2 Chronicles 17:1-19
1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.
2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.
3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;
4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
5 Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah broughta to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.
6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.
7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.
8 And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.
9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.
10 And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
11 Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he goats.
12 And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles,b and cities of store.
13 And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the men of war, mighty men of valour, were in Jerusalem.
14 And these are the numbers of them according to the house of their fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the chief, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred thousand.
15 And nextc to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and fourscore thousand.
16 And next him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valour.
17 And of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him armed men with bow and shield two hundred thousand.
18 And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war.
19 These waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.
2 Chronicles 17:7. Sent to his princes to teach. Illustrious men have often engaged in these sacred services on special occasions. David, Jonathan his learned uncle, and the kings or princes of Israel. 1 Chronicles 27:32.
2 Chronicles 17:9. And had the book of the Lord with them; a manuscript Pentateuch, from which they read and expounded the law, with other effusions of the heart.
REFLECTIONS.
A religious king makes a religious people, and a pious sovereign is happy and secure among his religious subjects. Many and great are the advantages of conveying religious and moral instruction to a nation at large. The generous soul of Jehoshaphat, feeling all those advantages in himself, was anxious to impart them to all his people. With these laudable views, he roused the priests and levites from their supineness; he sent princes to superintend the design, and to judge the harder causes. Under those efforts the glory of moral and religious instruction shone forth with a lustre as welcome as the beams of day, and dispersed the gloom that hovered over the land. Every family felt an augmentation of its happiness, and regarded the sovereign as the common parent and benefactor of the whole land. It is also added with pleasure, that the effects on the country exceeded the most sanguine expectations. So great was the encrease of population, so many were the Jews and strangers who sought happiness and protection under the house of David, that on dividing the kingdom into five military districts, Jehoshaphat could poll for war one million one hundred and sixty thousand men, a number exceeding the poll of all Israel in the days of David. And the number was not only astonishing, but they were now made really men by instruction, and consequently, better subjects, better artists, and better soldiers. How narrow, how cruel is that policy which would suggest, and from a mitre too, that the Sunday schools convey too much knowledge to the common people. Why deny them all the share of intellectual happiness of which their circumstances will admit? What can better preserve them from disliking the noisy and brutish conversation of the alehouse, than recourse in the evenings to excellent books at home. What can be a better pledge of domestic and public integrity than a thorough knowledge of relative duties. Is it not everywhere found that the education and morals of the generality of criminals has been grossly neglected? Hence the example of Jehoshaphat, in the instruction of all his people, was worthy of a king, and worthy of the imitation of all future ages.
Our next remarks turn on the advantages of itinerant instruction. It diffused talents through the land, it roused the spirit of enquiry in the people, and inspired all classes of men with diligence. Daniel saw in the spirit that the conversion of the heathen would proceed in this way from the apostolic labours. “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be encreased.” In like manner the reformation from popery was effectuated in a great degree, according to Mr. John Fox, by well-disposed men going through the north of Germany, and through Great Britain, with the books of the reformers, and aiding the people by their conversation and piety. I might even here mention some Catholic missionaries, men of popular eloquence, who have instructed the poor in France. But no two men were ever more distinguished in the diffusion of evangelical knowledge since the apostolic age, than John Wesley, and George Whitefield. The church, the various denominations of the old dissenters, the whole in short, of the British empire, and of the United States, have more or less received a lustre from their flame. And in this age, in which we have made transition from simplicity to a torrent of wealth and luxury, what would have become of us in our populous manufacturing towns, if the principles of immorality and vice had not been powerfully counteracted by the principles of religion and virtue? We should have been as Sodom, or like unto Gomorrah.