A Place Called There

2 Chronicles 20:4-5

So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court.

1. Jehoshaphat stood up, but he didn’t pick just any place to make his stand.

He stood in the house of the Lord before the new court because it was there

that God had promised to hear the cry of His people.

• Jehoshaphat reminded God saying:

...and (you) have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, “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.” (2 Chronicles 20:8-9)

2. Jehoshaphat’s request was based on an appeal made by King Solomon at the

Dedication of Israel’s temple.

• You have heard me often times make the same appeal to God based upon His word to us to place the altars back into the church….and when we dedicated these altars we did so based upon 2 Chronicles 6:20, 28-30

• Turn with me and follow me as I read

• Solomon asked that God’s...

“...eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men).”

• It was not just any prayer voiced by anyone in any place that gained God’s attention.

• The Lord’s eyes and ears were fixed upon the temple where His Name was exalted

by His people.

• God promised that no matter what type of evil afflicted them, He would hear and save those who appealed to Him from His temple.

4. If you have ever studied the different categories of affliction itemized in this

passage you will have noticed that they are inclusive of every type of

situation you might be could ever possibly be facing:

“The sword” -speaks of direct Satanic attacks, unexpected, cutting, and wounding.

“Judgment” - refers to false accusations, stereo-typing, and evil judgments raised

against you by others as well as recompense for sinful conduct.

“Pestilence” represents lingering, aggravating, destructive circumstances.

“Famine” - refers to the dry, desolate times of life when God seems far away and

you feel forsaken by everyone.

The sword, judgment, pestilence, famine--whatever your disaster--God hears and answers prayer when you take your stand in the right place.

II. A PLACE CALLED “THERE”

1. The Biblical record is filled with accounts of how God directed people to

specific locations for spiritual purposes:

• God told Ezekiel to arise and go to the plain and he would talk with him there

(Ezekiel 3:22).

• Jeremiah was told to go to the potter’s house and there God would cause him to

hear His words (Jeremiah 18:2).

• Elijah was told to go to a widow in Zerephath and there God would sustain him

(1 Kings 17:9).

• Jacob was instructed to go to Egypt and there God would provide for him during

the famine (Genesis 45:11).

• Moses was told to come into the mount and there receive God’s law (Exodus

24:12).

• It was there, in the tabernacle, that God promised to meet with the children of

Israel (Exodus 29:43).

• God told Moses to stand there--in the cleft of the rock--and He would reveal

Himself to him (Exodus 33:21; 34:5).

• It was there--on mount Zion--that the Lord commanded blessings forevermore

(Psalms 133:3).

• The Prophet Hosea said that there--at Bethel--God spoke to His people

(Hosea 12:4).

• Joseph was told to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt and wait there until God gave

him further direction (Matthew 2:13).

• Jesus told His followers to go to Galilee after His death and there they would see

Him (Matthew 28:10).

2. Jehoshaphat made his appeal to God from an actual physical location. He

stood there- before the temple, in the presence of the Lord--where God had

placed His Name. ….And he sought the Lord

III. So then …The question is, where is our “there?” Where is that special place