There are four chapters decided here to Jehoshaphat and his reign. He was a man who knew the heart of God. We are told in
2 Chronicles 17:3-4 Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, (4) but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel.
Jehoshaphat followed the ways of God. Cleaning of the land from idols and places of worship. He sent out teachers throughout the land to learn the word of God. This brought humility and reverence for the Lord.
God protected Jehoshaphat and the nation: 2 Chronicles 17:10 And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
He had one weakness. He continually sought a union with those who were not followers of the ways of God. To his credit this was with “his people”. By the time of the reign of Jehoshaphat the kingdom had been split into two kingdoms “Israel and Judah”. The Northern and the Southern kingdom. Judah followed the ways of God and Israel became a wicked nation.
But in Jehoshaphat’s eyes they were all still one people. When Ahab the king of Israel inquired of Jehoshaphat to fight with him, his response was we are one people. Yet this is not God. We cannot be “unequally yoked”. Why? We don’t have the same values and the same world view. This eventually become his downfall as we see at the end of 2 Chronicles 30.
God protected Jehoshaphat as king. 2 Chronicles 30 describes and incident that happened.
2 Chronicles 20:1-30 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
This is a great multitude of armies coming together to fight against Judah. The Bible is very plain about Jehoshaphat’s reaction
(3) And Jehoshaphat feared, (he was shaken by this, have you ever been there where you have received bad news and it rocked you to the core). Someone said, “Courage is not absence of fear but operating in spite of fear”,
What Jehoshaphat does next is the key to getting through this. What we do after being faced with bad news or being “rocked to our core” next determines how we get through it.
and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
He got serious with God. Fasting
(4) So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. (5) Then 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, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
Jeremiah 32:17 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
(7) Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? (8) And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, (9) 'If disaster comes upon us--sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine--we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.'
IOW we are doing exactly what you required us to do. 2 Chronicles 6:28-30, 7:14
(10) And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir--whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—
Have you ever been attacked by the enemy that God kept you from destroying or removing? IOW have you ever been stabbed in the back?
(11) here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. (12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
We are setting back now and looking toward you.
Psalms 121:1-3 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help? (2) My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. (3) He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
(13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord. (14) Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. (15) And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. (16) Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. (17) You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you."
1. Do Not Be Afraid “God has not given us the
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
AMP 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
2. Do not be dismayed – shattered or dismantled, stressed out
Don’t worry about tomorrow just stay right here and worship
3. The Battle is the Lords – we fight too many battles that are not ours.
4. You will not need to fight in this battle – God will take care of this.
5. Position yourselves – set yourself in a place.
a. Position of praise
b. Position of awe
c. Position of faith
Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Ephesians 3:11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
6. Stand still
Probably one of the hardest things we will do is “stand still”. This may not be God’s answer to every situation but in this one God says, “stand still”
When you have done all...Ephesians 6 says, STAND!
7. See the salvation of the Lord – Look
Vs. 12 “For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
8. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.
Jehoshaphat’s Response
(18) And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. (19) Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
Kohathities – the praise leaders, the dancers, the singers the worshipers.
Psa. 22:3 “God inhabits the praises of men…”
Battle Plan
(20) So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." (21) And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever."
Battle Plan send forth the praisers first.
Praise Brought Confusion
(22) Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. (23) For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. (24) So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped. (25) When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. (26) And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah (meaning blessing) until this day. (27) Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. (28) So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. (29) And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. (30) Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
Conclusion
Where do you stand? Has the battle overwhelmed you? Is it time to step up and see what God is doing?
