Metaphysical meaning of Jehoshaphat (mbd)
Jehoshaphat, je-hosh'-a-phat (Heb.)--whom Jehovah has judged; judgment of Jehovah; rulership of Jah; government of Jehovah; whom Jah sets upright; rectitude of Jehovah.
a Son of Asa and fourth king of Judah (I Kings 15:24; II Chron. 17:1 to 21:1). b There were other Israelites by this name, some of them quite prominent men (II Sam. 8:16; I Kings 4:17; II Kings 9:2). Joel 3:2, 12 mentions the valley of Jehoshaphat, that is, "Jehovah judgeth" (margin). This valley of Jehoshaphat was a place where all nations were to be gathered for judgment.
Meta. The development, in consciousness, of the divine idea of judgment. Jehovah, I AM, gives forth its idea of judgment, which is incorporated in man's consciousness and called Jehoshaphat. Communication with Jehovah is established when man, by dwelling in thought upon divine ideas, harmonizes his thought realm with Divine Mind.
Divine judgment can be established in every function of our organism by our commanding that the various thought centers (cities) shall have a perpetual presiding thought of good judgment. This is the way to "set garrisons in the land" (II Chron. 17:2). False-judgment thoughts often infest the various centers through which the bodily functions are carried on. You will find that your stomach center has many arbitrary ideas as to what you should put into it. It may refuse to digest certain things that are good for your general health, and may cheerfully work on other things that are detrimental. No two people agree on what they can digest, yet there should be, and is, a divine law of harmony in this respect, as there is in all others. The kingdom must be established in good judgment; that having been done, the whole system, represented by Judah, will contribute to upbuilding in righteousness and Truth, and man will have "riches and honor in abundance" (verse 5).
Asherim typify human love with its animal propensities. Through Jehoshaphat's allegiance to Jehovah the inner forces (Judah) are purified. "He took away . . . the Asherim out of Judah" (II Chron. 17:6). Fine discrimination is required in order to distinguish between human and divine love. All love is divine in its origin, but in passing through the lens of man's mind it is apparently broken into many colors. Yet, like the ray of white light, it ever remains pure. Man's province is to make its manifestations in his life just as pure as its origin. This requires painstaking discrimination and good judgment.
We are warned not to help or love the ungodly desires and propensities. Under the Mosaic law of character cleansing the most severe measures are recommended for accomplishing this result. Every enemy was slaughtered without mercy, and the most barbaric methods were adopted in exterminating those who opposed Israel. This is a parable: the enemies are false thoughts and error ways; they are to be utterly exterminated in thought and act.
The essential teaching of the lesson in II Chronicles 17 is that the establishment of judgment in the inner forces of the consciousness, through the I AM, overcomes all adverse ideas in the organism and contributes greatly toward peaceful and harmonious expression in both mind and body. "Mighty men of valor," that is, dominant ideas of power, strength, and judgment, are established in Jerusalem (verses 13 to 18), the dominant center of consciousness at the heart, through the reign of judgment founded in Principle.
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