SERIES: Enlightening Epitaphs of the Kings and Prophets
Jehoshaphat: “The Battle Is not Yours, but God’s!”
Introduction: American parents are choosing Bible names for their children in record numbers. In a recent survey Michael was the most popular, but others frequently chosen were Joshua, Mary, Elizabeth, Timothy, David, Andrew, and Matthew. Generally, the more godly and successful the person was in Bible times, the more popular the name is today. Little wonder, then, that Ahab, Jezebel and Judas are rarely, if ever, chosen. But one name that doesn’t fit this particular pattern is Jehoshaphat. He ranks right up there with the best of the individuals I mentioned in terms of character and contribution, but his name isn’t on anyone’s most popular list. I don’t understand–it must be for the same reason that Methuselah and Mephibosheth are missing.
I want us to spend a fair amount of time this morning putting Jehoshaphat’s life into proper historical context and then to examine in some detail what was perhaps the greatest military victory in the history of Israel. In the process we should gain some significant insight into how and why God comes to the rescue of His people when they are in distress.
Historical background
Back on the 5th of May I preached a message on Asa, a king of Judah whose epitaph was that “he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians.” Asa was, for the most part, a good king, and Jehoshaphat was his son and successor. The two of them were on the throne of the southern kingdom of Judah for a combined 60+ years. All the other individuals whose epitaphs we have examined in the past two months–from the widow of Zarephath, to Ahab and Jezebel, to Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha, and Naaman–were contemporary with these two kings, except that these others were connected with the northern kingdom of Israel.
Jehoshaphat’s early years. In 2 Chronicles 17:3-6 we read this statement about Jehoshaphat after he succeeded his father Asa as king of Judah:
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord.
Do you notice the cause-and-effect statements there? “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of David … The Lord established the kingdom under his control … so that he had great wealth and honor.” God’s continued blessings are always contingent on obedience. Furthermore, peace and prosperity are gifts that come from the Lord. We must never forget that.
I was struck by the Fourth of July celebrations this year, particularly in New York City, as our nation celebrated Independence Day for the first time since 911. Despite the recent idiotic decision (and I don’t know how else to characterize it) that came down from the Ninth Circuit Court declaring the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional, no effort was made on the Fourth to hide our nation’s dependence upon God. In fact, among the songs that received top billing at these celebrations were God Bless the U.S.A., God Bless America, America the Beautiful, and even Amazing Grace–all of which openly celebrate the historic faith of our nation. God was invoked constantly in music and the spoken word, and He was rightly referred to as the foundation of all our freedoms. I could only wish this civil religion were translated into the daily lives and hearts of most of the American people. But for Jehoshaphat it was.
In chapter 17 it goes on to say that in the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat began a biblical education campaign throughout the country. He commissioned key officials and priests and Levites to teach the Book of the Law of the Lord (probably the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the OT) to all the towns of Judah. The result was that the fear of the Lord fell on the people and on all the surrounding countries–so much so that they ceased hostilities toward Judah. Some even brought gifts and silver and flocks to Jehoshaphat so that he became more and more prosperous and powerful. God’s blessing was very evident on this godly king.
His independent years. But Jehoshaphat then went through a period of independence like many of us have gone through or may be currently going through. He forgot where his power and wealth originated. He began to look to his own resources and ingenuity. You will perhaps recall from chapter 18, the story of Micaiah, that Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab by marriage, arranging for his son Jehoram to marry Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Then he visited Ahab in his capital of Samaria and agreed to go into battle with him to help him recapture the city of Ramoth Gilead, which had been seized by the Syrians.
Jehoshaphat valued peace with his neighbor to the north; unfortunately, he valued it so much that he was at times willing to compromise his principles to achieve it. He almost lost his life in that particular military alliance with Ahab, and God rebuked him through the prophet Jehu: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God.” (2 Chron. 19:2-3). In other words, his devotion was not merely outward, for show, but stemmed from deep within. He made some serious mistakes, but like David his heart was generally set on God. Do you recall the statement from 1 Peter 4:8: “Love covers a multitude of sins”? So does a heart set on seeking God. Jehoshaphat took the rebuke of the prophet to heart, God gave him a reprieve, and so, not surprisingly, we learn next of …
His most significant leadership contribution. He set up a judicial system patterned somewhat after the one Moses instituted over 600 years earlier. It can be stated without fear of contradiction that no nation will ever rise above its judicial system. A country’s chief executive can be evil and even tyrannical, but if the judicial system remains intact, the country will stand. A nation’s legislature can be incompetent and corrupt, but if the judiciary is solid, the nation will survive. You see, the judicial branch of government in a democracy is the most critical, for while Presidents can be voted out of office and legislators can be replaced, federal judges serve for life, and there is no appeal of the decisions of the Supreme Court. That is why the political left in our own country has worked so hard to prevent any conservative nominees from being approved for the federal bench. They know that the people of this country will never vote for the policies they want, so the only way to get those policies enacted is through judicial activism. I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that the worst social policies in America have generally been instituted, not by the Congress or by the executive branch, but by the courts.
Jehoshaphat knew how important judges are to a nation’s health, so he went out among the people, turned them back to the Lord, and appointed godly judges in each of the fortified cities. Here are the instructions he gave them: “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (2 Chronicles 19:6-7). He takes their job description back to the nature and character of God. Because there is no injustice or partiality or bribery with God, there should be none with judges. They do not work for the king or for the nation; they ultimately work for a just and holy God.
Jehoshaphat set up administrative courts as well. These would be like small claims courts to handle disputes between individuals, disputes that perhaps weren’t serious enough to have to go before a judge. To handle these issues he appointed Levites, priests and heads of families. Here again honesty and integrity were essential. Listen to Jehoshaphat’s instructions to those involved in these family courts: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. In every case that comes before you from your fellow countrymen who live in the cities … you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise, his wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not sin.” (2 Chronicles 19:9, 10).
Now the importance of this historical background is that all of this sets the stage for the most important event in Jehoshaphat’s reign–a battle that is described in detail in 2 Chronicles 20. This battle resulted in what has been called …
… the greatest victory that Israel ever accomplished. It is much greater than the conquest of Palestine, the victory over Jericho, or any of the other victories recorded in Scripture, because it is used again in Scripture as a symbol of the final battle, Armageddon, on the great Day of the Lord, when the Lord will deliver his people.[i]
In fact, the valley of Har Meggido (Armageddon) is also called in Scripture “the Valley of Jehoshaphat.” What we must realize, however, is that this great victory was not obtained in isolation from the rest of Jehoshaphat’s life. I believe it was because he sought the Lord and because he repented of his compromising with Ahab, and because he built a judicial system based on integrity that God gave him this great victory. It all begins with …
A sudden and unprecedented threat
In verse 2 we read, “Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea (the Dead Sea). It is already in Hazazon Tamar (essentially a day’s march away).” God had used Jehoshaphat to bring about a significant spiritual revival in Israel. The nation was enjoying the fruits of that revival–peace and prosperity–when suddenly they were attacked by enemies from across the Jordan. That’s the way it often seems to happen. We’re going along pursuing what we believe to be the right course, God is blessing our socks off, and then with no warning we are suddenly attacked–perhaps by an illness, a job loss, a broken relationship, or a death in the family. At the very time when we expect things to go well, everything begins to come apart. Why? C. S. Lewis, in his greatest masterpiece, The Problem of Pain, offers a great deal of wisdom on this subject. He writes:
We are perplexed to see misfortune falling upon decent, inoffensive, worthy people–on capable, hard working mothers of families or diligent, thrifty little trades-people, on those who have worked so hard, and so honestly, for their modest stock of happiness and now seem to be entering on the enjoyment of it with the fullest right…. Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for the moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be right when He thinks that their modest prosperity and the happiness of their children are not enough to make them blessed; that all this must fall from them in the end, and that if they have not learned to know Him they will be wretched. And therefore He troubles them, warning them in advance of an insufficiency that one day they will have to discover[ii].
“Pain,” he writes later, “is the megaphone God uses to get our attention.” He sure got Jehoshaphat’s attention, and I think it is fairly obvious that Jehoshaphat and his people come to know God better because of this threat than they would have had it not happened.
And so, what is Jehoshaphat’s reaction to this threat to his nation? I have characterized it as …
Fear followed by faith
Alarm. First, he is “alarmed,” according to verse 3. He’s scared spitless. He knows he doesn’t have the resources to meet this attack from the hordes across the Jordan. But let’s not be unnecessarily critical of Jehoshaphat here. Fear in a situation like this is only natural, and it is not wrong. “It is not the initial reaction of fear which matters; it is what we do with that fear.”[iii] When Jesus said to His disciples, “Fear not,” he used a present tense–“Do not keep on fearing.” It would be foolish to tell someone not to be afraid initially when they face some unexpected threat, but it is not foolish to tell them they should not keep on fearing.
What do you do with fear? Does it cause you to run and hide? Does it make you angry and cause you to lash out? Does it drive you to drink or to eat or to some other addiction? Or does fear drive you to the Lord? Well, let’s see where it took Jehoshaphat.
Resolve. Verse 3 goes on, “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.” I don’t think it’s any accident that the term “resolved” is used here. When you’re frightened to death, your emotions cannot help you. You have to win a victory over your emotions with your mind and will. You have to go back to what you know is the truth and resolve to do the right thing. And the right thing for a time like this is to seek the Lord. Jeremiah records this truth best: “‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.”
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that in the OT was often employed in times of national emergency or personal trial. On rare occasion, as here, the people of God were called upon to fast corporately. The purpose of fasting was to allow the people to focus all their energies upon seeking the face of God. Most of us don’t realize how much of our day is given to food–thinking about food, preparing food, eating food, cleaning up afterward, and then finding a snack. Right? I think that’s why fasting played a fairly prominent role in biblical spirituality; if we can simply get away from our fixation on food, our attention can be directed more toward God.
And frankly, it doesn’t hurt a person to go without food occasionally, providing one doesn’t have a medical condition that would be aggravated by it. A scientist in our church, Dr. George Thampy, who is both a Microbiologist and a Clinical Endocrinologist and runs a Diabetes and Obesity Clinic at St. Anthony’s Hospital, has done extensive research into fasting, and his conclusions have been published in medical journals. He presents dramatic evidence that fasting is actually beneficial to the body, for example in lowering cholesterol. I believe it is a spiritual discipline that more believers should incorporate into their lives.
There is a specific danger related to fasting, however, and that danger is probably why there is so little mention of fasting in the NT (and virtually none in the epistles)–and that is spiritual pride. Jesus warned in the Sermon on the Mount,
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)
Fasting is one of those disciplines that can easily become a badge of honor. In fact, there have been a few high-profile Christian leaders in recent years who have gone on extended fasts and urged their followers to do likewise. I have something of a problem with that. If someone wants to go on a 40-day fast, that’s fine, but it should be between them and the Lord, not for public bragging rights. I might also mention that fasting from food may not be the only option for believers to consider. I suspect there are those who need to occasionally fast from TV or from sports or from anything that tends to consume their time and attention.
In Scripture fasting is almost always accompanied by prayer; in fact, it is done for the purpose of focused prayer. Certainly, that is true in this case.
Prayer. Jehoshaphat stands up before all the people at the temple in Jerusalem and prays a powerful prayer. Listen to his words:
O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, “If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.”
But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you (2 Chronicles 20:6-12).
Notice the pattern of Jehoshaphat’s prayer. He starts with who God is, then what God has done, then what God has promised, and finally, on the basis of all that, he lay before God what his people need.
1. Who God is. He is the LORD, the personal covenant-keeping God, the God of their fathers, the God who is in heaven. But He is not just in heaven; He is the ruler over all the nations of the earth. He is the ruler over the Ammonites and the Moabites and the Edomites. He is ruler over Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is ruler over IBM, SBC, and WorldCom. He rules over your family, your circumstances, your investments. He is sovereign; He is in control; He is without equal. No one ever has or will ever block His will. That is why we can go to Him confidently in prayer.
2. What He has done. The primary work of God which Jehoshaphat focuses on is the conquest of Palestine. It happened by God’s hands, for He is the one who drove out the inhabitants of the land and gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham. Friends, the nation of Israel is one of the oddities of history. There is simply no way to explain the continuance of that nation apart from some kind of divine intervention. For almost three and a half millennia there has been a nation identified as Israel, and though they have waxed and waned, at times almost disappearing, they always survive. Jesus said that their continuance is linked with that of the sun and the moon. As long as there is a sun in the sky, and as long as the moon appears at night, there will be a nation of Israel. If you ever wake up some morning, and the sun doesn’t rise, then it’s time to worry about Israel’s survival, but not until![iv]
3. What He has promised. Jehoshaphat goes back in history to the dedication of the Temple, when God said to Solomon: “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:15). Jehoshaphat claims that promise because it is as good in Jehoshaphat’s day as it was in Solomon’s. And it’s just as good today. The promises of God are sure and certain; when we cry out to Him in our distress, He will hear us and save us–not just from our problems but also from our sins.
Now on the basis of who God is, what He has done, and what He has promised, Jehoshaphat is ready to make his request:
4. What his people need. He rehearses the threat of the armies facing them, and then in verse 12 he lays the real issue on the table: “O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” That, friends, is the bottom line. There are many times when we do not know what to do, but if our eyes are upon the Lord, if we are trusting in Him to help us, we will “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,” as Job put it. And even if He chooses not to do what we ask Him to do, or if His timetable is different from ours, our eyes should remain on Him, for He is completely trustworthy.
Do you remember what the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego, said as they faced the fiery furnace?
O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up (Daniel 3:16-18).
They well knew that God was their only hope. If He didn’t come through, it could only be because He had better plans.
The prayer of Jehoshaphat was heard by the entire nation, the men, their wives, and their children; even their babies are mentioned. All of them witnessed the faith of the king. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon a prophet named Jahaziel and he gave God’s response to the king’s prayer:
Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)
The theology here is the same as that found in 1 Samuel 17:47 when the young shepherd boy David went up against the Philistine giant, Goliath. David said to the Philistines, “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give all of you into our hands.” But I want you to notice something very interesting. While the prophet tells the people that the battle is not theirs but God’s, he nevertheless orders them to march against the enemy. He tells them they will not have to fight, but he also orders them to take up their positions and to stand firm.
I suggest that there’s a nearly universal principle here: The spiritual life is not a passive life–“just let go and let God.” It’s an active life wherein the believer is engaged, employing the gifts and abilities and stamina and energy he has, which God then directs and empowers. Even in the rare situation where God achieves the victory completely by His own actions, as here, still He requires His people to prepare for battle and to stand firm.
On occasion I find a person who is out of work, and he says he is trusting God to find him a job. But he isn’t sending out resumes or networking or hitting the streets. Now I realize he could be depressed, especially if he’s been out of work for some time. But I think he will much more likely see the hand of God moving in his behalf and answering his prayer if he’s engaged with God in the process. The same is true when dealing with medical or emotional problems. We need to be involved in our own treatment–taking the medicine that is indicated, getting exercise, watching our diets–and God will often work through those means to heal us.
Evangelicals have been known to mock the old saying, “God helps those who help themselves,” (which, in a recent survey was thought by most people to be a biblical quote, but of course it is not). We mock because it seems to some to go against our theology of grace. I understand that. Ultimately God helps those who can’t help themselves, because there is no way anyone can work his way to heaven. But there is truth as well in the fact that God expects His people to be actively engaged in the spiritual battle–in life and faith and ministry and healing. It’s kind of like the old baseball saying, “The guys who work the hardest seem to have the most luck.”
Praise and worship
At the prophet’s words Jehoshaphat bows with his face to the ground, and all the people fall down in worship before the Lord. Then some of the Levites spontaneously begin to praise the Lord with a very loud voice. Early the next morning they leave for the Desert of Tekoa to do as the Lord instructed them. Jehoshaphat stands before the people and says, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)
Why do you think he mentions faith in the Lord and faith in the prophets? I think it’s because it is through the prophets that God’s will is made known to His people. There are many today who speak glibly about faith in God, but they reject nearly everything His prophets have said in the Bible. There is a famine in the church today, not unlike that predicted by the prophet Amos: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘When I will send a famine through the land–not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD’” (Amos 8:11). The church is suffering spiritual malnutrition because many of the shepherds of God’s flock are not feeding the sheep, and some of those being fed well are refusing to eat.
The praise does not stop, for Jehoshaphat also appoints a men’s choir to lead the army, and they sing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” And, according to verse 22, “as they began to sing and praise,” the Lord sets ambushes against their enemies and they are defeated. The enemies of Israel begin to fight one another and totally annihilate one another!
The key weapons of Israel were praise and worship. I wonder if God didn’t intend for those to be our key weapons as well. There’s something about a heart of worship that is able to deflect all spiritual attacks of the Enemy.
Victory and reward
The extent of Jehoshaphat’s victory is recounted for us in verse 24:
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value–more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. (2 Chronicles 20:24-25).
You know something? Every major victory in the Bible downplays the human factor and exalts the action of God. And I believe the principle still stands today: if we want to see a great movement of the power of God, we’d better get out of the way. We tend to put so much stock in methods and programs and preparation and performance that sometimes there’s no room left for the miraculous (or even for providence). The last scene is one of …
Joy and peace
Listen to the conclusion of the story:
Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lutes and trumpets.
The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side (2 Chronicles 20:27-30).
Do you see the terms repeated there: joyfully, rejoice; peace, rest? Those are the results when we put our trust in the Lord. Alarm was the initial reaction to the threat; now the people are full of joy and experiencing peace because of God’s intervention.
There’s the story of Jehoshaphat: unprecedented threat, fear followed by faith, praise and worship, victory and reward, joy and peace. Frankly, I believe Jehoshaphat’s experience should be the norm, not the exception for believers, and it can be. We need to realize that whatever present disaster we may be facing, though it is different from a king facing a threatening army, the emotional effect of fear is the same. But the solution is also the same. As God helped Jehoshaphat when the king sought Him, so He can and will help you. Seek Him with all your heart.
DATE: July 14, 2002
Tags:
Judicial branch of government
Fear
Fasting
Prayer
Praise
Joy
[i] David Roper, A Day in the Life of Jehoshaphat, sermon preached December 2, 1973, #3063, page 1.
[ii]C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, 97.
[iii] Roper, 2.
[iv] By the way, the fact that God has established Israel permanently in the land of Palestine does not mean that the present government of Israel is a righteous one or that we ought to necessarily approve all the policies they are pursuing. The Jewish people as a whole are far from God. The dominant religion in Israel today is atheism, and Christianity is tolerated only for the sake of tourism. Israel welcomes Jewish immigrants from all over the world, and it doesn’t matter what their religion is so long as they can prove their Jewish ancestry. The only exception is a Jewish believer in Christ; they are not allowed to immigrate, and if they do, they are deported as soon as they are discovered. The political leaders of Israel make a great show of being friends of evangelicals in the U.S., but it’s all for political purposes. The fact is there are far more believers in Christ among the Arabs and Palestinians than there are among the Israelis. They don’t currently have any political clout, since radical Muslims set the policies for the Palestinians, but we evangelicals need to take that into consideration when we decide what policies to support in the Middle East.