Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1878-02-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
The International SundaySchool Les.
SON for February 3d-Jehosa-
phat Repr0ved II. ChrOn. 10: 1.9.

Phat Reproved III. ChrOn. 10: 1.9
From the New York Christian Union.
"There Is no iniquity with the Lord
our God, nor respect of persons, mol
taking of gifts. III. Chron. XIX.
1t is impossible to understand the
meaning of the events recorded i'm thi:
chapter without review of The pre-.
ceding history. The one evil act of .Je.
hOsaphats life was his alliance with
Ahab, King of Israel. Politically, il
seemed to be expedisnt. The wars be-
tween tho tv o kingdoms wasted the re
sources of both aud rendered them liable
to become a prey Of the stronger nations
OH the north, the east and the south.
So seemingly harmless was it i'm its i'm
mediate effects that it was not surprisin.
that Dean Stanley says of it, .'On the
whole the result was such as to leave be-
hind the recollection Of reign of lr,-
verbal splendOr. Nevertheless, in its
final results it brought nothing but evil
upon the kingdom, for it was an alliance
with nation morally corrunt and NOR
ally corrupting."
The alliance was both offensive and
defensive. Il. Kings, xii, A. The son
of Jehosaphat. Jehoram, and the daugh.
ter of Ahab, Athalish, were married, as
a means of cementing more firmly the
treaty between the empires. "The close
ness OF the alliance between the two
kings is shown by many circumstances.
Elijah's reluctance when in exile to set
foot within the territory of Judah; the
identity OF names given to the children
Of the royal families; the admission OF
names compounded of the name of Je-
hovah into the family of Jezebel and the
alacrity with which Jehosaphat accom-
panied Ahab to the field of battle"
The results were Il needless war with
Syria. in which JehOsaphat. falling Into
the design of the crafty Ahab, barely es-
capped with his life; a second war in nj
liaEce with Jchoram, the son of Ahab
against Moab, from which the army OF
Judah was only delivered by divine help
the apostacy of Judah after the death OF
Jehosaphat through the influence of the
idOlatrOus queen; the re-establishmeni
of gross idOlatry; the loss of part OF It's
territory, and period of disaster from
which it finally recovered only with q
revolution TO be hereinafter described.
As Jehnsaphat was returning from the
campaign against Syria. at the head ol
his army, Jehu. the son of Hanani, who
had rebuked King Asa, went out to
meet him, and publicly rebuked him fol-
the evil OF the alliance which he had
formed. Ii is one of the notable evi.
dences Of JehOsaphat's noble character
that he took the rebuke to heart as he
did. We hear but once more of any al.
| lance with Israel, and this apparently
but for temporary commercial venture.
And when, not long alter this rebuke
Judah was attacked by Moab. the king
resOrted not to his unholy alliance. but
to prayer and trust IN God.
The Immediate fleet was second re.
ligiOus revival. For this purpose the
king made a personal visit to all the
principal cities of the land, from one
end OF the kingdom to the other (verse
~ He had previously organized the ed
ucatiOnal system of the county; he now
recognized its judiciary. Corruption i'm
the courts is an almost universal char
aCieristic of pagan cOuntries-at least. OF
those which possess any courts whatso-
ever. Injustice and ir-rcligiOn go hand
in hand. JehOsaphat established local
courts i'm all the walled cities; admOi,.
iShed them 10 judge i'm the tear of the
Lord; lrned them against that bribe.
ry which is universal i'm all oriental
courts; and appointed court of appeal
TO sit ia Jerusalem, composed of repre-.
sentatives from the Levites or religious
teachers, the priests or administrators OF
public worship, and the chief of the
fathers or the lay elders. These courts
had jurisdiction of criminal, of civil and
of ecclesiastical proceedings, (verses III
and Ill., though it would seem from the
language of verse IL that ecclesiastical
proceedings-''ail matters OF the Lord
were brought for final review before the
chief priest, and all matters respecting
the government-'all the king matters
before judge especially appointed for
that purpose.
In this organization of judiciary Je-
hOsOphat was a refOrmer, not a creator;
he did but recognize the system which
Moses had, by direction of God. establish.
ed years before in The wilderness. For a
comparison of Jeho:Optla,'s system with
that OF Moses, see Exodus xviii, 2l-25;
Numbers XII, "a; Deut. X. IL: Is. 10.
We have already said that ChristcndOm
owes its public schools to Judaism; we
may also say that it owes to judaism It's
judicial system. The essence of despot.
lsm consists i'm cOnionnding Judicial, leg
islative and executive functions, amt
making the king at once an officer to ad.
minister the laws aid to determine their
construction and application. The ap.
pOilitment OF special officers disinterest-
ed TO determine questions of controversy
70 decide upon the meaning OF laws, anl
| to apply them to questions OF right be-
tween man and man. Was not only firsI
original among the Jewish people but fl
Il long time was confined exclusively t.
the system established by Moses anJ re-
yived by JehosOphat is to be found in
either the political systems of nations o.
that day or in the oriental d,spotisms o
our own time.
THOUGHTS FOR THE CLASS.
!. The courage of Jehu. The minister
of the Lord, ordained or unOrdaiued
charged with message must first OF al
have courage. Compare the courage o
Samuel and Saul. 1Samurl xiii, Is, IA
Nathan before David. 2 Samuel xii, z
Paul before Felix. Acts xiv, %. Com
pare Paul's prayer, Ephesians vi, 10.
/ 3. There is evil in evil associations.
man is known by the company he keep:
There is evil from evil associations N,
man can judge what the fruit or littl