In succeeding to the throne of Judah Jehoshaphat simply followed the
course of a law, but in strengthening himself against Israel he indicated
a personal policy.
How definitely the statement reads!
“And Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself
against Israel.”
There is no doubt or hesitation in the mind of Jehoshaphat as to the
course which ought to be pursued. He did not simply think that he would
strengthen himself against Israel; he had not a merely momentary vision
of a possible fortification against the enemy; but he carried out his
purpose, and thus challenged northern Israel. On the other hand, how
peaceful is the declaration that is here made! There is not an aggressive
tone in all the statement.
Innocent Jehoshaphat simply “strengthened himself against Israel”--that
is to say, he put himself into a highly defensive position, so that if
the enemy should pour down from the north Jehoshaphat would be secured
against his assaults.
Every thing, therefore, depends on the point of view which we take of
this policy. But the thing which history has made clear is that a man
often lays down a policy before awaiting the issue of events which would
determine its scope and tone.
All this was done by Jehoshaphat before he connected himself by marriage
with the northern dynasty.
A marriage may upset a policy; a domestic event may alter the course of
a king’s thinking, and may readjust the lines of a nation’s relation to
other kingdoms.
The wise man holds himself open to the suggestion and inspiration of
events. No man is as wise today as he will be tomorrow--provided, he pay
attention to the literature of providence which is being daily written
before his eyes. Our dogmatics, whether in theology or in state policy,
should be modified by the recollection that we do not now know all
things, and that further light may show what we do know in a totally
different aspect. Our policy, like our bread, should in a sense be from
day to day.
When men are omniscient they may lay down a theological program from
which departure would be blasphemy; but until they are omniscient they
had better write with modesty and subscribe even their best constructed
creeds with reservations which will leave room for providence.
“And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways
of his father, David, and sought not unto Baalim.”
The Lord was not with Jehoshaphat because he strengthened himself against
Israel, nor because he had placed forces in all the fenced cities of
Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and within the streets of
Ephraim. Not one of these little triumphs is referred to as affording God
a basis for the complaisant treatment of the new king.
As ever, the Lord’s relation to Jehoshaphat was determined by
Jehoshaphat’s own moral condition. A very beautiful expression is this:
“He walked in the first ways of his father, David.” That is to say, in
the former or earlier ways of David, as contrasted with David’s later
conduct.
Some have found here a tacit allusion to David’s greatest sin, which he
committed when he was advanced in life. A somewhat mournful thing it
is that a man’s first ways should be better than his last. The other
relation would seem to be the one which reason would approve and God
would specially honor--namely, that a man’s old age should be the ripest
and best part of his conduct--rich with wisdom, strong with experience,
and chastened by many a pensive recollection.
Sad when you have to go back to a man’s youth to find his virtues or his
most conspicuous excellences; but most beautiful when a man’s earlier
mistakes are lost in the richness and wisdom of his later conduct.
Jehoshaphat’s conduct in this matter is the more notable because of the
constant observation of mankind that it is easier to follow the evil than
to imitate the good. When imitation enters into a man’s life he is apt to
copy that which is inferior, and to leave without reproduction that which
is lofty and disciplinary.
In this instance Jehoshaphat sets an example to the world. His conduct,
too, is represented negatively as well as positively--“and sought not
unto Baalim.” The word “Baalim” is in the plural number, and the literal
reading might be: “Jehoshaphat sought not the Baals.” The Baals were
different local aspects or phases of the Sun god.
It is to be specially noted that the term Baal includes an aspect even of
Jehovah--that is to say, Israel had degenerated so far as to suppose that
in worshiping Baal they were worshiping at least one phase of the true
God.
It is often difficult to abandon a popular custom. More people might be
in favor of Jehoshaphat strengthening himself against Israel than in
returning to the first ways of David and abandoning the altar of the
Baals.
History and religion are always considered in their separate distribution.
There are politicians who would vote for a war who would on no account
surrender a superstition. On the other hand, there are men who pride
themselves on being free of the influence of superstition, yet who would
enter willingly into the most sanguinary wars for the extension of empire
or the glory of some particular throne.
In Jehoshaphat we seem to come into contact with a complete character--in
other words, a man who in every point was equally strong, a man of
foresight, a man of reverence, a man of an honest heart, a man who felt
that idolatry and true worship could not co-exist in the same breast.
“But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in His
commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.”
We must be prepared for singularity if we are genuinely prepared to be
good. Let a man settle it with himself in prayerful solitude whether he
means to walk with God or to identify himself with the spirit and customs
of his age.
Jehoshaphat laid down a clear program for himself, and he followed it
out with patient and faithful industry. “The Lord God of his father” was
not a mere term in a crowd; it was the object of daily search and quest.
Jehoshaphat inquired for Him, and operated constantly upon the doctrine:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Nor was Jehoshaphat’s religion merely speculative--that is to say, an
intellectual quest after an intellectual God. Whatever was speculative
in the mind and service of Jehoshaphat was sustained and ennobled by a
solid moral element. He read the Decalogue; he studied the Word of God;
he would take no action--personal, regal or social--that was not first
examined and approved in the light of the divine statutes.
All this might have been comparatively easy if Jehoshaphat had started at
an independent point; but at such a point no man can start, for he must
take up the age as he finds it, and must first disembarrass himself from
all the stipulations and claims of custom, usage and popular superstition.
Jehoshaphat sought not after the doings of Israel. He set himself up in
this respect against the kingdom. He was not afraid of peculiarity; in a
word, Jehoshaphat’s religion was characteristic; it had lines, points and
colors of its own, about which there could be no reasonable mistake.
What is our religion?
Do we intellectually assent to the existence and sovereignty of one
God, and then degenerate into self-worship? Do we admit that there must
be an ultimate morality, a philosophy of conduct founded on eternal
metaphysics; and then do we measure our own behavior by the canon of
custom?
These are questions that search the heart, and no man can answer them for
his brother.
What became of all this noble conduct arising out of this high religious
conception? We shall see in the following verse:
“Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all
Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents, and he had riches and honor in
abundance.”
Whatever was doubtful about the ascent of Jehoshaphat to the throne was
removed, and the king was enabled to realize his power. When he closed
his hand on the royal scepter he found that he was not grasping a shadow
but a reality.
There are times when men become fully conscious of their influence and
of their proper social position; happy are they if in this consciousness
they detect a prevailing religious element, which constrains them to
acknowledge that honor and wealth, power and dignity are the gifts of
God. Is not this an anticipation of the Savior’s great doctrine: “Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you”?
Jehoshaphat did not seek riches and honor. But he sought to the Lord God
of his father and walked in the divine commandments, and as a result
he enjoyed all that kings delight in as indicating strength, renown and
influence.
“And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord; moreover, he took
away the high places and the groves out of Judah.”
The expression “his heart was lifted up” is an awkward one. The lifting
up of the heart signifies increase of pride, a sensation of vanity, a
desire to gratify personal ambition, and to make an idol of his will. In
this instance the marginal reading is to be preferred--“was encouraged;”
or otherwise, “his courage rose high.” It has also been rendered:
“Jehoshaphat grew bold”--that is to say, he was not a timid reformer or
a timid worshiper, nor a trimmer or time server in any sense. He was a
heroic worshiper of the living God. When he saw that reform was necessary
he went forward with a steady step and an energetic hand.
We should call Jehoshaphat a man of conviction and a man who had the
courage of his convictions. Altogether, this is the outline of a noble
personage--a born king, a man who has a right to the purple and the
scepter. When such men ascend thrones nations should be glad and rejoice
with a great joy, for their character is grander than their office and
their spirit is the best guarantee of the elevation and utility of their
regal policy.
Becoming conscious of his power, knowing that his kingdom was established
from on high, Jehoshaphat not only did not seek the Baals himself, but he
took away the high places and groves out of Judah.
Jehoshaphat was not content with a merely personal religion. He could
not convert the hearts of his people, but he could destroy all the
symbols of unholy worship.
Men are only required to do that which lies in their power. A proprietor
may not be able to make people sober, but he can forbid the introduction
of temptations to drunkenness. A parent may not be able to subdue
the spirit of pride, but he can in many instances limit the means of
gratifying it.
There are reforms which are open to us all--in personal custom, in social
habit, and it may be even in imperial ways. Let each Jehoshaphat seize
his opportunity and magnify it.
All this would have been comparatively in vain but for another step
which Jehoshaphat took. In the third year of his reign he sent to his
princes--that is to say, he sent his princes--and he sent Levites, all
of whose names are given; and he sent also two priests, Elishama and
Jehoram, and their business was purely educational.
“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.”
This was a mixed commission--partly civil, partly ecclesiastical. The men
here mentioned are otherwise unknown. We identify them as educational
reformers, or reformers who operated through the medium of education.
They were not warriors, destroyers, revolutionists, but men who addressed
the mind and understanding and conscience, and caused men to know that
the true law was from above and not from beneath.
The book which the commission had in hand was the Pentateuch, or the law
of Moses. This was known to be the law which alone could touch all the
vital necessities of the commonwealth. Again and again we are constrained
to admit that there is a law beyond man, above man, in a sense apart from
man. Men are not driven within themselves to find a law, an instinct,
or a reason. They have a written statute, an authoritative declaration,
a book which Christian teachers do not hesitate to describe as a
revelation, and to that they call the attention of men.
If the teacher were teaching out of his own consciousness he would be
but an equal, often exposing himself to the destructive criticism of his
more advanced and penetrating scholars; but the teacher takes his stand
on a book--on _the_ Book, the Bible--a revelation which he believes to be
divine and final.
Say what we will, the effect of Bible teaching must be judged by its
fruits.
Where are the nations that are most distinguished for wide and varied
intelligence, for large and exhaustive sympathy, for missionary
enterprise, for philanthropic institutions and for all the elements which
give grace and beauty to social existence?
The question should admit of definite reply.
The facts are before men; let them judge fearlessly and honestly, and we
need have no apprehension concerning their verdict.
Wherever the word of the Lord has had free course superstition has
been chased away, human slavery has been abolished, every instance
of intolerance, injustice, unkindness has felt the influence of holy
thought. In all these matters discussion should be limited strictly to
facts. Thus kings can help nations, not by forcing education, not by
attempting to rule opinion, not by setting up standards of orthodoxy to
fall short of which is to incur penalty; but by spreading education, by
extending light, by cultivating a spirit of inquiry, and by a generous
multiplication of all the instrumentalities needed for the destruction of
ignorance. What may come of this we are not supposed at this moment to
know.
Meanwhile, let us be thankful that we are face to face with a man who has
conviction, courage, independence, high patriotism and generous impulse,
and let us hope that his end may be as beautiful as his beginning was
promising.