2 Chronicles 20
McGee2 Chronicles 20:1
INVASION BY ENEMY NATIONSYou see, now this man has a normal reaction: he is afraid. He goes to God in prayer and sends word out to his people to join him in fasting and prayer.
2 Chronicles 20:6
JEHOSHAPHAT’S PRAYERJehoshaphat is doing something that his father, Asa, did not do. Asa did not rest upon the experiences of the past, which would have given him faith. Jehoshaphat, knowing what God has promised in the past and what God has done in the past, now rests upon the promises of God. He goes over this entire situation in his prayer to God and then he concludes his prayer:
2 Chronicles 20:12
What a scene! What a king! He casts himself entirely upon God in a helpless situation. What a wonderful thing it is.
2 Chronicles 20:14
GOD’S ANSWERNotice how often genealogies are used in the Scripture to identify the prophets or some of the other men who are brought across the pages of the Bible. It is very important. I wonder if you know who your great-great-great-grandfather was. I haven’t any idea who mine was. But these folk kept accurate genealogies. Listen to the word of Jahaziel. He is God’s spokesman now.
2 Chronicles 20:15
I need to remind myself of this. It is easy for me to forget that the ministry God has given me is the Lord’s. I go at it like it is mine; I begin to carry the burden and face the problems and worry about the difficulties. Every now and then I have to remind myself that this is God’s work. And since it is His (I say this reverently), He will have to work out the problems. The secret of prayer is to go to God in faith. As the hymn has it, “Take your burden to the Lord, and leave it there.” The trouble with me is that I don’t leave it there. I spread my problems out before the Lord, then I sack them up, put them right back on my back, and go on carrying them. Oh, how wonderful God is! He says, “Don’t be afraid, Jehoshaphat. The battle is not yoursyou couldn’t fight it; it is Mine.” I find myselfand I’m sure you do alsoin situations from which I cannot extricate myself. God says, “Turn it over to Me. I’ll take care of it.” Oh, that you and I might learn to turn it over to Him as Jehoshaphat did!
2 Chronicles 20:20
Now they are going out to meet the advancing enemy. Jehoshaphat encourages his troops to put their trust in the Lord. God is saying to you and me, “Believe in Me. Rest in Me and believe My Word.” Don’t listen to what Mr. Ph.D. has to say; listen to what God has to say. “Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
2 Chronicles 20:21
This is an unusual way to organize an army! He didn’t get out his atom bomb; he just organized a choir to go ahead and praise the Lordfor His mercy endureth forever. This whole chapter is thrilling to read. Now notice what happened. The Lord gave them the victory. God won the battle for them.
2 Chronicles 20:26
Berachah is a name which has been taken by several churches in this country. It is a good name for a church, by the way. It means “the place to bless the Lord” or “the place to praise the Lord.” Every church ought to be a Berachah church.
2 Chronicles 20:27
It is God who gives rest and peace. Our nation hasn’t learned that. We think if we make this kind of an alignment, this kind of treaty, we won’t have to fight in war. Well, we have fought two world wars in order to bring peace in the world and all we have is war. Do you know why? Because God hasn’t given us peace. Our world is not trusting the Prince of Peace. This is the reason. The chapter ends with the market alliance Jehoshaphat had with the son of Ahab, to which we have already referred. God could not bless this alliance with the ungodly son of Ahab. Although Jehoshaphat was a great king, he was not perfect. God says that he “…departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD” (see v. 2Ch_20:32).
2 Chronicles 20:33
Idolatry was the ultimate downfall of the nation.