2 Crônicas 19

2 Crônicas 19

Barber - “Many of his subjects had never seen their king in person, and to have him visit their small city or village must have had an impact on them” God speaks through His prophet. Jehoshaphat responds from his heart. And brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers - NIV = "turned them back to the LORD" NLT - "encouraging the people to return to the LORD" The implication is that the people had to some degree backslidden (cf Backsliding). Brought back is the Hebrew verb shub/sub which describes a movement back to the point of departure. The Septuagint translates it with the verb epistrepho which means to turn around, to turn toward, a return to a point or area where one has been before and in this context describes a definite turn to God in heart and mind and in conduct. Jehoshaphat's heart was set on Yahweh and he sought that same experience for his subjects. In a sense this is similar to revival, a bringing back to life that which was once alive but now bringing it back to full blown so to speak. This action of Jehoshaphat reminds us of his father Asa's action in 2Ch 15:8-13+ when he heard the words of the prophet Azariah. THOUGHT - Every time we go to the Word of God, we are in a sense going to a "prophet," but even more than a prophet, for a prophet was an intermediary for the Word of the LORD, but the Scripture is Yahweh speaking directly (Isa 55:11), yea, even "breathing" on us and into us the Living and Active Word (Heb 4:12+), in effect giving us "divine resuscitation" from the God breathed Word (2Ti 3:16+). The question for each of us (every time we go to the Fountain of His Word) is how will we respond? Will respond like Ahab who heard the clear prophetic word but failed to heed it (and suffered the consequences of not heeding) or will we respond like Jehoshaphat (and his father Asa - to the first prophet) and experience "times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord?" (Acts 3:19+). In short, when we go to the living Word, we should expect to some degree to experience revival of our souls. Psalm 119:25+ says "My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word." In simple terms, to experience daily revival, re-Bible! Gustafson makes a great point - It is encouraging that God used Jehoshaphat in this way immediately after he took to heart Jehu’s rebuke. Jehoshaphat acted like his ancestor David when the joy of God’s salvation was restored to him in Psalm 51:13: “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee”. (Digital - What the Bible Teaches: 1 and 2 Chronicles or book - WTBT 1 and 2 Chronicles )