II Chronicles 17:9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.
Everything Old is New
The other night my 13-year-old son, Weston, had a short-sleeve shirt on that was rolled up at the sleeves. A friend of ours told Weston that this was the style when he was a kid, long before Weston was born. Everything that goes around comes around! I remember folding my sleeves up when I was a teenager, so this was a fashion in the 60’s, 80’s, and, presumably, now.
In any event, everything old is new to people who don’t know. In II Chronicles 17 we see a partnership between new and old. Jehoshaphat, a new king, “walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim.” This new king followed the ways of one of his ancestors, David, and he built on what King David had done. Verse 2 talks about how “he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah,” the ones that his dad had taken. He didn’t build all these cities, but he strengthened what had already been built. He was perpetuating in a fresh way that which had been around for some time.
If everything old is new to people who haven’t heard, then it is important for us to pass on those things that are important. I’m not talking about an infatuation with what is either new or old; I am talking about being determined to continue the things that are true and right.
Decide what is right and built upon it. That’s exactly what Jehoshaphat did. He took what David had taught and what his dad had built, and he built upon it. Verses 7-9 talk about the most important thing he did. They say, “Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes…to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites…and…priests…and they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.” I imagine that when he sent out these Levites, priest, and princes to teach the people the truth of God a lot of people thought, “Wow, this is brand new. We have never heard this before.” It wasn’t new. It was just new to them.
Today, don’t be infatuated by what is old. Don’t be infatuated with what is new. Decide what is true and right, and perpetuate that.