(Note: Based on and edited from a message preached November 13, 2022 at First Baptist Church, Chamois, MO. This is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: Veteran’s Day was originally called Armistice Day in honor of the Armistice ending the First World War. This Armistice took place on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918. Later this day was changed to Veteran’s Day to honor everyone who served in this nation’s military. We owe so much to those who gave so much to keep this nation alive and free.
The nation of Israel had their share of wars and thanksgivings, too. I mean, take a look at where they’re located, what with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, deserts to the other locations, and not much in the way of natural protection. This morning we’re looking at one instance where the soldiers did indeed take part in a thanksgiving service!
1 The Situation
Text: 2 Chronicles 20:1-4, KJV: 1 It 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. 2 Then 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. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
The problem
These first few verses state the problem about as clearly as anybody could. Now, Israel has hardly ever known peace since the days of Abraham and these days were hard, too. The Ammonites and Moabites, enemies of Israel more often than not since the days of the Judges, were actually cousins of the Israelites: Abraham’s son, Isaac, was the father of Jacob, the father of Israel’s twelve tribes; while the Moabites and Ammonites were descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Now, when cousins get together, nothing bad ever happens, right (laughter; as there were several cousins there that day)?
Things sure were going wrong by now, though, and the Ammonites plus Moabites were coming from the east, crossing the Jordan River, and ready to attack Israel. Their plan or strategy, as I see it, was to either enslave Judah (note that nothing is said about the Northern kingdom) or either wipe it off the map, so to speak.
Even worse, there were other enemies too. We don’t know for sure who they are but we do know this, they too wanted to cause a lot of grief for Judah. Do any of you remember the old “Gospel Bill” Christian kids’ show? There was one music video based on this very text, and one of the opening scenes showed a messenger running to King Jehoshaphat and telling him, “King, there’s Moabites and Ammonites and all kinds of ‘ites’” coming to attack you!”
Judah’s military strength is not known for ceratain at this point, but they would have had a very hard time, humanly speaking, fighting against a three-nations-to-one situation! Now, with this kind of news hitting him, what did King Jehoshaphat do?
The prayer
Text, 2 Chronicles 20:5-12, KJV: 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 And 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? 7 Art 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? 8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If, 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. 10 And 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; 11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O 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.
Jehoshaphat prayed! Let’s suppose something like this happened to any president of the US or any other world leader, when news of a combined enemy attack was coming. Why, the chiefs of staff might suggest something drastic like “Let’s bomb them back to the beginning!” or “We have to attack first! Seize the initiative! We! Must! Take! Action! Now!!!!!” or some such thing.
But not so with King Jehoshaphat. He heard the news, and did the best thing anyone could do.
He prayed!
Well, actually, he did a couple of other things first. He “feared (and who wouldn’t?)” and then “set himself to seek the LORD”. Right after that, he “proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah”. We’re not told how long this fast was supposed to be, but the purpose was clear: then, as in the days of Jesus Himself, people fasted in order to show God the one fasting was serious about something. Someone once observed that fasting was seldom commanded, sometimes commended, and sometimes condemned, if not done for the right reason.
An all-out attack was definitely the right reason! So, probably after the fast was completed, Judah “gathered themselves together” to ask for the LORD’s help. They needed it. And they came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD, not just Jerusalem if I read the text correctly.
Jehoshaphat’s prayer in verses 5 through 12 is one of the classic prayers in the Bible. He refers to past events, even some of Solomon’s words at the Prayer of Dedication in 1 Kings 8 and/or 2 Chronicles 7. And he closed by a clear prayer for help: “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You (paraphrased)”. Wise man he was: he had to know God’s eyes were always on Judah and everyone else, too!
We would all do well to remember, God’s eyes are on us, as well, all the time.
Something that might be easy to miss is the mention that “all Judah” stood before the LORD, too. This was a lot like what had happened years before at the original Temple dedication, when a great number of all Israel had come to Jerusalem. Now, with trouble approaching from every direction, the people of Judah had come together in order to seek God’s Help.
They had fasted, they might well have been praying, and now the LORD had something to say.
The prophecy
Text, 2 Chronicles 20:14-17, KJV: 14 Then 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; 15 And 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. 16 To 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. 17 Ye 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.
When people pray, the LORD always answers. This time He gave a reply through one of the Levites, men who assisted in Tabernacle and, later, Temple worship. We don’t know anything else about Jahaziel except that he lived during this time and he was chosen to give a prophecy to King Jehoshaphat.
And what an answer! The LORD, through the Holy Spirit, gave Jahaziel a three-verse message when the enemy was coming, where they were coming from, and what Judah needed to do as a result of this knowledge:
Nothing!
The prophecy concluded with the words “fear not, nor be dismayed . . . for the LORD will be with you!” This had to speak comfort and encouragement for Jehoshaphat and all Judah. They knew that, humanly speaking, they were outnumbered—by a good number—and they were all afraid beyond words as to what might happen if they fought and lost the battle. Now they had the assurance, directly from the LORD, that He was basically going to take care of everything.
And now, Judah began to show the LORD how much they appreciated this!
The praise
Text, 2 Chronicles 20:18-19, KJV: 18 And 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. 19 And 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.
Very briefly, we see how Judah responded. Jehoshaphat bowed down to the ground—this was a position and admission of worship! He knew the LORD had spoken and deliverance was coming! Even better, the other people of Judah did the same thing, falling down and worshipping the LORD. How long had it been since a great assembly like this had happened? Maybe, it was too long, humanly speaking, but now, it was absolutely the right and best thing to happen.
And as a seal of confirmation, the Levites—the children of Kohath and of Korah—stood up (this implies they too had bowed down to the ground) and began to praise the LORD with a loud voice. Oh, sure, we’ve heard loud choirs with plenty of noise and not much substance but that wasn’t the case here. No, this was real and genuine praise, giving thanks to the LORD for all He had promised then and had just promised now.
How long this time of worship and praise continued, we don’t know, but all of it was real. Eventually, though, there was a time to end this and, if nothing else, get some rest. After all, the LORD had instructed them to go down to a specific location.
Good things were going to happen, but I don’t think anybody in Judah ever guessed how good!
2 The solution
The praise (again)
Text, 2 Chronicles 20:20-25, KJV: 20 And 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. 21 And 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. 22 And 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. 23 For 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. 24 And 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. 25 And 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.
Verse 20 tells us the people (the army?) rose early in the morning (I’m not really a morning person so, honestly, I’m glad I wasn’t there!) and headed for Tekoa, about 12 miles south-east of Jerusalem (estimates vary). Somewhere along the way, Jehoshaphat stood up and addressed the people with a brief exhortation: in sum, believe in the LORD and His prophets!
Then to show his sincerity, and humility, he—the king!—“consulted with the people” and appointed singers to the LORD. No mention is made here of any Levites or anyone else who had a musical background; just a group of people assembled into a choir. To their credit, the singers promptly went out before the army and began singing, who knows how loudly, “Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever!”
One of the few times ever when the army wasn’t led by scouts, cavalry, an advance guard, or anybody else! No, this time the ones going before the army was the choir! And as they marched and sang, heading towards Tekoa and the site of the battle (that didn’t happen), the unthinkable happened: the enemies began to fight each other. Oh, yes, this had happened at least twice before: first, during the days of Gideon (see Judges 7) and the second, just a few years before when the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom gathered together to fight Ammon and Moab (see 2 Kings 3) and might happen again.
Now as the singers and the army kept going on the way, I’m sure the sounds of praise began to echo off the hills and mountains. Louder and louder, and as a result, the LORD Himself “set ambushments” against the enemies. The final result? None of the enemy was left alive.
Nobody escaped. Nobody.
The only thing the people of Judah found, besides the bodies of the dead soldiers, was treasure.
A lot of treasure! And that’s where the thanksgiving part of this begins.
The providence
Text, 2 Chronicles 20:24-25, KJV: 24 And 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. 25 And 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.
In a word, the battle can be summed up in four words:
They sang-God struck!
And I can’t imagine what the people of Judah thought when they saw all the treasure just lying there in the open. Riches, jewels, and who knows what else was there—the dead soldiers couldn’t use any of it, that’s for sure—and the people of Judah took all they could carry. I can almost see the caravan going from Jerusalem to Tekoa, some heading away and others heading back, and this 12-mile-journey lasted three days.
Now, there aren’t any words of thanksgiving recorded in the text. Maybe there didn’t need to be. But it’s my thought: anybody who saw what had been coming, and had seen the results, yet couldn’t be thankful must have had a heart of lead or something.
But maybe there’s a nod to thanksgiving after all. Think about this: it was a three days’ journey going from Jerusalem to Tekoa and back. They called this “the valley of blessings (Berechah)” and my hunch it was because the LORD had blessed beyond anything they could think of.
Let’s try to wrap it up here. Israel played by a different set of rules and promises—the Law of Moses—than what we do today (the Church Age/Age of Grace). Even so, the same Lord Who watched over Israel watches over us! Jehoshaphat prayed, “Our eyes are on Thee!” because he knew God was keeping His eyes on them.
May the LORD give you and all of yours a wonderful Thanksgiving season!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
