The Unequal Yoke
Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah & Co
Aim: To highlight the dangers of an unequal yoke in business
Text: 2 Chronicles 20:35-37
Introduction: So far in this series we have examined the principle surrounding the unequal yoke and we have considered how it is applied in the areas of friendship and marriage. This morning I want us to thinks about the area of business. This is perhaps one of the most difficult areas of all for the Christian. The world of commerce is awash with ethical dilemmas for the believer, but there is one dilemma that is simply solved if we would but have the resolve to accept God’s Word on it, and that is the dilemma of the unequal yoke in business partnership. Just as in marriage the combination of the believer with the unbeliever in business is almost always going to wind up in tears or compromise for the Christian. Why is that? Because the Christian businessman is of a different kind than his non-Christian counterpart. The way in which he conducts his business is different, or at least it should be.
Two men enter into a business; the one is a child of God, the other a man of the world, and the desire of the worldly man is only is to make money, he takes no though to the glory of God. These two are committed to the action of each other, and it is clear that whilst yoked, they cannot pull well together. What the unbeliever "sees no harm in." the believer’s conscience will not allow; or else the believer must yield, compromising the truth, defiling his conscience, and vexing his righteous soul from day to day. Inevitably it ends badly for the child of God. Prospects may be good for a time.
Our text this morning brings before us a case example. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, a child of God, entered into partnership with Ahaziah, king of Israel, a child of the devil, in a shipping adventure. Together they formed a merchant fleet. They were to sail a fleet of ships to Tarshish. But the Lord in mercy wrecked the whole fleet before they even made their first trip. Thus ended the short history of "Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah & Co."; and thus ends many a business partnership involving an unequal yoke, bringing ruin and loss to all the saints of God in connection with it. You see God won’t have it. God won’t bless it. God’s face is set against the unequal yoke, be it in worldly friendship, marriage or business.
I. The Company They Formed – vs. 35
A. As we read the record of God concerning Jehoshaphat in Scripture we find that over all he was well favoured of the Lord.
1. He was basically a good and godly man, his character can be summed up in 2 Chr 22:9 – “Jehoshaphat... sought the LORD with all his heart.”
2. But Jehoshaphat had one major flaw, and it lay in this area of the unequal yoke.
a. During his reign he made an alliance in marriage when he allowed his son to marry the daughter of ungodly Ahab.
b. He made an alliance militarily when he went to battle with Ahab against Syria, and
c. Here we see he made an alliance in the market place when he joined with Ahab’s son Ahaziah in forming a merchant navy.
B. Rarely could there have been two more diverse characters who combined in business as these two.
1. Jehoshaphat as we have said already was a godly man of generally good character.
2. As king of Judah he resisted the idolatry of some of his predecessors, he sent priests and Levites throughout his kingdom to teach God’s Word, he subdued enemy peoples and drew tribute from them, keeping a large standing army in Jerusalem, he introduced judicial reform in the land, appointing magistrates in every city, and a court of appeal, a supreme council which heard difficult and compex cases brought from the provinces.
3. Yet he made league with Ahaziah, who, like his father before him, was completely under the control of the wicked Queen Jezebel. Like his mother he was an idolater who worshipped Baal and who, afte suffering an injury enquired of Beelzebub, the idol of Ekron, if his health would improve.
4. How ever did Jehoshaphat end up in partnership with a man like Ahaziah?
5. Perhaps the secret lies in the language of verse 35.
a. There we read “after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel.”
b. The word “join” in this verse is an interesting one, indeed it is used three times in these three verses.
c. It is the word “chabar”, and it primarily refers to making a league with someone, but it also carries the notion of fascination, of being charmed, in particular of the ancient art of knot magic.
(i) A magic knot was viewed the convergence of the forces of the earth and the divine.
(ii) My friend right there we have a perfect picture of the unequal yoke – an attempt to converge, to join the earthy, the sensual and the carnal, wit the divine.
(iii) And, somehow, someway Ahaziah convinced Jehoshaphat that an alliance between the two would prove profitable.
(iv) He charmed him into it! He convinced him of it! Perhaps over a business lunch, perhaps with a fine portfolio of his interests, perhaps with a business plan that would entice any man – however he did it, Jehoshaphat gave himself to it and the result was a convergence of the holy with the unholy, of righteousness with unrighteousness, of light with of belief with unbelief, and such a union was always destined to failure.
II. The Commercial Interest They Shared – vs. 36
A. 1Kings 22:47 broadens our understanding of this arrangement when it says, “Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold.”
1. This was purely a business agreement – no more, no less.
2. But it ended in failure, in the collapse of the company, and as I have already said this was destined to happen.
3. Why so? Because it is a mismatch from the beginning.
4. In the area of business the believer and the unbeliever will aways be at odds.
B. They have different purposes.
1. The unsaved man goes into business with one aim, and one aim only, to make money.
a. Doesn’t the Christian businessman also want to make money?
b. Of course he does, but if he is a godly man, making money is not his primary purpose; glorifying God is his primary purpose.
c. Look up 1Tim 6:10
2. The godly man conducts his business with an eye on eternity; he is looking to the Lord and to the will of the Lord as he pursues his business.
a. James 4:13-15
b. James 5:1-7
(i) The lost man’s only interest is treasures upon earth, but the saved man ought to be laying up treasures in heaven (Matt 6:19-20) – again even in the making of money his eye is on a greater prize.
c. Luke 12:15-20
(i) Here the lost man’s purpose is exposed – he makes money, he expands his business all with an eye to early retirement – nothing wrong with that – except in this case the foolish man seeks to spend that time “eating, drinking and being merry” in other words on selfish pleasures without any thought of God.
(ii) Are there not many like him in the world, whose every thought is of the yacht, the villa, the place in the sun to wile away the final years in luxury, without a moment’s thought of what lays ahead after death.
d. Matthew 22:4-5
(i) Is this not a recurring theme? Here the invitation of Christ is ignored in favour of personal gain.
3. So a believing man, who is living for the Lord, yoked up with an unbelieving man is off to a bad start, for the one is driven by the glory of God whilst the other is driven by pure gain.
C. They have different principles.
1. God’s Word has much to say about business principles, and the Christian businessman cannot afford to ditch his faith once he enters the boardroom.
2. There is the matter of fidelity – how important it is in business, particularly for the Christian, that he is trustworthy.
a. See 2 Kings 12:15 – Notice that those who had oversight of repairs to the temple did not “reckon with” or ask an account of those who were subcontracting the work – why? Because “they dealt faithfully.” In other words they were trustworthy in business. There is the standard for the Christian businessman. He can be relied upon and is dependable.
3. There is the matter of honesty – Leviticus 19:35-36.
a. I have heard it said you cannot be in business and be honest at the same time – that’s a lie.
(i) I have been privileged to know some very honest Christian businessmen, who have a reputation for fair dealings – that is how it ought to be.
4. There is the matter of industry – Proverbs 13:11
a. There is something to be said for hard work, but let me tell you we are living in age when men want money for nothing, they look to any means that will allow them to get rich quick.
5. We could go on, we have said little about diligence or integrity, but you hold these standards up to accepted business practice in the modern world and you will find many who fall far short.
a. Dishonesty, fraud, extortion, and tax evasion are all around.
b. That is why the Christian will either have to compromise his convictions or else be at odds with his partner when he goes into business with the unsaved.
D. They have different practices.
1. Your principles impact on your practices.
2. Let us think immediately of a very obvious area of conflict the area of Sunday trading.
a. The lost man will, quite naturally, want to do as much business in the week as he can. Consequently he will have little qualms about Sunday trading.
b. But what of the Christian man? Will he really want to open up shop on a Sunday, will he want his mind filled with thoughts of invoices, receipts, customer needs, contracts and management issues whilst he attends to the worship of God? Does he want his employees to work seven days a week? I don’t think so. I am not a Sabbattarian, but I am quite sure that if I were running a business my doors would be closed on Sundays.
3. Let us think about cash flow.
a. The Word of God calls upon a believer to pay his bills and to pay them promptly – Lev 19:13.
b. The unsaved man will reason that I he can hold the money in his account another day or two it will mean added interest – so he will calmly tell his creditors, “The cheque is in the post” knowing full weel the cheque hasn’t been written and the money is in his account.
4. Let us think about taxation – the Bible says “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)
a. “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom.” (Rom 13:7)
b. No room here for cooking the books, juggling the figures, evading payment, no place for “just give me cash”.
5. Think about employer/employee relations
a. This involves treating your employees fairly – Col 4:1
b. Paying them on time – Deut 24:15
c. Paying a fair, living wage – Mal 3:5
d. Providing good working conditions – Eph 6:9
(i) Illus: Working for J.T compared to Billy McT
6. A lost man’s practices are conditioned by none of these things, outside the laws of the land he is a law on to himself, and for that reason the believer and the unbeliever who partner in a business venture are destined for failure.
7. Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah were never going to make it.
III. The Condemnation They Experienced – vs. 37.
A. Here is the bottom line; the unequal yoke in business will not succeed because God won’t bless it!
1. See Psalm 127:1a
B. Notice that when the Word of God came it came to Jehoshaphat – not to Ahaziah.
1. I said it when we spoke about marriage and I want to reiterate it as we think about the Christian in business – the fault lies not with the unsaved man, but with the saved man – he should no better, therefore God speaks to Jehoshaphat alone.
2. And I wonder what he thought when news came that his great naval fleet, preparing to set sail to Ophir in search of gold was wasted on the rocks at Eziongaber?
3. How Jehoshaphat needed to take to heart that Word from God which says, “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together", … “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
Conclusion: It is perfectly clear from this that a believer’s business in the world is to be conducted in the name of the Lord Jesus, and to the glory of God. When he enters his workshop or the office on Monday morning, he ought to do so in the name of the Lord Jesus, as truly as he entered the place where the saints gathered in that Name the day before.
He ought to "buy" and "sell" to the glory of God, and as under His holy eye, just as he worshipped and served beneath it on the first day of the week
