The Week in Review

What could "overturn" such a big house? While this is a exhibit in Wisconsin Dell, it is a good example of what can happen in our lives. God can overturn any forces that come against us.  it doesn't matter how powerful they seem, God is stronger than even our strongest enemy (the devil).  We have victory in Jesus, today.

II Chronicles 20

Taught at Langley Avenue Church of God

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Now we finish the end of this lesson as we review the last verses of this chapter.

Verse 25 through 27 – "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. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day. 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."

When the battle was over, God gave them the plunder from the battle. There was so much that it took 3 days to gather it. What this tells us is that when we come through the battle, God will give us the increase. He will increase us so much, that we won’t be able to gather it all in on one single day. The increase will come over time. He will increase us from the provision of his riches. He will increase us in power and he will increase us in standing. He increased Jehoshaphat in such a way that the fear of God fell on other nations. God will increase us so that we can put the enemy on notice that God is alive and reigning in our life.

We will face some unusual battles in our lives. We will face those battles were the enemy will come at us even through those that we think should be walking with us, and those situations may shake our faith. But when we put our faith in God, God will never let us down. God wants us to praise him; because that is our greatest weapon we have for the battles were we are being overtaken by great forces. We must acknowledge that we don’t have the power in ourselves, but in God alone.

We must take our position in the battle and be still, stop trying to fix it ourselves, or do things in our own understanding, but wait on God and praise him in the process. As we do that, God says he will show up and save us from the enemy. And when we trust the instructions of God, no matter how strange the instruction, we can win the battle without being wounded or tired from the assault. And then the wonder of it all is when we get to the end he will increase us. He will take what the enemy was using to destroy us, to bring us increase. So I remind you, the battle is not yours but it is the Lords. He will show up and save you, so stand still and know. Where is your faith? Are you trusting in those around you or are you aligning yourself up with God and God alone? So tonight, God says we must put all of our trust in him. When we do, we will be victorious in the unusual assignments.

The Week in Review

II Chronicles 20
Taught at Langley Avenue Church of God
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Verse 18 & 19 – Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.

Jehoshaphat bowed himself and worshipped. And all of Judah worshipped God for his answer to their situation. What they were doing was thanking God and praising him for the victory that had not come in the natural but they were accepting in the spiritual realm. A miracle is simply the physical reality (what we see) and the spiritual reality (what is true) coming together because of the power of God. We have to begin now thanking God for the victories in our lives, for the miracles we do see yet, but are soon manifesting themselves to us. We want to wait until the battle is over and then thank God, but we have to begin before we even see the answers to praise him. For we walk by faith and not by sight. And as we praise what happens is, we bring the spiritual reality closer so that the physical reality (what we see) and the spiritual reality (what is) become one. And at the moment we experience the miracles of God.

Verse 20 – Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "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.

So the people rose early in the morning and trusted in what the prophet had told them. A note, do you realize a lot of scripture talks about how individuals rose early after getting an answer that means, “move quickly” when God gives you directions. Move early in the situation, move quickly before the enemy comes and tries to convince you the answer is not truly from God. See had they waited, they may have begun to doubt the answer for it was indeed a strange one. The scripture also says, believe his prophets and so shall ye prosper. Ahab had refused to listen to the word of God and because of his disobedience he died. But Jehoshaphat was listening and heeding the word of God and because of it he would prosper. Disobedience and sin leads to death, but trust and faith in God will prosper the soul of man. Who do you want to be? Do you want to be Ahab calling on God, but having no intention of heeding and therefore setting yourself up for a spiritual death? Or do you want to be like Jehoshaphat and not only seek God, but obey all that he commands and therefore, prosper in the ways of God? Do you want the message of God coming to you as a rebuke or do you want the word of God to come to you as a word of encouragement? Then you must chose to do either as Ahab did and die or as Jehoshaphat and live.

Verse 21 through 24 – After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 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.

We know the rest of this story; the singers go out before the army and sing songs of praise to God. God sets an ambush against the enemy and they win the battle. There are a few things that are important to note here. All that had come against Judah were destroyed. Not one enemy was left. And the amazing part is the people did not have to lift one finger to do anything. Image if you will what it must have been like to think about going into battle without any weapons. No sword, or shield. Yet the people did have armor. Their armor was praise. One of the greatest weapons we have in our spiritual warfare is our prayer and praise. We cannot even enter into the king’s court without praise. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise (Psalm 100:4).

What does this mean? When we enter into our battles following God’s directives, we can come through to the other side of the battle without carrying the scar of the battle. The men of Judah came through this battle without being wounded, scarred or tired. In the fight with Ahab, the men were tired, bruised and defeated from the battle, because God was not in the battle with them. Jehoshaphat however had God with him and he was given the victory. God will give those that are obedient to him, victory in the battles. And we can come through more than conquers. We can come through our battles without the scars of what we have gone through. And not only that but the enemy is destroyed on every avenue with no trace left. So the battles we face are not half won, but completely won with no trace of the enemy left to defeat us in this battle.

The Week in Review

Can you image if the waters that surrounded the city of Chicago were filled with the enemy coming to attack us. Yet, the instruction you have been given is to stand still and you will not have to fight this battle. God tells us still today that he will fight our battle no matter how hard the battle looks.

II Chronicles 20
Taught at Langley Avenue Church of God
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

II Chronicles 20
Verse 15 though 17 – He said: "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.' "

The answer was don’t be afraid of this multitude, for the battle is not yours but God. So he tells them to go down, and they won’t need to fight but they will only need to set themselves in place and be still and watch the salvation of the Lord.

What does this mean? Jehoshaphat tried to do things in his own way when he aligned himself with Ahab. Maybe in his mind he thought he might be able to bring back the broken kingdom through his son that had married Ahab’s daughter. Maybe he was willing to overlook Ahab’s sinful way, for he thought he might be able to have faith in what could become of this relationship. Whatever the reason, Jehoshaphat could not trust in his alliance with Israel. Yet, he could trust in his alliance with God. He was putting his faith in the wrong place when he was trusting in his relationship with Ahab. But by putting his faith in God, he was saying I will align myself up with what God is saying and when I do, I will see the salvation of the Lord.

There are times we put our faith and total expectations in people and God is telling us not to do it because we are setting ourselves up to be let down. I don’t mean we cannot have some expectations in others, but God is the only one that we are to look to for our completeness, for our total joy and happiness. God was telling Jehoshaphat I am greater than this multitude and you are not going into this battle alone. The ones you thought would stand with you or that would go into battles with you are not there, but have in fact become part of the cause of the battle, but I am still there. When your own brother will forsake you, I will never leave you or forsake you. And you don’t have to be afraid because you will not have to fight, but I will.

But you do have to do something; you have to show up for the battle. We don’t always want to show up for the situations and circumstances we are in, instead we want them gone and we want to hide our heads in the sand, but we have to show up. We have to come and take our place. And like a tree planted when the storms blow around us, we can stay rooted in our place in God and the storm will not blow us over. And then he tells them to be still.

Do you know what it means to be still? To be still means to be unmovable, motionless, at rest, tranquil, silent. So when God tells Jehoshaphat to be still what he is saying, do not move in your own thoughts anymore. Do not move to the left or the right, but stand instead. Be at rest and at peace and feel my joy, for the joy of the Lord is my strength. Be silent do not be restless for that is fear at work, but be tranquil or still because you know who’s battle this belongs to. And when you stand, unmoved, unchanged, you will see me show up and bring salvation. I will save you from everything that the enemy is trying to bring your way. And because God is so merciful he will tell us when we move, to get up and stand still. You know what happens, we decide it must be time for us to advance or move and we make a step in our own power, what happens? We slip and fall. So in his mercy he tells us get up, and keep standing. So if you have been moving when God has said be still and you slip, stop moving, get up and be still. God says, Get up, and stand still. Stand still so I can work.

The Week In Review

II Chronicles 20
Taught at Langley Avenue Church of God
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

II Chronicles 20

Verse 1-4 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). 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.

We see no mention of war and then suddenly battle is upon Jehoshaphat. We do not know why the enemy forces are ganging up on him, but they are. The interesting part is this, in order for the enemy armies to have access to Judah; Israel had to grant them passage through their land so they could get to Judah to attack.

What does that mean? Image what this is telling us. Jehosphaphat had just been willing to give his life for his brother, his people, his blood; Israel (read chapter 18). He even went into battle for them. He had even risked disobeying God for this alliance. He had disobeyed God to go into battle with Ahab. And now the very people that Jehoshaphat thought would stand with him were against him. This very people whom he thought would be his alliance, were in fact the avenue the enemy was using to attack him and this brought stress, and fear to him. In our time, we can say the same things, the hardest battles we face are not the ones against us from an unknown force, but when it is from the ones we love, the ones we have faith in, the ones we have an expectation of support from. Those that we have placed faith in and given our allegiances to, are sometimes the ones the enemy uses as the source to try and defeat us.

Due to this fact, Jehoshaphat said there is a multitude coming against us and he was afraid. He might have been afraid because he had no one he could seek to come and go to battle with him. Israel, whom he thought would be as he was to them, is in fact a source for the enemy. And so he sees all that is coming against him and he is afraid.

What does that mean? We expect the enemy to attack, and we also expect that we will have some difficulties from time to time. However we are sometimes caught unaware when battles come upon us quickly without warning and especially when the enemy advances from areas we least expect. This can cause us to become doubtful and begin to look at the attack and become overwhelmed by the size of the situation. But, Jehoshaphat didn’t stay in that state long, for he set himself to seeking the face of God.

He declared a fast for all of Judah. This reminds us that even though we are caught off guard by our situations and circumstances, we must regroup quickly and not become immobilized by fear, but quickly seek the face of the Lord. Jehoshaphat was a man who sought the Lord. We see the difference in these two kings, Ahab sought the Lord, but he didn’t heed the words, for Jehoshaphat in fact told Ahab to seek God’s directives.

Verse 5 through 12 – Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard and said: "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."

Jehoshaphat seeks God and prays for God’s intervention. His prayer was not one of doom and gloom. In verse 6 he gives the attributes of God. He talks about God’s power, his ability to withstand whatever comes. Verse 7 & 8 he prays about the past victories and talks about their trust in him. Verse 9, he reaffirms that when anything comes against us, we stand before this house, in other words, when we are faced with difficulties, we will come to you, and we will put our faith in you. He doesn’t even mention his problem until verse 10 of this prayer. So he didn’t jump in and begin to talk about the problem, but he begins this prayer praising God.

In verse 12 he acknowledges his weakness and also his strength. We need to stop jumping into prayer giving God our laundry list of what’s wrong and ask him to fix it, without first giving him the honor and praise he deserves from our lips. Verse 13 – All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.

All come to worship, even the children. What a way to show our children how to battle spiritually. The children were allowed to become part of the prayer, praising and seeking God for the answer to this battle that faces them. For the battles that we face are not only against us, but also against all that are in our household. As parents we do not have to share everything with the children, but there are times when the battles we face will become evident before our children and we can do a great service to them by showing them how to seek God. What a testimony these children had. They were able to see that when God says he will do something miraculous, he will. They prayed and God gave them victory over their enemies. So we can do the same, we can put in “action” what we preach about before our children.

Verse 14 – Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

Because they sought God, God sent the answer. The prophet gave the message from God. This answer given was an unusual answer. There are times when we face unusual battles and the answers we get will be unusual answers. Yet we must trust what the answer tells us to do. It is also important to understand that we cannot rush God to answer. He has to bring us to the place were our trust in 100% in him and not in others, or ourselves. And at that moment, he will send the answer.

The current posting of this lesson can be found on the Williams Innovative Network (W.I.N) site, http://home.comcast.net/~inhisword/site/