshish is left behind: Ezion-geber comes in sight.
II. Ezion-geber, and the disappointment. This was a city on the shore of the Red Sea, used by Solomon as a naval station, and as his seaside place of residence. Now in our trading we like to give Ezion-geber a wide berth. We must pass by it, for there is no way of reaching Ophir but by Ezion-geber. There is no success, but we must venture something to gain it; there is no prize, but lies behind some hazard. And how many of our ships have gone aground, and gone to pieces! Some have returned, laden with a heavy, precious freight; but how many are now overdue, how many lost! More ships reach Ezion-geber than reach Ophir. What mean these broken ships?
1. Some are broken because they were built of light, flimsy material. The strongest lasts the longest. A bubble is easily blown; it as easily bursts. And some men are always floating bubbles. The gains of ordinary, legitimate trade are safe, but slow; too slow for those who are making haste to be rich. So they go into speculation. Here is a scheme that looks fair enough: it is to do wonders. The prospectus is a perfect kaleidoscope; look into it and you see gold, silver, pearls, villas, carriages, and all kinds of beautiful things! And the bait takes. Without stopping to make inquiries as to the concern,--whether there is anything substantial to back it, whether or not the names are painted figure-heads,--they put their all in the venture. Soon their ship is broken, and they wring their hands in bitter disappointment. But it was their own fault. Their ship had no framework of solid timber. It was a paste-board ship, with a thick coating of paint. Such people deserve to have broken ships. They did not call in a surveyor, they trusted to a chance.
2. Again, some ships are broken because built of unsound timber. How many have gone down to an unmarked ocean-grave because of rotten planks! And many a vessel is built of worthless timber: men put into them planks worm-eaten, sin-eaten. Can you expect these to succeed? Can you bring home health and happiness in schemes that will not stand the light of the Word, or the survey of conscience? Put sin into anything, and you put weakness in it. Put sin into it, and you nail a curse to it. There is no real gain from injustice or fraud.
3. But our ships are often broken because God breaks them. We put no green wood into our ships; nothing but careful, long-seasoned thought. We called in prudence and skill to draw out the plans, and to superintend the building. We kept a good look-out at the prow; we watched the winds and currents, and took frequent soundings. Yet we failed; our plans miscarried; our well-equipped vessel ran aground at Ezion-geber. Why is this? why does God give us now success, and then failure? why these frequent and sometimes bitter disappointments?
Perhaps it may be to teach us wisdom in our partnerships.
1. Even in business it is not best to be yoked together with unbelievers. A twin-ship may ride the sea more steadily, and perhaps carry heavier cargoes; but if the prows do not point the same way, if you have two sets of charts, and two compasses that do not agree, your craft may be where the Alexandrian corn-ship was--in the place where two seas meet, the fore part fast on the rocks, and the hinder part broken by the violence of the waves.
2. Again, they are broken in order to teach us humility. If every plan of ours succeeded, we should be in danger; we should become vain, perhaps boastful; like Nebuchadnezzar, chanting praises to ourselves, how our own hand has gotten this wealth. And so He disappoints us.
3. Or God breaks them because He sees we have enough already. Possibly larger wealth might only bring a barrenness of soul: for it is the tendency of increasing wealth to damp and dwarf the spiritual life. Its increasing cares push out holy thoughts; mind and heart are more and more given to earthly things, until the whole life becomes metallic, and religion is simply a creed, or a caricature. In going over the Alps you leave first the secluded valley. Here everything is rich; nature is at her best, covering the fields with corn, and the hillsides with the vines. You ascend and the vines leave you. It is the walnut or the oak that shades your path, and tinkling bells of goats and kine fall musically upon your ear. Higher, and vegetation gets more scant; and instead of the broad leaves of the valley you have the needle-like leaves of the pine and fix. Still higher, and you touch the snows. All is bare and treeless. No fruit, no corn can ripen, for winter claims all the seasons here. And how much is that like many lives! Down in the humbler, lowlier days there was a wealth of heart, though there was poverty of purse. The life was clothed with a beautiful foliage. Sympathies were generous and swift. Hands, feet, and lips steered a glad though a lowly service. But fortune favoured them, wealth poured in upon them. Personal service became more rare, they learned to pay for substitutes, and to serve God by proxy, Rising financially and socially, they declined spiritually. And what are they to-day? Icy Alpine peaks, frowning out of their perpetual cloud, driving the song-birds away, and making the venturesome traveller who calls for a subscription shiver with frost.
4. Or God breaks our ships that we may lean more upon Himself. Our losses after all often prove our truest, richest gains. Our night of failure and disappointment brings the calmer morning, and as we sit down at the Masters feet, gazing in wonder and love upon Him, and taking from His hands the Divine bread, our hard toiling and empty nets are forgotten! Let the Lord give us as many failures as He will, so long as He gives us Himself. On the bare, bleak rocks of Ezion-geber if He be with us, we shall say: Master, it is good to be here. It is better here with Thee than at Ophir without Thee. Nay, let the Lord break all our plans, dash upon the rocks all our prospects, all our earthly hopes; what matter it, if only we get safe to land! Fear not, sang the Roman sailor to his boat, thou carriest Caesar and his fortunes. So let the storm beat, rocks threaten as they may, we still can sing: Bear up, O heart! Thou carriest, not Caesar, but Caesars King--the Christ, the perfect Man, the Living God. (H. Burton, M. A.)
Jehoshaphats wrecked ships
This subject has especial pertinence to business men.
I. Where one good man may succeed another may fall. Solomon had done the very thing that Jehoshaphat proposed. What Solomon did prosperously Jehoshaphat vainly attempted. Why was this? The thing itself was right. God would not have one nation isolated from another. He would have unbrotherliness broken down, and men learn in the barter of commerce that none of us liveth to himself. Countries differ in their productions, and each can furnish something to the wardrobe, table, or adornment of the rest. The merchant has no philanthropy, perhaps, moving him to his commercial ventures, but every ship in the foreign market and bearing its honest freightage to our own is a herald of Him who came to proclaim goodwill to men. Industry is provoked, and that is good; the poor ore helped into comfort, the international sentiment is strengthened, the war demon is fettered, and the separated parts of the earth are united by mutual dependence and blessing. No one land is made for itself alone.
II. Jehoshaphats ships were broken to separate him from a sinful partnership. Thus was ended his alliance with an idolator. Very stringent was Gods word against such a union. And now, the work broken, Gods rod expounded the word. And in the clearer, wider times of Christianity, can we be careless about our partnerships? If wrong for a king to join in shipbuilding and a commercial venture with a worshipper of idols, can it be right in us, of choice, to yoke with the wicked in the pursuits of business? Is it not written by Paul, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Difficulties meet us here, as where, indeed, do they not in the Divine life? Narrow is the way now as ever. A workman may have comrades as spiritually distant from him--more spiritually distant than the sundered roles. What is that Christian man to do? To cut himself adrift from his occupation there because of those ungodly men around him? What is the Christian merchant to do who has an unchristian partner in his firm? Must that partnership be dissolved? How easily can questions accumulate upon us! And what shall we say? We can but lay down principles to be applied to the individual case by Bible-enlightened conscience. Any business, any business transaction which cannot be undertaken as beneath Gods eye should not be undertaken by Gods children. For a Christian man to choose association, partnership with immoral men is presumption. He may do good, but how much more likely to receive harm? He is but one, and his judgment may be overruled by the verdict of others. Is God only for the Sabbath and sanctuary, the religious meeting, and the dying hour? He is to be acknowledged in all our ways. Business is to be transacted in his fear. We may be united to practices as well as individuals, and these, though familiar by habit, may be a damage to the soul. Good political economy may be very bad Christianity. Any infraction of the royal law is that, whoever may be guilty of it.
III. Jehoshaphats ships were broken to good purpose. The ships were built at Ezion-geber, and there were they wrecked. A great loss this; all the outlay and the golden hopes scattered in broken planks and beams and drift-wood upon the seashore. But God was in this thing. The Lord hath broken thy works, said the prophet to the king. The storm had done, as the Lord would have it, double duty--had broken the merchantmen and Jehoshaphats alliance with his heathen neighbour. The loss might have been greater. Troubles are mercies if they have with us similar result. Better that a mans possessions go down like a house of cards than that he go down into spiritual destruction. Better than a man s projects be broken up like those ancient Jewish ships, than that he made shipwreck of faith and a pure conscience. Oh, many a man has wrung his hands amid the shattered prosperity of life, and he has cried, I am ruined, while the clear-eyed angels have been celebrating his deliverance from the maelstrom that sucks down into hell. Welcome such losses! Blessed be such calamities! Let them be sudden and violent! Shall the passenger sleeping in his cabin complain because the captain has roughly aroused him to the fact that the vessel is in the swift, fierce hands of there demon rushing from stem to stern? Better so aroused than to sleep till escape is impossible. That can be no real calamity which wakes a man to the peril of his soul, and flings him on a huge wave up upon the Rock of Ages. A ship was settling down into the sea. Oh, the horror in every eye! Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave! But lo, a vessel of rescue drew near, and through speaking-trumpet the captain cried, as boats were launched for their succour, Come all on board with me! To us comes in sight a shining barque: angels man it, and: evening breezes wafting and lo! the Captain cries, My name is Jesus, My ship salvation, My haven heaven. Come all on board with Me! How wise to heed that voice! (G. T. Coster.)
The lessons of adversity
We have read of a ship departing from one of the New England ports in the early period of the colony: she never reached her destination; she was never heard of afterwards. The narrative went on to say that one pleasant summer afternoon, long after, the New England people were standing by the sea when they saw a vessel approach the shore which they knew by its build and rigging to be the very missing ship. It drew nearer and nearer until every line of rigging was visible, and even the faces of those on board. Then suddenly the vision faded, the sails dissolved in cloud, the spars were lost in the mist-lines of the sky, the hull disappeared beneath the waters, the spectre-barque was no more. So years ago we made Treat ventures, cherished great hopes, but to-day we know how many of these schemes have been dashed, and the ships we sent forth with so much pride and joy are now melting away into nothingness, like the apparitional ship of the legend. Our dreams of prosperity have proved nothing more than dreams; our fond hopes have been confounded. The ships of Jehoshaphat were not lost without a reason, neither are ours, and we ought humbly to learn the lessons of adversity.
I. We view our wrecked hopes in the light of rebuke. Our misfortune may be a rebuke for some immoral principle that has found expression in our life. I believe that there never was a period in the history of the world when morality was recognised in trade as fully as it is to-day; but this granted, there is plenty of immorality existent there still--much that is dishonest, unfair, selfish. The immorality of trade accounts for many a stagnation, many a crisis, many a black Friday. Our wrecked ships ought to call attention to the principles on which we have sailed them, and if we find that we have entered into immoral partnerships, brought into our business equivocal principles, made guilty concessions for the sake of realising some coveted gain or pleasure, we need not wonder that our ships have been broken, and we must be careful that the bitterest tears we shed over them are tears of penitence. Our misfortune may be a rebuke to the godless temper in which we have conducted our business. God stands at the back of the natural world and the commercial world, acting with infinite freedom throughout. There is a long chain of things, causes, forces, but the last link of the chain is in the hand of God. Let us accept these catastrophics as rebukes for our lack of religious thought and feeling in practical life. Our misfortunes are blessed if they show us our errors and sins, and lead us into truer pathways. There is no more awful thing in life than for a man to succeed in immoral and godless ways; any blasting wind is good that saves us from that. Thank God for disaster if it only opens our eyes and saves our soul.
II. We may view our wrecked ships in the light of mercy. We often see men tried by success, and they fail under the trial ignominiously. God knows what each of His children can and ought to bear, and He will not subject us to any unfitting or excessive ordeal. If your ships had brought the treasure you hoped for, you would have lived in a larger house, you would have ridden instead of walking as you do now, a great many more people would have known you than know you now, you would have sat with Dives instead of being the near neighbour of Lazarus.
III. We may view our wrecked ships in the light of discipline. If we do not regard the frustration of our hopes as aiming immediately at the salvation of our soul, we may certainly regard such disasters as designed to effect the development and enrichment of our soul. And is not this development and enrichment of the soul the grand end of life? Is not the top prize of existence the crown of personal and immortal righteousness? God perfects His people in very different ways; some through wealth, some through want, making both in the end equally complete. The mountains of the earth are all glorious, but, like the stars of the sky, they differ in glory. Up to a certain point life is a course of victory and ever-increasing volume of power and success; then, again, it is a story of frustration and failure; one voyage the ships bring the gold, the next they are broken. But let us be sure that in this way God designs to give us the fulness of perfection. The scientists tell us that during the great southern Glacial Period many southern plants were driven to northerly climates, and then again the glaciation of the northern hemisphere drove northern plants to southerly climates; and so on the Organ mountains of Brazil both Arctic and Antarctic plants are found commingled in strange brotherhood, testifying to the alternate glaciation of the two hemispheres. Brethren, as by the worlds changing climate the flowers of the two hemispheres have been assembled on these Brazilian mountains, mingling their divergent beauty and sweetness, so God, by alternations of health and sickness, success and failure, joy and sorrow, brings together in the character of His children all the bright graces of the moral universe.
IV. We may view our wrecked ships in the light of prophecy. They may remind us of the coming day when all our gold ships will go down in Jordans tide, leaving not a floating spar for us to gather. Keep that before you. Some Colonial writer objecting to Chinese immigration, says, The Chinaman thinks more of a splendid coffin than he does of an upright life. What a strange charge to bring against a Chinaman! Do not many Englishmen think more of a purple coffin than they do of a noble life? Let us not live for a splendid coffin, but for a splendid character. Let us live that we may be true and pure. Whatever this world has given us, it will soon demand from us, just as the waves of the sea suck back the glittering shells with which they first strewed the shore. Do not sail your soul in your ships. Lay up treasure where moth and rust do not corrupt. (W. L. Watkinson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the ships were wrecked
the ships were wrecked
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the ships wrecked" (See: Active or Passive)
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slept with his ancestors
Jehoshaphat dying is spoken of as if he had fallen asleep. See how you translated this in 1 Kings 2:10. AT: "died" (See: Metaphor and Euphemism)
was buried with them
This can be stated in active form. AT: "people buried him" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Jehoshaphat
gold
Ahaziah
Ahab
servant
asleep
bury
city of David
Jehoram
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 22:48-49 Jehoshaphat built this fleet of trading ships in…
22:48-49 Jehoshaphat built this fleet of trading ships in alliance with Ahaziah (see 2 Chr 20:35-37). Like Solomon, the two kings planned to send a fleet to Ophir in search of gold (1 Kgs 9:27-28; 10:11). The venture was ill-fated; to fulfill a prophetic warning (2 Chr 20:37), the Lord destroyed the fleet before it left port. Jehoshaphat wisely did not become entangled with Ahaziah a second time. • Ezion-geber was Solomon’s port city on the Gulf of Aqaba (1 Kgs 9:26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.