Rev Gideon Lee
The Bible
often calls us the army of God. And the function of a soldier is to get
involved in battles. We all fight battles on different fronts. Some is health
or families or finance, but I want you to know the battle belongs to the Lord.
2 Chronicles 20:1-20
Chapter 20
Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated
1 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. 2 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). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself
to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 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? 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.’ 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— 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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
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 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.
The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign
31 So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was
thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he
walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what
was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 Nevertheless the high places were not
taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of
their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and
last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is
mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied
himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly. 36 And he allied
himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in
Ezion Geber. 37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against
Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord
has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not
able to go to Tarshish.
Note that
it's not just one army. If I'm in a battle, I'd be worried if it's just one
army but here it's more than one army. It's three armies joining forces. The
Bible described Jehoshaphat as being alarmed. Not afraid.
It's okay
to be afraid or be alarmed in some of the battles you are going through. But
what's more important is your reaction. He was alarmed but he decided to
enquire from the Lord. The people responded to come together to pray and to
fast.
As king
Jehoshaphat stood among his people he gave a word of encouragement. How good
has God been to us. To remember how God has helped you in your past battles.
Remember his promises. He reminded the people to remember how good God has been
to them.
King
Jehoshaphat was not denying the situation. He said he does not know what to do
but our eyes are upon God.
I don't
know what battles you are going through, friends where is your eyes fixed upon?
The
families were together. By the way, starting March, the children will be
worshiping together with us. After that they'll go back to their classes. Just
worship God and let them see you worship God. When we set good examples our
children will he grow up right. Children learn by example so they need to see
and learn.
Coming
back, the children and little ones stood before the Lord. And here, in the
midst of them the prophet stood up and said "Do not be afraid or
discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but
God's."
When we
make the battle the Lord's we don't have to stress it. God will know what to
do. The Lord just tell us to stand firm. No point putting on the armour of God
and then run. God wants us to stand firm. Stand firm whatever comes your way.
- Identify your enemies
King
Jehoshaphat knew who the enemy was. As a child of God who is our enemy? The
devil. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. From the on start, our enemy
is the devil. Therefore our weapons of battle is not carnal. But I want to make
this caveat. Sometimes we are the worst enemies because the problems is caused
by you. Sometimes it's our fault. Sometimes it is us. Don't blame the devil
when you go to work late and you say your boss persecute you.
- Don't be driven by emotions
When
three of the enemies joined together against King Jehoshaphat, he was alarmed
but his emotions do not control him. If he was emotion driven he wouldn't have
called for a meeting and prayed. Control your decisions. Your emotions will
change. If you trust your emotions it will be like a yo yo. The only thing that
don't change is the word of God. Sometimes in a fit of anger we throw our
resignation letter. Don't let your emotions control you.
- Take your problem to the Lord
Instead
of calling his generals and warlords, he said to enquire of the Lord. But
sometimes when we face a problem we try to do it in our strength and wisdom.
Maybe that's me. But God wants us from the onset to come to the Lord in prayer.
We bring it to God first. When he called for fasting and prayer, the prophet
stood up and gave them a word from God. Before anything else bring it to the
Lord. No matter how clever we are, his ways and thoughts are always higher than
ours.
- Admit that you need help
We
sometimes are very prideful. We don't want people to help us. We don't want
people to know because it's shameful. We don't want to admit we have a need. If
you don't admit how will others help you? Like my children we give them pocket
money and I always tell them if you run out ask. But they don't ask so I think
they have enough. But as concerned parents sometimes I just ask if they have
enough in mid week then only they tell me they don't have enough. How would I
know if they don't ask? When you have a need we need to ask. God knows you have
a need but you still need to ask. When you ask and God supplies your needs it
builds up your faith. God will not push into your situation until you ask him.
Of course sometimes God in his wisdom supply our needs.
- Rely on God's power
v12 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 have
no power but have you relied on God's power? Rely on him today, at present.
Have you relied on God's power? Then you can say when I am weak he is strong.
When I am poor he is rich. Are you relying on your own power?
- Learn to rest in God
v15 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.
When we
learn how to rely on God, then we can learn to rest in God. Many times this is
what happens. God speaks to you in his still small voice. Instead of learning
to rest in his words, you ask God really ar? You really love me and will not
forsake me ar? Many times we doubt and question him. Rest in his promises. The
Lord has promised that he will do good for you and he will not leave you nor
forsake you. Rest in his promises when
he assures us.
This
brings me to the last point. What did Jehoshaphat did? He sent his worshippers
in front of the enemies. That is not a military decision. You would send your
best warriors. This also happened with Joshua. He sent his worshippers to march
round the wall. Same tactic. He responded by thanking God.
- Learn to thank God in all your circumstances
We need
to thank God for what he is doing. You know you have a problem and you rely on
God, then thank him. Deliverance may not have taken place but you still thank
him. Learn to thank God in all circumstances.
And I'm
going to close with this. When they came to the place of battle, all they saw
was dead bodies. That's the best battle, you come the enemy is all dead. All
you need to so is to collect the blessings. The plunder was so much it took
three days to collect. When God blesses it is always more than enough. How many
of us would like to do business that way. When God blesses us.
Come
early to church. The praise and worship is not an interlude time or buffer time
to come to service. The service starts from the praise and worship to the
offering and announcements, to the word and altar ministry. All of it is
worship. The whole service is worship. Come early and be excited and come
prayerfully.
When we
learn how to worship God you know what happens? When we learn how to minister
to God he delights to meet our needs. When we honour and adore him he will do
that for us. But often we come to service we treat God like an ATM. We expect
God to do likewise, just to meet our needs. God is not our ATM. He is our
provider but he wants you to worship him
first. To have a relationship with him like a father and a child. Your needs
are met as a by product of your relationship with him. It is our walk with him.
Whenever
anyone handles the word of God much is required of the Lord. One day I will
stand before God and is answerable to God for all that I preach. This worship.
How do we
handle the Battles of our life, you
- Identify your enemies
- Don't be driven by emotions
- Take your problem to the Lord
- Admit that you need help
- Rely on God's power
- Learn to rest in God
- Learn to thank God in all your circumstances
No comments:
Post a Comment