ARE NOT THOU OUR GOD ?
PASTOR KEN CROW
2ND CHRONICLES 20: 1-13
2 Chronicles 20
1It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
6And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
10And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
1. JEHOSHAPHAT FINDS HIS KINGDOM SURROUNDED. THE ENEMY HAS THEM ON THE ROPES. THEY LITERLY HAVE NO PLACE TO GO. IT SEEMS TO THEM AS THOUGH THEY ARE SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.
SOMETIMES JEHOSEPHAT HAD HIS PROBLEMS, BUT HE WAS A MAN OF GOD.
VERSE 3 SAYS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT: 3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
NOTICE THE PHRASE ( HE SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD)
Luke 11:9 (King James Version)
9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
SOMETIMES JUST LIKE JEHOSEPHAT WE MUST SET OURSELF TO SEEK THE LORD. WE MAY HAVE TO TUNE A LOT OF OTHER THINGS OUT FOR A FEW DAYS.
AND IN THIS TIME THAT JEHOSAPHAT SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD NOTICE WHAT BEGIN TO HAPPEN.
2. JEHOSEPHAT CALLED A GATHERING,, A PRAYER MEETING,,,OH WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE GATHER TO PRAY,,,
CHAINS FALL OFF
PRISON DOORS OPEN
THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF OUR AWESOME JEHOVA GOD IS POURED FROM HEAVEN DOWN TO EARTH ,,,THE POWER OF GOD WILL BE NO STRONGER THAN OUR WILLINGNESS TO CALL UPON HIS NAME!
THEY WERE FASTING AND PRAYING. THEN IT STARTED COMING IN LIKE A FLOOD……JEHOSEPHAT BEGIN TO A CHANGE TAKING PLACE,,,,,HE HAD ENTERED INTO THIS GATHERING WITH FEAR AND HOPLESSNESS ,,,,,BUT SOMETHING WAS CHURNING INSIDE,,,,,
HE TURNS HIS EYES TOWARD HEAVEN,,,,AND SPEAKS THESE WORDS…IN VS 6-9
6And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
3. GOD ANSWERS : 14Then 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, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
15And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
19And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
26And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name
4. THE PROMISE IS STILL HERE BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST . HE PAID MY PENALTY AND YOURS ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY. THIS MORNING IT MAY SEEM THAT THE ENEMY HAS YOU ON THE ROPES, SURROUNDED IN A HOPELESSNESS AND FEAR. BUT WE HAVE GOD AND HIS WORD ENDURES FOREVER. JESUS IS HERE TO HELP US…JOHN 10:10 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. AMEN
