2 Ch. 17: Teachin' Jehoshaphat!

2 Chronicles 17:9 "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."

Jehoshaphat's reign is briefly touched on in 1 Kings 22 (entry) where he offers ignored advice to Israel's King Ahab regarding fighting the Aramites. 

Here we see a man so interested in the ways of God he sends teachers to the towns throughout Judah. Priests and prophets go out in an attempt to pass on a passion for the ways of God. Can you imagine what those messages must have been like? Been about?

I wonder if they taught along the lines of like, "Look what happens when you don't follow the law. Look at Ahab. Look at what's going on with Israel. Consider Rehoboam." And it goes on. I don't know.

But because of this devotion, God rewarded Judah with an awe and fear from the surrounding, tribute-bringing nations.

The righteousness of Jehoshaphat in a way negated the need to have an armed force. God put the fear of God into these surrounding nations so that they dared not rise up against Judah. Can that still happen? What if a nation was so devoted to God that God in turn protected that nation from other nations, rendering a militia useless? Just curious. It's a gut level reaction, what do you want?