seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 17:1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father Davidbefore him. He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. 5 The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. 6 His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. 8 With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram.9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
The commentary is from enduringword.com.
To teach in the cities of Judah: These “teaching priests” have been mentioned by the Chronicler before (2 Chronicles 15:3). They had the important role of bringing the word of God to the people, especially those who lived outside of Jerusalem.
They taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people: This was the wisest and best policy a security-conscious king of Judah could promote. Because Jehoshaphat sought God first, God sent fear upon the neighboring kingdoms, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
“By this little band of princes, Levites and priests, sixteen in all, Jehoshaphat did more toward impressing the surrounding nations with a sense of his power than the largest and best-equipped standing army could have secured to him.” (Knapp)
“The method adopted was what in these modern times we might describe as the holding of Special Missions throughout the cities of Judah, for the specific purpose of proclaiming and interpreting ‘the book of the law of Jehovah.’” (Morgan)
“Thus the nation became thoroughly instructed in their duty to God, to the king, and to each other. They became, therefore, as one man; and against a people thus united, on such principles, no enemy could be successful.” (Clarke)
“It is said (2 Chronicles 17:2) Jehoshaphat placed forces in all the fenced cities; yet it is not said thereupon that ‘the fear of the Lord fell upon the neighbour nations.’ But when he had established a preaching ministry in all the cities, then his enemies had a fear, and made no war.” (Trapp)
The easy English has less preachy information.
Jehoshaphat was the 4th king of Judah. He was the son of Asa and Azubah. He was 35 years of age when he became king. This was the 4th year of the rule of Ahab in Israel. Jehoshaphat ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years (1 Kings 22:41-42). He started to rule in 873 BC and he died in 849 BC.
Jehoshaphat was aware of possible attacks from Israel. So, he made the cities in Judah strong to defeat any attacks. He made his army strong and he put soldiers in the cities to defend them. This included the cities that his father had captured in Ephraim (15:8). Also, he made army camps with the soldiers ready for war.
Jehoshaphat was loyal to the LORD and he did not worship false gods. Because of this, the LORD was with him.
It was the custom to give gifts to the king when he started to rule. Then, each year the leaders of the people would give gifts to the king. But Jehoshaphat was such a good king that all the people in Judah brought gifts to him. So, he became wealthy and his people respected him.
Usually the priests were the teachers of the people. But in his third year, Jehoshaphat sent 5 officials to teach in the towns of Judah. He sent two priests and 9 Levites with these officials. They taught the people from the book of the law of the LORD. Jehoshaphat realised that this was important. God’s people must know how God wants them to live.
So Jehoshaphat realized that the people hadn't been worshiping properly, largely because the people were ignorant.
In the beginning of the "Law" the humans had to memorize the law. There weren't a lot of books and the majority of the people didn't know how to read, You can bet your sweet bippy there were no women in those classrooms. If a woman wanted to know what was in those scrolls... she pretty much had to get it from listening nearby or by gossip.... yep gossip was a good way to spread the word among women and children. I wonder, if there were computers back in the days of Jehoshaphat, would history be different? Jehoshaphat realized that humans need to be taught. He probably learned that humans are also easy to put to sleep.
