2 Chronicles 17:16
and next to him, Amasiah son of Zichri, the volunteer for the LORD, and with him 200,000 mighty men of valor.
Sermons
Wanted, VolunteersSpurgeon, Charles Haddon2 Chronicles 17:16
Willing ServiceW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 17:16
JehoshaphatMetropolitan Pulpit2 Chronicles 17:1-19
Jehoshaphat's ProsperityMonday Club Sermons2 Chronicles 17:1-19
The Conditions of National ProsperityClarke, Adam2 Chronicles 17:1-19
The Greatness of JehoshaphatT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 17:10-19














When it is said of Amasiah that he "willingly offered himself unto the Lord," we have a thought conveyed to us respecting the character of a Hebrew general's life, and we have a form of words strikingly suggestive of the true nature of all sacred service. We look at both.

I. THE CHARACTER OF AMASIAH'S SERVICE. By the phrase here employed it was probably meant that he entered upon his work as a captain of Jehoshaphat's army in a spirit of religious devotedness. We need not be surprised at that. The idea of the essential wrongness of war is modern, is Christian. It would not occur to the mind, and would not therefore trouble the conscience, of any man living in that age. There would be no reason, in his mind, why he should not give himself up to the soldier's profession, and go through all military duties of every kind in the spirit of self-surrender to the service of God. And whatever we may think on this subject, we should certainly conclude, and act upon the conviction, that, in determining our course of life, we should seek and find that to which we can give ourselves with religious earnestness. There is no reason why any profession should not be a vocation; that to which a man feels himself called of God; that in which he may be continually serving God and honouring his Name; that in which he will make every effort to illustrate the essential graces which Jesus Christ has commended to us, both by his words and by his example.

II. AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF ALL ACCEPTABLE SERVICE. It must surely be recorded in the "book of life" concerning every heir of heaven, that he "offered himself willingly unto the Lord." For what other service than that is worthy of acceptance?

1. The submission and surrender of our will is the act of entrance upon the life which is Divine. It is not knowledge, it is not feeling, it is not compulsory action, or action wrought for recompense, that constitutes true childhood; all of these may exist, and yet there may remain estrangement from God. But however slight be the knowledge, and though emotion be but small, and before any deeds of service have become possible, if a man bows his will to the will of God and resolves to surrender himself to the service of his Saviour, then he has entered the kingdom; he is one of the redeemed of the Lord; his feet are found in the path of life eternal; he has only to go on in the way in which he is walking.

2. Our daily service is excellent and acceptable in proportion to its cheerful willingness. To do the right thing with indeed the consent of our will, but only with a reluctant and struggling acquiescence, places the servant at one end of the scale. To do the right thing with alacrity, with cheerfulness, with earnestness of spirit, with an animating eagerness and abounding joy, places the servant at the other end of the scale of Divine acceptableness, commendation, and reward. "God loves the cheerful giver; "not only the giver of his money, but of his time, of his strength, of his intellectual resources, of all the forces of his soul, of all the opportunities of his life. - C.

Who willingly offered himself unto the Lord.
I. AMASIAH MADE IT HIS LIFE-WORK TO SERVE THE LORD. This service is —

1. Reasonable.

2. Honourable.

3. Remunerative.

4. Safe.

II. AMASIAH WAS A READY VOLUNTEER.

1. He needed no pressing.

2. He needed no hunting out.

3. He needed no looking after.

4. He needed no leader.

III. Amasiah offered HIMSELF to the Lord.

1. He made no reserve as to what he had.

2. He made no reserve as to what he did.

3. He made no reserve as to when it should be.

4. He made no reserve as to how that service should be rendered.

IV. When Amasiah willingly offered himself unto the Lord, HE DID THIS IN A SECULAR CALLING.

1. He did not stipulate to be a prophet.

2. His was a difficult calling.

3. He rose to eminence in it.

4. He left an honourable record.

V. Amasiah not only served the Lord himself, but HE IS AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.

1. To the young.

2. To men of position.

3. To men who are rising in the world.

( C. H. Spurgeon.).

People
Adonijah, Arabians, Asa, Asahel, Ben, Benhail, Benjamin, David, Eliada, Elishama, Jehohanan, Jehonathan, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, Jehozabad, Johanan, Jonathan, Levites, Micah, Micaiah, Michaiah, Nethaneel, Nethaniah, Obadiah, Shemaiah, Shemiramoth, Tobadonijah, Tobijah, Zebadiah, Zechariah, Zichri
Places
Jerusalem, Judah
Topics
200000, Amasi'ah, Chiefs, Freely, Hundred, Mighty, Offered, Offering, Service, Thousand, Valiant, Valor, Valour, Volunteer, Volunteered, War, Warriors, Willingly, Zichri, Zicri
Outline
1. Jehoshaphat, succeeding Asa, reigns well, and prospers
7. He sends Levites with the princes to teach Judah
10. His enemies being terrified by God, some of them bring him presents and tribute
12. His greatness, captains, and armies

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 17:16

     8435   giving, of oneself

Library
Jehoshaphat's Reform
'And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. 3. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; 4. But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in His commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. 5. Therefore the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'A Mirror for Magistrates'
'And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. 3. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. 4. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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