Jehoshaphat had previously sent teachers throughout the land
of Judah to teach his people the ways of God.
Now, you have surely heard it stated, people do not do what you expect, they do
what you inspect. Jehoshaphat was wise
enough to do some inspecting. Even though he had made a serious mistake in
making a league with Ahab (and, yes, he got into trouble for that), he didn't
allow that to stop him from holding his people accountable for the truth which
they had been exposed to.
It should go without saying that information alone is not
necessarily beneficial. Even good
spiritual truth (though it is packed with potential and power) must be
unpackaged and implemented to be productive and fruitful. Jehoshaphat expected
his people to react appropriately to the teaching which they had received. So, he sent judges throughout his kingdom to
make sure that they did indeed allow the truth to set them free.
Now, concerning those judges, Jehoshaphat charged them to
make their judicial decisions and to issue their edicts based upon God's shadow
as it was cast over them, not considering the contrary preferences of any man
or group of men (2nd
Chronicles 19:6). Additionally, Jehoshaphat specifically called those judges to
consider God's transcendent perfection as the ultimate Judge (2nd Chronicles
19:7). He was inferring plainly that they
should never play favorites, nor accept bribes.
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