There was a problem in Israel.
“For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction...” 2 Chr 15:3.
The people needed teaching to understand and apply the Word of God. This seems so foreign to us in the West as Bible teachers abound. But this isn’t the way in many places in the world. And it wasn’t the way in Israel.
When King Asa died, that good and (mostly) righteous king, his son Jehoshaphat began to lead. One of the first things he did was to release the teachers.
“In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials–Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah–to teach in the cities of Judah…They taught throughout Judah, having the book of the LORD’s instruction with them. They went throughout the towns of Judah and taught the people” (2 Chr 17:7,9).
The teachers literally went village to village and town to town and taught the people in the ways of the Lord. It was the entourage of the traveling teachers.
I love that. The teachers went to the people and taught. They didn’t have to come to “priest” seminary to get advanced training, but the priests came to the people. In their homes, villages and synagogues.
It’s something I think of often. How do we teach in these days and times? Not just a preacher getting up to teach in front of masses that leave no room for people to ask questions and interact, but really teach? To give Bible training? To multiple Biblical truth in a time when Biblical truth is being neglected, adapted or watered down?
I think of this a lot
The best is always in person. But in pandemic times that is not so easy. So we adapt. There’s zoom discipleship and YouTube. It’s why I’m just starting to invest a lot more in YouTube because just in the last 22 days, I’ve “taught” for 262 hours. YouTube and online are the new marketplace. Especially in pandemic times.
But there’s still a need to be teaching more in person. Even if it’s just 1-on-1 in zoom to allow people to ask questions and engage. But how do you find the seekers? How do teachers and seekers connect? How do the teachers come to the people?
Still thinking on these things.
