‏ 2 Chronicles 17:1-6

CHAPTER 17

2Ch 17:1-6. Jehoshaphat Reigns Well and Prospers.

1. Jehoshaphat ... strengthened himself against Israel--The temper and proceedings of the kings of Israel rendered it necessary for him to prepare vigorous measures of defense on the northern frontier of his kingdom. These consisted in filling all the fortresses with their full complement of troops and establishing military stations in various parts of the country, as well as in the cities of Mount Ephraim, which belonged to Jehoshaphat (2Ch 15:8).

3-5. he walked in the first ways of his father David--He imitated the piety of his great ancestor in the early part of his reign before he made those unhappy lapses which dishonored his character.

and sought not unto Baalim--a term used for idols generally in contradistinction to the Lord God of his father.

6. his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord--Full of faith and piety, he possessed zeal and courage to undertake the reformation of manners, to suppress all the works and objects of idolatry (see on 2Ch 20:33), and he held out public encouragement to the pure worship of God.

2Ch 17:7-11. He Sends Levites to Teach in Judah.