What
is the position of victory? In 2 Chronicles
20 there is a story about the king of Judah. His name was
Jehoshaphat. Read the story, and ask the Lord for revelation about
how we should focus our lives today.
2 Chronicles 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,[a]
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;[b]
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? 7Are 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.”[c] 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,[d]
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.
When I look deeply at
this story, I am reminded of God's overwhelming OMNIPOTENCE. God is
ALL POWERFUL. He has no equal in the universe. Some might try to say
that satan is His equal...but truly...he is not. Why? Because God
MADE satan! The only power satan has, is a result of God's hand.
Without God, satan would have never existed...while on the other
hand, if satan had never existed, God would still exist. Every
attempt of satan to overcome the authority of God, has failed...is
failing...and will fail! Essentially, satan is a loser, with a
losing agenda! Even when it looks inevitable that he will win...satan
is defeated by God! Jehoshaphat and his army was up against three
foes of great might. From an educated person's view, the odds were
definitely against Jehoshaphat! Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir were
allied against Judah...they were determined to destroy God's people.
Jehoshaphat was somewhat concerned. He called a fast, and cried out
to God for help. Granted, he didn't sound too confident when he was
entreating God for favor...none the less, he did go to the right
source for help! Perhaps the most important thing Jehoshaphat did
WITH the people, can be found in verse 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.”
As ONE body of people, with Jeshoshaphat as spokesman, they
proclaimed God was in charge...they proclaimed their lack of ability
to be victorious...they admitted that they didn't KNOW what to
do...and they put their eyes on GOD! How awesome is that!?
They acknowledged their need of God's HIGHEST POWER. They admitted
their weaknesses. They looked to GOD to solve the problem! Often we
are faced with seemingly impossible situations. We don't know what
to do. How should we handle it? Perhaps like the prophecy which
followed their cries for help suggested...(vs. 15) "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." (vs. 17)"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.”
In the New Testament, Jesus was visiting the home of Mary and
Martha. Martha was busy, busy, BUSY! She was doing HER BEST to make
sure everything was done. On the other hand...or should I say,
"foot"....Mary was resting at the feet of Jesus! She was
listening to Him...Her eyes were on HIM! When Martha entreated Jesus
for Mary's help...Jesus replied, "Martha, Martha, you
are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed,
and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away
from her". Mary was seeking JESUS' HELP! In Jeremiah 17
we learn that those who trust in flesh...in man...are like a dried
up bush in the desert. Conversely, those who trust in the
Lord...those whose ONLY hope is GOD, are like a tree planted by the
waters...their leaf stays green...even when things get
excruciatingly HOT...they ALWAYS produce fruit! When we focus on
GOD...HE does great things THROUGH us! When we focus on
ourselves...or others...we are already Shake-N-Bake for the enemy!
After Jahaziel
prophesied the victory for Judah, Jehoshaphat and ALL the people
bowed down and worshipped the Lord. They believed in God to do the
work! The next morning they rose up early, and King Jehoshaphat
encouraged the people to "believe in the Lord your God, and you
shall be established". What was he saying?! He was saying that
the foundation they needed...the foundation we need...IS GOD! If
you're in a battle today, get yourself established in God by
believing! Remember..."faith (believing) comes by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God"! Fill your thoughts with the Word
of God. Sing songs of the Word. Pray the Word of God. Encourage
yourself with the Word of God. Satan is disestablishmentarianistic
in nature. He wants to tear you down. He wants to kill us. He wants
to steal from us. He wants to destroy us! Why?! Why is this his most
important goal?! Because we are the workmanship of God! We are His
prize possessions! We are more important than any other creation! We
are more important that satan ever thought about being! Jeshoshaphat
appointed singers to go into the battle first...BEFORE the mighty
men of valor. He selected ones to sing and praise the Lord...he was
establishing the VICTORY! They were proclaiming the authority,
sovereignty, and omnipotence of GOD! The mighty men of valor walked
behind the singers! They were there to "SEE the salvation of
the Lord"! And see it, they DID! The people of Ammon, Moab,and
Mount Seir destroyed one another! "NO ONE ESCAPED". It
took three days to gather up all of the plunder! The precious
jewelry and valuables...it ALL belonged to the people of Judah! They
had MORE than enough! They were exceedingly, abundantly, BLESSED!
Isn't that God's plan for His people in general?! Doesn't He want to
bless those who TRUST in HIM?! YES! He wants to pour out His
blessings on us! He wants us to experience HIS POWER! However, we
must realize our utter need for Him! Our sufficiency must be in HIM!
May we learn from this story of Jeshoshaphat! May we come together
to SEEK the Lord! May we admit our weaknesses! May we call on HIM to
do the works among us! May we place our eyes FULLY UPON
HIM...knowing that the battle is HIS...positioning ourselves for
VICTORY, by standing STILL, and seeing the SALVATION of the LORD!
Until next time...be blessed with HIS BEST! (Because our best
doesn't compare...just ask Martha).
Your Partner In
Ministry,
Greg McCowen
Covenant Life Fellowship - Lubbock
Church - (806) 771-4244
