January 9/10, 2015 Digging Deeper Climb: Converse Written by: Robert Ismon Brown (bbrown@c1naz.org) Connections Pastor for Education Background Notes Key Scripture Text: Psalm 61; 2 Chronicles 20 Climb Converse Introduction From Psalm 61:2 comes a cry and a hope: From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. The poet is literally at his wits end the ends of the earth, a metaphor for personal extremity. Like him, human beings end up in places they do not wish to be. Don t we sometimes say, I m not in a good place today? We wonder: how can we get from here to there? Imagery such as this fills the biblical books, especially the Psalms where anxiety because of loss puts the poets between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Trapped, we wonder if we will ever again get out and beyond our situations. Attempting the same things in the same way without success, we succumb to insanity s siren call. Armies often find themselves on battlefields not of their choosing. What they really want is good ground, with both observational and strategic advantage. Commonly, such ground is called high ground, on the mountain top where troops command the heights. But to move an army up a mountain is its own herculean task, against the odds of tangled bramble, low-hanging limbs, loose rocky soil, and steep grade. Fans of American Civil War history are familiar with the challenges of mountain warfare: Lookout, Sugarloaf, Stone, the Round tops at Gettysburg, Kennesaw, Allegheny, and the list goes on. In Alpine Warfare mountains act as a natural border, but can also be a water source as found on the Golan Heights. To assault enemy positions bivouacked on high ground demands a higher percentage of offensive to defensive soldiers than in battles fought on level soil. Then there are the dangers of lightning, strong gusts of wind, rock falls, avalanche, snow pack, ice, extreme cold, glaciers, uneven terrain, and the slow pace of troop and materiel movement. Climbs, reinforcements, and medical evacuation up and down steep slopes require significant determination and resilience. To conquer a mountain requires such resolve and resilience. There come moments when the climber encounters a false peak, thinking he has finally reached the top, only to discover there is yet one more summit. False peaks affect climbers by inducing feelings of dashed hopes or even failure. 1 Applied figuratively, false peaks suggest obstacles posing as the end goal, with the same psychological effects. David Taylor, principal of Ohrn Consulting, offers germane insights on the subject. First, every step is, in fact, a project While climbing a mountain is a common metaphor to describe the route to success, the path is more often like a march along a Mandelbrotian 2 boundary where each step can be broken down into ever-finer detail. Second, mental and psychological fatigue is a vastly underestimated foe. Emotional exhaustion can be as lethal as physical exhaustion, but it s often much harder to monitor and manage. 3 1 See Gerry Roach, Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs (3rd ed.). Fulcrum Publishing: 1999, p.287. 2 A word derived from Benoit Mandelbrot, a Polish-born, French and American mathematician who coined the word "fractal" as well as developed a "theory of roughness" and "self-similarity" in nature. He later discovered sets of intricate, never-ending fractal shapes, named in his honor. Mandelbrot said "fractals" are equally "rough" at all scales. No matter how close you look, they never get simpler, much as the section of a rocky coastline you can see at your feet looks just as jagged as the stretch you can see from space. 3 From http://www.ohrnconsulting.com/overcoming-false-peaks-perils/ -1-
His essay continues by reminding us: The Good News is that their effects can be significantly mitigated through the following : Know your enemy Sun Tzu teaches us in the Art of War that we need to know our enemy. At its most basic, that means simply knowing who they are. By unmasking and acknowledging these two as potential hazards, their effects can already be dramatically reduced. Don t sweat the unknown unknowns In a 2009 press conference, Donald Rumsfeld, two time U.S. Secretary of Defense, described the difference between known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Most entrepreneurs have some idea of what they don t know, the known unknowns, and have secured some sort of brain trust in the form of advisors, mentors or fellow entrepreneurs to assist when necessary. The real damage comes when someone tries to account for all possible scenarios even the ones they don t know exist. They re looking to solve for the unknown unknowns. Don t fall into this bottomless pit; odds are that if you and your brain trust don t know about a problem, it s not a problem. Don t go looking for problems. Take emotion out of it Maybe you can t remove emotion, but you can change its impact. During wartime, prisoners of war learned that those that pinned their hopes of release on a certain date, such as by Christmas or by summer, had their hopes often dashed and therefore suffered greater and more frequent emotional crisis. Prisoners who held onto an eternal hope were able to use it as a strength that fueled their determination. Minimize wear and tear by turning emotion into hope. Delegate where you can This is, by far, one of the hardest for any entrepreneur or founder: Often they think that they are the ONLY ONES who can do it the way it needs to be done. I ll concede that vision may come from a single source but execution is best done by a team. Find a team, build trust, and then delegate. Delegation magnifies. Follow your Plan Paddling while riding down white water in a raft may seem more that futile, it may seem like there are more important things to do like spot boulders in your path. The reality is, however, that the boulders are merely distractions that divert attention from your true priority, paddling. Paddling is part of the plan because it gets you where you want to go. Boulders are frightening, but focusing on them, or any of the other plentiful distractions, will not move you forward. Stick to the plan. You do have a plan, don t you? Set your Culture If you ve followed advice in step 4 and built a team, you are no longer facing the aforementioned dastardly duo alone. Just as you have taken steps to mitigate the effects of a never ending to-do list and emotional whipsaw, it is important to protect your team from the effects as well. Your corporate culture will set itself unless you set it. Don t stop Tar pits and quicksand are silent killers that exist in more than just Tarzan movies. When allowed, they can swallow time, money and all other resources. To avoid them while starting a business, move forward continuously. Prudently, but forward. Don t stop. All it takes is all you ve got was a sign that I saw while running my first marathon (and only so far). What made this sign so memorable was that it applied equally to the physical and the mental effort needed to reach my goal. To the psalmist (above), there exists a rock that is higher than I, and he asks the maker of all things, the God of Israel s covenant, to lead him to that higher place. Inspired by the imagery of this and other texts, the hymn writer penned these lyrics: Higher Ground I m pressing on the upward way, New heights I m gaining every day; Still praying as I m onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. -2- Refrain: Lord, lift me up and let me stand, By faith, on Heaven s tableland, A higher plane than I have found; Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
My heart has no desire to stay Where doubts arise and fears dismay; Though some may dwell where those abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground. I want to live above the world, Though Satan s darts at me are hurled; -3- For faith has caught the joyful sound, The song of saints on higher ground. I want to scale the utmost height And catch a gleam of glory bright; But still I ll pray till heav n I ve found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Johnson Oatman, Jr.(1898) A hopeful poet once penned this psalm: He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights (Psalm 18:33). Then there is the moving account from the book of Joshua which tells how the faithful spy, Caleb, determined to climb and conquer his peak. It s worth printing the text here for full effect: 6 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' 10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 15 (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war (Joshua 14:6-15). Though eighty-five years old, Caleb never forgot the promises of God nor his own faithfulness to explore the land. Full of convictions and resilience, he set his mind to take this hill country, though the Anakites were there and their cities large and fortified. What pushed Caleb to the top was his deep conviction that Yahweh [was] helping me. Especially poignant, is how the writer of this history concludes the account: Then the land had rest from war, as if to identify Caleb as the key figure whose commitment to the peak brought greater blessing to all Israel. Climbers become unifiers and multipliers. This Week s Text (2 Chronicles 20:1-30) After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. 2 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). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard 6 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. 7 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? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 '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.' 10 "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. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an
inheritance. 12 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." 13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. 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. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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.'" 18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice. 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." 21 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." 22 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. 23 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. 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets. 29 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. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side. You cannot climb a mountain from an armchair. Nor does scaling the summit happen outside the turbulent events of history, whether personal or national. That was the story of King Jehoshaphat who ruled the southern kingdom of Judah, 873-849 BCE. His story occupies the narratives of 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18:1-21:1. Kings is an earlier work and includes details of Jehoshaphat s war-alliance with King Ahab of northern Israel which led to Ahab s death. Their common enemies were the Aramean peoples to the east, including Assyria, Midian, Ammon, and the Edomites whose nations were just east of the Jordan River in land adjacent to the Transjordan Hebrew tribes. Our focus is on the story told in 2 Chronicles 20, paying attention to the comments of the Chronicler about the character of Jehoshaphat throughout his leadership over Judah. Our text begins with the words After this inviting us to read 2 Chronicles 18-19 which tells of the Assyrian conflict which Judah shared with northern Israel, ending with Ahab s demise. The books of Chronicles (1 and 2) were written during and after the much later exile of God s people in Babylon. More than simple reporting of facts, they offer careful critique of people and practices that ultimately contributed to God s decision to send His people to Babylon. Reflective insights help the reader understand not only what happened but also what was going on, offering a big picture perspective to instruct the Jews as they returned to their land in the 6 th century BCE. With the intention of preventing future exiles, the writer counsels and cajoles his fellow Jews, encouraging them to climb new mountains with courage, faith, and obedience. Above all, readers of this material ought to heed the pitfalls of the stories which the writer tells, learning from past mistakes and fastening their eyes on better summits with determination and resilience. And so we have the incident from Jehoshaphat carrier as king of Judah in the 9 th century BCE. Let s summarize the historical situation. By this time, since 931 BCE, Israel was a house divided: the northern ten tribes, called -4-
Israel, and the remaining southern tribes, called Judah. In effect, the house of David no longer kept the people of God united under the rule of his descendents. Kings in the north ruled by palace coup and insurrection, resulting in multiple dynasties without royal Davidic lineage. Kings in the south kept the Davidic dynasty in tact. Northern kings tended to be worshippers of other gods in revolt against Yahweh, the covenant God of ancient Israel. Southern kings were largely faithful to Yahwehism, but periodically fell into apostasy and syncretistic practices. Judgment for such lapses usually came in the form of war from outside enemies: nations like Midian, Ammon, and Edom, and ultimately from empires like Egypt, Assyria and Babylon. God s intention for allowing such incursions was the purification and discipline of Hebrew faith and practice. That often involved the removal of evil kings or their consorts. Especially grievous was idolatry devotion to the ancient gods of Canaan (like Baal) and sometimes to the gods of foreign queens taken into the harem of Israel s monarchs. Such practice began with Solomon whose many consorts dragged him and the nation into deep spiritual decline, culminating with the revolt when his son Rehoboam succeeded him to the throne. Idolatry came to symbolize Israel s tendency to shape life on its own terms. To make an idol was both a theological and a technological move, since it meant the setting up of beliefs and practices that reflected selfinterest through invention and design apart from the values of Yahwistic faith. Leave Yahweh out of the equation, and religious life was left with nothing but human intentions: humans made God in their own image rather than the other way around. Idolatry tended to favor the nobility and its values in contradiction to the concerns of peasants, trades people, and day laborers. Centralizing power in the king and then allowing the king to shape (invent) the symbols of religion led to the manipulation of the economy in favor of the ruling classes. Monarchy and idolatry became two sides of the same coin. Jehoshaphat came to power as king of Judah on the heels of the 41 year reign of king Asa (reign: 931-873 BCE), a man whose loyalties shifted toward conservative Yahwehism only in the latter days of his rule. This meant deposing his grandmother, Maacah, a devoted supporter of the goddess Asherah, consort of the god Baal. After Asa s death, and Jehoshaphat s ascension, fresh challenges met him from the eastern alliance which pushed him into a coalition with the northern kingdom under Ahab, a wicked king with an equally despised queen, Jezebel (see 2 Chronicles 18 and also 1 Kings 22). The chronicler commented negatively in the aftermath of that disastrous campaign, addressing Jehoshaphat in this way: 2 Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you. 3 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 Chronicles 19:2-3). Some good in you may sound like faint praise, and yet the text goes on to explain how the chastened king proceeded to implement needed judicial reforms, reminding judges: "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. 7 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). His actions put shoe leather on the statement: and have set your heart on seeking God. By instituting such reforms in Judah, the king proved himself a faithful servant of Yahweh, even after the Ahab debacle. And so, the words After this refer to the account given above in the history prior to the developments in this week s text from 2 Chronicles 20, to which we now turn. The king had enemies, and they are named: Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites. Geographically, they lie east of the Jordan River, poised at the border with Judah. The writer underscores the immediacy of the threat: Already in Hazazon Tamaer (that is, En Gedi). Known for its vineyards, date palms, and balsam, archaeological evidence also supports the production of perfume. The site was supplied with fresh water springs. Threats to such a location were reason for deep concern. Our text says of the king that he was alarmed, from the common Hebrew word for fear (yāra ). What will the king do with his fear? Will he live in denial and brush off the threat? Will he once more engage in reckless alliances with his northern neighbor? His intelligence community told him the army was vast, a fact he cannot easily ignore. -5-
Several key words describe the king s response, followed by further responses by the nation as a whole: 1. Resolved to inquire of Yahweh. 2. Proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 3. Came together to seek Yahweh s help. 4. Came from every town in Judah. Begun with intention, the resolve quickly drew in the whole community of God s people. Jehoshaphat began alone, but he did not remain alone. The commitment to scale the difficult heights has a way of mustering courage from others. The king had already fought in a significant battle (chapter 18) which witnessed the death of his father-in-law, King Ahab of Israel. Faced with a similar conflict against the allied Transjordan peoples, he no longer had the luxury of allied support in the north. The mountain towering over him would not move, but advanced toward him with little sign of relenting. By using the word resolve, the chronicler discloses a difference attitude in the king: he would turn this time first to the God of His people and discover His will rather than his own. In place of a confederacy, he chose conversation with God instead. Human cleverness simply would not suffice. Conversing with the Lord of hosts was his best choice. Notice the role of the community in this decision. Out of his resolve came the call for a nationwide fast. Fasting in ancient times demonstrated a people s resolve not to depend on ordinary resources for strength in times of adversity. In disciplined fashion, food and drink was set aside for a season as a sign that life from Yahweh was necessary to climb this mountain. What the king and Judah needed was the bread that came down from heaven and gives life (compare John 6:33, 41, 50, 51, 58). As Torah taught them, they could not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 8:3), words which also gave strength to Jesus when he faced the mountain of temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). During a fast, people exchanged their ordinary clothes for plain cloth ( sackcloth ) to show that their covering and relief from shame did not depend on fancy garments, but on the handiwork of God. Also, the experience of the fast meant penitence of heart for past sins and failures due to unbelief or disobedience. Resolve leads to true repentance in preparation for a new show of divine power on behalf of His people. Unity followed when the people of Judah came together in seeking Yahweh. The language of seeking parallels the idea of inquiring, but it also suggests that distance had grown up between God and the nation. The Ahab debacle from which Jehoshaphat barely escaped with his life revealed deep spiritual wounds in Judah s national life. There needed to be full commitment to a fresh start if the mountain facing them would be conquered. If we accept the text at face value, Judah gave public witness that they were all in for the present crisis. To reinforce the integrity of their unity, the people of Judah came from every town. This was no halfhearted response to the king s resolve, but a full court press. All of this is a lead-up to the Prayer of Jehoshaphat in 20:5-13, a remarkable composition, rich with historical references and the language of the covenant. In the prayer, the king calls for intervention from God. We examine the prayer in its several dimensions. 1. The Posture of the Prayer. How one arranges his body for prayer matters. The body is the outside of the soul, the expression of the heart, and the truth of the self. As a therapist once counseled me, Your body does not lie. So it is with the posture of prayer. In this case, the king: 1) stands up in the assembly; 2) at the temple of Yahweh; 3) in front of the new courtyard. Each gesture communicates what s happening inside of the king. His prayer puts him on his feet, as a man ready not only to pray but to act. His high visibility in the Temple precincts amidst the gathered community turns the occasion into a sacred event full of solemnity and purpose. These people come together for prayer because they mean business with God and their posture authenticates their hearts. 2. The Person of the Prayer. Nobody is talking into the air here or offering general abstract phrases to a distant divine providence. The king names God. 1) Yahweh, 2) God of our fathers, 3) God who is in heaven, 4) Ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations. 5) Equipped with power and might, 6) Invulnerable before any foe. (20:6). By beginning with an extended identification of God through His -6-
names and His attributes, the king utters genuine covenant language that one would expect to hear from a subject who stands in the presence of a Great King prepared to make a substantial plea for favor and redress of grievances. We have many such examples from documents out of the ancient near east. Yahweh, God of Israel, is the Great King before whom a threatened subject now stands, seeking remedy for the dangers presented by the vast armies in the east. The prayer of the subject king drips with legal intensity. This address to God forms the preamble of a legal request calling for covenant intervention by Yahweh on behalf of His subject people Judah. Yahweh is both God of our fathers and God in heaven. Jehoshaphat knows the process of legal redress and is asking his God-King to implement the terms of the covenant against the nations who stand at the borders of Judah. He thereby invokes the terms of the covenant 3. The Prologue of History. The king does not pray in a vacuum, and so he rehearses the long history of God s covenant relationship with His people: 1) God drove out the Canaanites before Israel, 2) He gave the land to Israel, 3) He was the covenant partner of Abraham the ancestral source of Israel, 4) Israel has long-standing residency in the land, 5) they built Yahweh s Temple as the earthly dwelling for the divine presence, 6) in the face of all kinds of crises, they promised to stand in God s presence and cry out in their distress, and 7) they expected God would hear and save them. Through this extended retelling of past history, the king authenticates his prayer firmly within the framework of the covenant God has with Israel. He does not pray in a vacuum, but he prays with the full weight of divine promise and human pledge at his back. There is huge precedent upstream from this terrifying moment, and the prayer aims to bring God and Judah together in covenant renewal to the founding principles of their history. The conversation has begun. 4. The Problem of the Moment. With literary skill, the writer shifts to the current crisis with these words: But now here are a strong adversative expression showing the grave contrast posed by the men from Ammon, Moab, and Edom (=Mount Seir). Lying to the east, these bordering territories form an axis of evil with their swords on the throat of Judah. These national groups shared a long and difficult history with Israel, and the prayer rehearses bits of that timeline. On the original approach to Canaan in the 13 th century BCE, the three nations refused passage to Israel as they prepared to take the land at God s behest. However, Israel chose not to engage them in battle, sparing many lives on all sides. Jehoshaphat considers the current aggression by the three as a covenant violation of goodwill, a practice well-known in the ancient world. And so his prayer appeals to Yahweh, Israel s covenant God, to bring the scales of justice back into balance (20:10-11). The key appeal comes in the words O our God will you not judge them? (20:12), and he adds the honest confession that Judah does not have the wherewithal to set the record straight on their own. Unlike the misadventure of chapter 18, the present strategy rests with God alone. To affirm the solidarity of this request, everybody stands with the king in his prayer (20:13). Their eyes on the summit are singular and clear. 5. The Prophet with a Response. Prayer, as exemplified in 20:5-13, is human speech directed to God, the beginning of a fresh conversation. In the paragraph which follows (20:14-19), we have the divine side of that conversation which takes the form of words spoken through a prophetic voice. To prophesy, in the biblical sense, is above all God s speech directed to human beings. The frequent language of scripture in this regard is: the word of the Lord came to In the present circumstance, the writer tells how the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel (20:14). God seeks out a human instrument through His Spirit and communicates His word in human language. Prophets bear witness to the word of God which comes to them, and what results is utterance that carries the authorization of God while preserving the vocabulary, style, and personality of the person witnessing the word. Our text starts by connecting the speaker with his earthly pedigree, his family tree, tracing the lineage back to a man known as Asaph, a Levite with priestly credentials and a musical vocation. Levites supplied priests, physicians, and poets to the life of the Israelite assembly, and so Jahaziel stands in the -7-
assembly when he prophesies the word of Yahweh in response to Jehoshaphat s passionate prayer. His utterance includes instructions and predictions about the coming battle with the three nations: 1) Listen to what Yahweh says to the king and the people, 2) Do not be afraid or discouraged by the vast army, 3) The battle is not yours but God s, 4) March down against them, 5) The enemy will be climbing up the Pass of Zig, 6) You will find them in the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel, 7) You will not be fighting the battle, 8) Take up positions, 9) Stand firm, 10) See the deliverance of Yahweh, 11) Do not be afraid or discouraged, 12) Face the enemy, 13) Yahweh will be with you. The prophecy is full of detail and precise information, and God s people are to adjust their conduct to match what God will do. They must get on board with God s program, not theirs. As we can see, prophecy brings the word of the Lord both for understanding and for instruction. In His word, God informs, but He also commands obedience. Fear and discouragement are the great obstacles to the necessary climb up the mountain of adversity. The presence of God and His promise to deliver must stiffen Judah s resolve in the face of the challenge which awaits them. God promises His wonders to a disheartened people, freeing their hearts from fear and giving them courage to obey. Listening to the word is the first response required of them. What follows is only possible by listening. They must not listen to dissenting voices. 6. The People Full of Praise. When the king prayed, he stood up, but now he bows his face to the ground in the presence of the prophetic word, and he is joined by all the rest in doing the same. What changes the posture? It is none other than the lively word of God which comes through Jahaziel, the prophet. To hear the word of God humbles the listeners: God has chosen to reveal Himself once more to His people, and in the presence of the word the only suitable response is worship. To add enthusiasm to the moment, carefully selected Levites break into song: they stood up and praised Yahweh, the God of Israel, with very loud voice (20:19). Theirs is a responsive hymn, the choral antiphony to the divine word. Even though a new paragraph begins in 20:20, praise continues to surround the next steps in the unfolding drama. The king offers an admonition: Have faith in Yahweh your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful. He uses a play on the Hebrew word āman, translated here as have faith and literally meaning believe, trust. It is also the root for the word translated upheld. In a poetic fashion, Jehoshaphat tells his people, If you have faith in Yahweh, Yahweh will keep faith with you. The language is indisputably covenantal in its emphasis on faith, trust, and belief as essential ingredients for a successful relationship between God and His people. In other words, climb the mountain with confidence that your hands are firmly gripped by the faithful hand of God, your covenant partner. Using the word successful is risky, to be sure, since in human terms success has various shades of meaning. The Hebrew word is s ālah, meaning to cause to thrive, with its root idea of to rush. Within the present context which finds Judah on a war footing, the intention is a military victory that will occur fairly quickly with good result. 7. Praise: the Strategy for Victory. To reinforce the spirit of this success, the king commissions a praise team to lead the army, repeating the familiar refrain found in many of the Psalms, Give thanks to Yahweh, for his love endures forever. Even before Judah meets the enemy, they are to render thanks to God, naming His reliable character. The love referenced here is the Hebrew hẹsed, a solid term for covenant fidelity, the kind of love that stands up for others and their well-being. Not limited to emotion alone, this love has muscle and robustness in the face of adversity, willing to defend and support others in their distress. By adding the terms endures forever, the king acknowledges that the battle about to happen puts God at the head of the army, as exemplified by the praise team that leads the advance guard. God is enthroned on the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). The very words of praise bring God down into the scene of the battle where He will work His mighty power on behalf of the nation. Indeed, in the ensuing scene, we witness Yahweh setting ambushes against the enemies (20:22) precisely at the moment the praise team utters its song. What transpires is a remarkable military act of confusion in the -8-
ranks of the enemy. It is as if the praise song disorients the enemy soldiers, causing them to turn on each other: they helped to destroy one another. Conversing with God means prayer, prophetic word, and praise. These became the essential conditions for climbing the mountain of adversity. In the aftermath of the God-directed victory, the people of Judah arrive at the scene of the battle only to find the entire ground covered with the slain, and the writer s observation, No one had escaped. The enemies of Judah had fallen into the hands of God. Booty is collected requiring three days to gather. When the visible symbols of enemy defeat are firmly in Judah s possession, a procession follows, full of joy, music, and praise. Post-victory praise is the acknowledgement of what God had done, the counter-point to pre-victory praise which celebrated the ability of God to act it in advance. This was no private victory, known only to the people present at the scene. What just happened reverberated as a witness to the other nations that Yahweh, the God of Judah, is the true God who keeps His word, defends His people, and proves Himself faithful to the covenant He has made with them. A crucial note to this effect appears in this text: The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel (20:29). If we compare the language used here with the accounts of the Exodus from Egypt centuries before, there is an amazing similarity. Rahab the Canaanite harlot who gave protection to the Hebrew spies in Jericho offered her own report in defense of her actions and in witness to the God of Israel: "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below (Joshua 2:9-11). Prior to the Canaanite crossing into Jericho, God had already told His people how He would impact the nations by what He was about to do in Canaan: 24 "Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. 25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you" (Deuteronomy 2:24-25). All of this echoes the poetry of the Psalms, illustrated in Psalm 102: 15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. 16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory. 17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea (Psalm 102:15-17). None other than Moses himself, in a much earlier generation, set the tone for the sentiment of Jehoshaphat s people in their poetic reflections on the victory over their enemies. The New Testament echoes the Song of Moses (taken from Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32) 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. 4 Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed" (Revelation 15:2-4). The victories we witness in our lives must not draw attention to ourselves but to the God who makes them possible. Fresh from our conversations with God, we stand in testimony to the whole world. Our testimony is very public and offers us considerable opportunity to show the world what great things the Lord has done and then invite the nations also to enter into covenant with Him. Climbing the mountain gives high visibility for the folks on the ground below to see what God is up to. Breaking through to the summit sparks new conversations on the ground below, and we ought to be courageous enough to take up the challenge and have that conversation with them. -9-
Conclusion Above all else, the story just told underscores that climbing the mountain is, in the final analysis, God s idea at His initiative. On the day of victory, Jehoshaphat did not sing the praises of brave soldiers in Judah s army. The only praises that mattered were those from the lips of the praise team who celebrated the God whose love endures forever. This had been no ordinary battle, fought by ordinary infantry using ordinary strategy. God was both commander-in-chief, commanding general, and soldier with boots on the ground. He alone could take credit for the implementation of the battle plan. That said, the roles of the king and the nation of Judah were crucial. They had important work to do as well. Keeping a lively conversation with God required the discipline of prayer, prophetic word, and persistent praise. The climbers in this conflict could not afford to neglect any of these elements, and prophet and king led the way through word and example. Within the body of Christ, the leadership offices bring together a similar combination of gifts for the growth of the community. There must be a faithful witness to the word of God, a devoted ministry of prayer, and a unifying expression of worship through song and liturgy. Faced with the challenges of this century, followers of Jesus climb steep mountains of culture, controversy, and confusion. Keeping a watchful eye on the summit requires lively discourse through conversations with God and one another. Christians cannot help but be influenced by contemporary culture, but we can also hold a different conversation one which talks about human flourishing and about working for the common good. We must give a high place to relational living because God is relational. What we witness in this week s reading is the virtue of dialog as a hopeful practice in the life of Israel. Although the enemy looked overwhelming, there were yet resources in the community that bubbled to the surface through confessional prayer, covenantal trust, and convergent word from God through human agents. In today s church, there are abundant opportunities to converse, but they require leadership in creating environments where people feel free to stay at the table even when they disagree. While the ascent to the summit in our time is steep, rocky, and obstructed, yet the witness of prayer and the word, supported by praise makes possible the necessary traction to press upward. Public conversation has become divisive and uncivil, fed by the consumerism of the media with its hunger for the bottom line. The church stands ready, if properly prepared, to offer an equally hungry public an alternative for conversation. But the necessity of being examples of civil conversation must not be ignored. If faithful Christians can show the watching world what such conversation looks like, they can open a third front that opens the heavens for God to come down in their midst. Returning as we have this week to the sacred texts, empowers the community to petition the Lord of the world, and by praiseful worship to ignite the fires of true conversation that draws human beings into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. Even in distress, we can join our voices with Jehoshaphat: You will hear us and save us. With similar humility, we can also admit, We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. The Psalmist had it right: Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. 2 From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. 4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah 5 For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 6 Increase the days of the king's life, his years for many generations. 7 May he be enthroned in God's presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him. 8 Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day (Psalm 61:1-8). After all, the climb to the summit requires day after day determination and the resilience that breaks the silence when we would otherwise be dumbfounded. Is not the summit none other than the rock that is higher than I? And is not the climb worth the struggle when the summit is my refuge, a strong tower against the foe? The climb is for the long-haul, and when the Spirit of Yahweh comes upon us, the air we breathe on the heights is able to sustain us beyond our own best efforts. Glory to God! Amen. -10-