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. Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord."
When we hear a bad report; sickness, death, financial need or collapse, marital problems, relationship problems, whatever it is do we fear and set ourselves to seek the Lord? Do we ask Him for help and wait for Him to send us the answer? Or do we start worrying and calling our friends and voicing the situation and our fears? It’s okay to ask others to pray for and with you but the first and foremost thing we should do is seek God for He alone is able to deliver us or take us through whatever it is. There’s a song that says “change the situation or change me in the midst of the situation.” And honestly to me it doesn’t matter which happens for either way I win.
"Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 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? 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? And they dwell in it, and 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.’ 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— here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 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.”
They remind God of Who He is, their God, the God of all the universe and by reminding Him they remind and encourage themselves and their faith in Him grows. They remember past victories, they remind God of His promises to them, then they tell Him what’s taking place now. How this army was not only coming against them but also against Him because they belong to Him. Then they ask for direction “our eyes are upon You”. Where are our eyes in our desperate situations? Hopefully not looking around for an answer from others or looking to ourselves to figure whatever it is out.
"Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord. 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. 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. 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. 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.”
Thank God for awesome men and women of God that allow the Spirit to move upon them to speak words of direction, insight, encouragement, etc. But also know this He can speak to you directly too, the reason it was to the whole nation as they gathered together was because this affected all of them so they all needed to hear and be encouraged. Awesomely the Lord tells them “for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” He turns their attention to W ho is going to take care of this for them. If we could only grasp that every battle we face is not ours it is the Lord’s how much worry, frustration, and even sleepless nights we would save ourselves not to mention the stress we put ourselves under. And let me tell you stress will kill you. Then God proceeds to give them directions. He tells them where to go and what to do. He tells them “you will not need to fight in this battle” but you do have to “position yourselves and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Can you see that over and over God tells them not to fear or be dismayed. Dismayed (H2865) means to prostrate; hence, to break down, either (literally) by violence, or (figuratively) by confusion and fear:—abolish, affright, be (make) afraid, amaze, beat down, discourage, (cause to) dismay, go down, scare, terrify. We are not to have a break or melt down. We are not to be confused or fearful or even amazed at what has happened to us. God has already told us in His Word we would face trials but He would deliver us out of all of them. Ps. 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” We are not to beat ourselves down or allow the enemy to beat us down and cause us to be discouraged which means losing our courage. We are to stand still and look for God’s salvation [deliverance, healing, and provision] because He is with us!
"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. 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."
Look at the position they took immediately after God spoke to them, they bowed before Him and worshiped Him as Lord, the existing One, the One who created everything including themselves and their enemies. They did not bow down to fear or dismay. The One who created them could also remove whosoever He chooses to remove and remove them He did.
"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.” 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.”
Thank God for those who encourage us to ‘believe in the Lord our God, and we shall be established”. Then people were appointed who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness. They were placed before the army, before all those who were armed and ready for battle. Those who praised where not dress for battle, they were dressed to worship with songs of praise; “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever. Now know this we are all called to praise and worship our God first and I believe if would do this first then many times we would not have to put on our battle gear and fight our own battles. Can you imagine how hard this may have been to those worshippers out in the front and how hard it was for those ready for battle behind them? Both had to trust God that He knew what He was doing. Both had to keep their position and not move until God told them to move.
"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 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."
Who set the ambushes? Who defeated them? The One who said the battle was His. And look how they were defeated; they turned upon themselves and utterly killed each other . Can you imagine the confusion in their midst that would make them see those who were comrades in arms now as their enemy? God is still able to cause confusion in the enemy’s camp so that every plot and ploy and scheme of theirs is destroyed with them.
"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.:
When Judah took her place that overlooked the wilderness where the enemy was what did she see, what did the worshippers and those in battle array see? Only dead bodies fallen to the earth and no one escaped. Know this is what God will do for us, for you, what He did for Judah. You will stand looking on whatever wilderness it is your situations have brought you to and you will see only dead things fallen to the earth with nothing left to escape. But first you have to do what Judah did, you have to seek, ask, call out to Him and then praise and worship Him knowing every battle you have is His because YOU belong to HIM.
"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. 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 until this day. 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. So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 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. Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around."
And like they did so will we spoil our enemies. It took three days to carry away all the spoils they found laying around besides all the dead bodies. But on the fourth day they didn’t just go away and forget who had done all this for them, they gathered back at the memorial scene and blessed and praised God for His great deliverance and provision. Then they left in joy, remember the joy of the Lord is our strength. This place was now called the Valley of Berachah which means source of blessing; praise of God, gift, and treaty of peace. Wow! A place of torment and stress has now become a place of blessing, peace, giftedness. They now go back to the God’s house with all their musical instruments and rejoice. We need to remember to come back rejoicing to the house of the Lord telling of all He has done. The results of those who heard what God had done for them was the fear of God came upon all those who heard about it. And all was quiet in the kingdom of the people of God, they had peace and rest.
6/10/15
"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. Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord."
When we hear a bad report; sickness, death, financial need or collapse, marital problems, relationship problems, whatever it is do we fear and set ourselves to seek the Lord? Do we ask Him for help and wait for Him to send us the answer? Or do we start worrying and calling our friends and voicing the situation and our fears? It’s okay to ask others to pray for and with you but the first and foremost thing we should do is seek God for He alone is able to deliver us or take us through whatever it is. There’s a song that says “change the situation or change me in the midst of the situation.” And honestly to me it doesn’t matter which happens for either way I win.
"Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 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? 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? And they dwell in it, and 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.’ 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— here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 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.”
They remind God of Who He is, their God, the God of all the universe and by reminding Him they remind and encourage themselves and their faith in Him grows. They remember past victories, they remind God of His promises to them, then they tell Him what’s taking place now. How this army was not only coming against them but also against Him because they belong to Him. Then they ask for direction “our eyes are upon You”. Where are our eyes in our desperate situations? Hopefully not looking around for an answer from others or looking to ourselves to figure whatever it is out.
"Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord. 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. 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. 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. 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.”
Thank God for awesome men and women of God that allow the Spirit to move upon them to speak words of direction, insight, encouragement, etc. But also know this He can speak to you directly too, the reason it was to the whole nation as they gathered together was because this affected all of them so they all needed to hear and be encouraged. Awesomely the Lord tells them “for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” He turns their attention to W ho is going to take care of this for them. If we could only grasp that every battle we face is not ours it is the Lord’s how much worry, frustration, and even sleepless nights we would save ourselves not to mention the stress we put ourselves under. And let me tell you stress will kill you. Then God proceeds to give them directions. He tells them where to go and what to do. He tells them “you will not need to fight in this battle” but you do have to “position yourselves and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Can you see that over and over God tells them not to fear or be dismayed. Dismayed (H2865) means to prostrate; hence, to break down, either (literally) by violence, or (figuratively) by confusion and fear:—abolish, affright, be (make) afraid, amaze, beat down, discourage, (cause to) dismay, go down, scare, terrify. We are not to have a break or melt down. We are not to be confused or fearful or even amazed at what has happened to us. God has already told us in His Word we would face trials but He would deliver us out of all of them. Ps. 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” We are not to beat ourselves down or allow the enemy to beat us down and cause us to be discouraged which means losing our courage. We are to stand still and look for God’s salvation [deliverance, healing, and provision] because He is with us!
"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. 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."
Look at the position they took immediately after God spoke to them, they bowed before Him and worshiped Him as Lord, the existing One, the One who created everything including themselves and their enemies. They did not bow down to fear or dismay. The One who created them could also remove whosoever He chooses to remove and remove them He did.
"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.” 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.”
Thank God for those who encourage us to ‘believe in the Lord our God, and we shall be established”. Then people were appointed who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness. They were placed before the army, before all those who were armed and ready for battle. Those who praised where not dress for battle, they were dressed to worship with songs of praise; “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever. Now know this we are all called to praise and worship our God first and I believe if would do this first then many times we would not have to put on our battle gear and fight our own battles. Can you imagine how hard this may have been to those worshippers out in the front and how hard it was for those ready for battle behind them? Both had to trust God that He knew what He was doing. Both had to keep their position and not move until God told them to move.
"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 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."
Who set the ambushes? Who defeated them? The One who said the battle was His. And look how they were defeated; they turned upon themselves and utterly killed each other . Can you imagine the confusion in their midst that would make them see those who were comrades in arms now as their enemy? God is still able to cause confusion in the enemy’s camp so that every plot and ploy and scheme of theirs is destroyed with them.
"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.:
When Judah took her place that overlooked the wilderness where the enemy was what did she see, what did the worshippers and those in battle array see? Only dead bodies fallen to the earth and no one escaped. Know this is what God will do for us, for you, what He did for Judah. You will stand looking on whatever wilderness it is your situations have brought you to and you will see only dead things fallen to the earth with nothing left to escape. But first you have to do what Judah did, you have to seek, ask, call out to Him and then praise and worship Him knowing every battle you have is His because YOU belong to HIM.
"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. 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 until this day. 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. So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 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. Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around."
And like they did so will we spoil our enemies. It took three days to carry away all the spoils they found laying around besides all the dead bodies. But on the fourth day they didn’t just go away and forget who had done all this for them, they gathered back at the memorial scene and blessed and praised God for His great deliverance and provision. Then they left in joy, remember the joy of the Lord is our strength. This place was now called the Valley of Berachah which means source of blessing; praise of God, gift, and treaty of peace. Wow! A place of torment and stress has now become a place of blessing, peace, giftedness. They now go back to the God’s house with all their musical instruments and rejoice. We need to remember to come back rejoicing to the house of the Lord telling of all He has done. The results of those who heard what God had done for them was the fear of God came upon all those who heard about it. And all was quiet in the kingdom of the people of God, they had peace and rest.
6/10/15
