Sat, 17 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

2 Chronicles 20:1-30

¹ After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). ³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, ⁶ and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷ Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ⁹ ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you–for your name is in this house–and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy– ¹¹ behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.”

¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the LORD,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. ²⁹ And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

Jehoshaphat is a godly king of Judah who seeks to please God. He isn’t perfect, as his disastrous alliance with wicked king Ahab proves. But we see that when he is confronted by an enemy, he cries out to God, and God delivers him.

What do we learn from this?

This is an amazingly encouraging passage. When confronted by an invading army, Jehoshaphat was afraid. He saw the danger. He knew he was responsible for the safety of the people, and he was afraid he could not successfully defend them.

When faced with a situation that was out of his control, and when he was gripped by fear, what did Jehoshaphat do? He prayed. He brought his fears and concerns to God, claiming the promises of scripture to invoke God’s aid as he laid the situation before God. That is good counsel for us as well. When we are hopeless and dismayed, pray.

And God graciously responded. He promised that as the people acted in faithful obedience by going out to confront the enemy, God would fight for them and they would give them the victory without them even having to fight. He would be their salvation, and they would witness it without their having to faith at all.

Imagine what the Israelites thought as they marched out from behind the relative safety of the walls of Jerusalem to fight this enemy that caused them so much fear. They were making themselves vulnerable to their enemy. When the people hear that Jehoshaphat’s battle plan is to have the priests march in front of the army, singing praises, how must they have felt? What kind of a plan is that? Shouldn’t we set some kind of ambush, or seek the high ground for an advantage? No. Our plan is to follow the singing priests to our enemy.

Despite their fears, the people obeyed, and trusted in God’s protection and provision. The marched out to the sound of the praises of God. And God met their very great need. He provided a great victory without them ever having to lift a sword. The did lift their voices in praise, but they didn’t have to lift a weapon. The enemies of God’s people turned on each other and destroyed themselves.

The first thing we learn from this is that we must bring our cares and concerns to God. Nothing is too big or too small to bring to Him in prayer. If it is bothering us, we should bring it to Him.

Secondly, we see that the victory is from God. Nothing can stop Him from accomplishing His purpose. And if He so chooses, God doesn’t even need us to fight the battle at all. He sometimes will win the victory without ever having us fight. He doesn’t always choose to have us win, and we usually have to fight. But when He chooses, he doesn’t even need us to do anything at all to accomplish His purposes.

Finally, we see the destructive power of infighting. The enemies of Israel destroyed themselves by their own internal fighting. They never got to their goal of attacking Israel because they were so busy (and so good) at attacking each other. They expended on themselves all the energy they were planning to use against their enemy, and so they consumed themselves. This can be true of the church as well. How many congregations have no impact on the world around them because they are so busy fighting battles against themselves? If all we can do is fight each other, all we will accomplish is to destroy ourselves.

Where is Christ in this passage?

What a picture this is of the salvation God has given over sin. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, unable to save ourselves. Into our hopeless situation, God tells us to have hope because the battle is not yours but God’s. He will earn for us the salvation we can not earn for ourselves. God the Father sent Jesus Christ the Son to come to earth to fight the battle for us. And on Calvary, we can see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf as Jesus Christ earns the salvation of all those who come to Him in faith.