2 Chronicles 19, 20. Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you.

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1 2 Chronicles 19, 20 1 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. Remember that Jehoshaphat had allied himself with Ahab, the ungodly king in Israel. He had arranged this alliance by having his son marry Ahab s daughter. He did it as a military and political advantage. Ahab convinced Jehoshaphat to join him in war, to regain the city of Ramoth Gilead. Ahab disguised himself, but convinced Jehoshaphat to dress in kingly apparel. Jehoshaphat was nearly killed, but cried out to God, and God spared his life. Ahab was eventually killed. Now Jehoshaphat is returning home, by God s grace. He never should have allied himself with Ahab. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. 3 Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God. This prophet was bold and courageous to rebuke Jehoshaphat. NOTE- We need to be careful who we make alliances with and who we help regarding ungodly causes. Jehoshaphat made an unholy alliance, thinking he would protect himself from war with Ahab. Instead, he got pulled into a battle that wasn t his, and almost got killed. But.there was some good. Jehoshaphat made a serious mistake, but he still had a love for God, and had done good. He had prepared his heart to seek God. He had removed idols from the land. Preparing your heart to seek God Psalm 63:1, 2 1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Mark 1:35 35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Seeking God cannot be an afterthought, but needs to be forethought. Schedule your life in such a way as to make time for a devotional life. Change your schedule so that you can have an unrushed time to seek God in prayer, study, meditation, devotional reading.

2 Philippians 2:12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD God of their fathers. Jehoshaphat now stays in Jerusalem, and takes care of his kingdom. He went on a personal traveling campaign to encourage the people in Judah to follow God. This was good leadership. Where ever the people were off base, he sought to bring them back to God. 5 Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. 7 Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes. The judges were there to help the people settle disputes. If a judge is the final authority in the land, who is the final authority over the judge? If a judge doesn t have a fear of the Lord within his heart, he is very liable to judge corruptly. Judges Behaving Badly, the author lists a series incidents exposing the corrupt state of America s judiciary. A former judge attempted to sue for $54 million because a dry cleaner lost his trousers. A Florida judge was removed from the bench because of repeated complaints of abusive behavior. So was a California judged for similar conduct, which included increasing jail sentences for daring to question his rulings. A New York judge was ousted after he challenged a defendant to a fistfight during a trial. Luckily, he did not use the gun he was carrying. Other judges have had to step down because of sexual misconduct. One judge was jailed after being caught downloading child pornography. Another judge was caught mating with a female attorney in chambers. Others judges were caught and removed from office for other sexual acts in chambers, and it only gets worse. A New York judge was jailed for taking bribes to rig divorce cases. Another New York judge was caught charging people for referrals to certain lawyers. These incidents reveal a trend of increasing judicial corruption that is creating public distrust. As Honoré de Balzac wrote, To distrust the judiciary marks the beginning of the end of society. 8 Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the LORD and for controversies, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, when they returned to Jerusalem. Remember that the Levites who had lived in the north, left under the reign of Jeroboam, who had set up golden calf worship. Jehoshaphat was blessed to have true servants of God living under his rule.

3 9 And he commanded them, saying, Thus you shall act in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and with a loyal heart: 10 Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the LORD and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11 And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the LORD will be with the good. 2 Chronicles 20 1It 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. This war was the fulfillment of the warning found in 19:2 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). En Gedi is about 24 miles from Jerusalem. 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. This is a huge difference from the way that many Christians seek the Lord. They fasted. They prayed. They gathered together. They were desperate for God. They believed in prayer, and that praying to God would result in their situation being changed and them being saved. Fasting and prayer are powerful in the life of the Christian. It takes a deliberateness to both fast and pray. It takes sacrifice, and self denial. But when we realize that we need God to move among us, we will be moved to make those sacrifices, for our own sakes, the sake of others, and for the glory of God. In teaching about deliverance from certain kinds of demons, Jesus explained Mark 9:29 So He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

4 There is a certain kind of faith, a degree of faith, a desperate faith, that happens only in those who recognize the danger of this world and who are serious about seeing things changed by the power of God. To get this assistance, it was necessary to seek it; and to get such extraordinary help, they should seek it in an extraordinary way; whence he proclaimed a universal fast, and all the people came up to Jerusalem to seek the Lord. (Clarke) 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? Jehoshaphat recognized the sovereignty of God over all nations. The pagan cultures believed that the gods were localized, but not sovereign. We need to remember the power of God as we pray. We need to be very mindful that Jesus is Ling of King and Lord of Lords. He is God over man and nature and all creation and over the demonic hosts. Jesus is Lord over Satan. Martin Luther- Satan is God s Satan. 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? As Jehoshaphat prayed he recounted the past faithfulness of God. We need to do the same. We need to verbalize in prayer or in our hearts all that God had faithfully accomplished in us and through us. Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 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. Jehoshaphat quoted the prayer that Solomon had prayed when the Temple was first built. 2 Chronicles 6: 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. Jehoshaphat once again prayed Biblically, historically, accurately.

5 God had told Israel to not attack those nations, for God was not planning on giving those lands to Israel, but to the descendants of Lot. Israel had obeyed God, and left those nations alone. Jehoshaphat is reminding God of Israel s prior obedience. He is asking God to honor their obedience, which was now about to be forgotten by these nations that were going to attack them. Spurgeon- I like to plunge my hand into the promises (of God), and then I find myself able to grasp with a grip of determination the mighty faithfulness of God. An omnipotent plea with God is: Do as thou hast said. 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. Jehoshaphat is a good and godly leader. He has led the people to pray and fast. He has prayed Biblically. He now openly confesses that he has no answers for this current problem. He also openly confesses that their corporate eyes will be on God. He says that God is their only source of deliverance, and that they will wait upon Him. They realized their own inability to solve this problem. 13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD. They stood and waited for God to respond. What a blessed thing to be quiet and wait for God to answer. To pray your prayers, to fast, to confess, to remind God of His promises, and then to be quiet and wait. Psalm 40:1-4a I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, 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. NOTE- Notice the word then. After Biblical prayer, humility, fasting, and waiting, then the answer came. This was prophecy.

6 It was spontaneous, Spirit led, and for the blessing and edification of God s people. 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. The prophet affirmed that there was a great problem. The word of encouragement was that the battle was the Lord s. That would mean that Judah would need to obey the Lord in order to see victory. They could not begin to lean on their own understanding. They couldn t decide to get clever, and develop a good strategy. They would need to let God fight the way that God planned to fight. 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. 17You 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. Though God was going to fight for His people, His people still needed to respond in faith. 1. Go down against them. They needed to show up, and not stay home. 2. God knew what the enemy s strategy was, and where they would be. He told Judah ahead of time 3. You won t need to fight, but you will need to be in position before them. This required faith. 4. They were reminded that God was with them. 18And 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. 19Then 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. NOTE- They praised God for His answer. Their lives were such that when God s word came forth, they felt the relief. They recognized it as God s word. Often, we don t praise God until after the deliverance has come. We struggle to believe the promises of God before the trial. We praise him after the deliverance, which is good, but not best. In speaking about death, Paul instructed the Christians about what happens when a Christian dies. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. A Christian who has died and is in God s presence doesn t need faith to know that s true. He is comforted by the fact that he is experiencing God s presence, and is face to face.

7 The Christian who lives on earth can only receive comfort by faith, regarding life after death. That person walks by faith, not sight. They praise God for His promise, not for the yet to be experienced fulfillment of that promise. We often fret until the trial is over, and then we praise God. We end up praising by sight, and not by faith. Jehoshaphat and Judah praised God by faith, not by sight. They praised him for His promise, and believed His promise. They didn t need to wait until the battle was over to rejoice. V. 18- They worshipped in prayer V. 19- They worshipped in song. They knew how to seek answers from God How to wait on an answer from God How to know that the answer was from God And how to praise God for the answer before God fulfilled the promise. 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. They went out early- Their faith was observable. Jehoshaphat reminded them to believe the word of God. It was show time. 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. The worshippers went out in front of the army. The army came, but didn t lead the battle. The battle was entered into in a spirit of worship. They didn t come to fight, but to praise God and watch Him fight. If God didn t keep His promise, these people would be slaughtered. These worshippers stepped out in faith. who should praise the beauty of holiness- holiness: set apart-ness

8 Guzik- And were saying: Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever : This was the refrain of their song. They did not rest on their own merits or even the merits of Abraham, Moses, or David. They trusted and rested on the enduring mercy of God 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. Entering into warfare via a wirship team did not become the norm for God s people. They were not called to repeat this practice every time they faced an enemy. Rather This praise was an expression of their faith. They were to always have faith, and that faith would be expressed in many different ways. Faith is the key issue here, expressed through praise and stillness. How the battle was fought was not to become the norm. 23For 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. 25When 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. 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.

9 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.