Encouragement

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Jehosephat rose to become the King of Judah, at a time when there was a great spiritual decline. His father Asa , compromised the word of God by allowing Idol worship in the land. God’s word was violated in many respects. The new king had a choice to please the people by toeing the line, go with the flow, or risk being unpopular.

To the surprise of many, he opted to be radical. He was not happy that his people had abandoned their God and serving idols. He did a ‘U’ turn, by following the way of his forefather David- a man after God’s own heart. He refused to let culture blind his judgement, but took away the altars for idol worship. It was a brave heroic act. He was not afraid of possible uprising. He did not stop at that but sent itinerant teachers of the word to go about teaching the cure for ignorance, apathy and apostasy.

God was so impressed with him that He covered Jehosephat with His presence. The nations around him knew that there was something unusual about this new King who was prepared to sacrifice idol for his God. They were afraid. They were overawed by the presence of God in Jehosephat. And the king grew, in power, authority, wealth and influence. Generals who controlled thousands of battalions of soldiers offered their services to him willingly, and he set about fortifying the nation’s defences.

The set up
You would think that this godly king would have no problems since he did what was right in God’s eyes and that he would have peace on every side. No, this was not the case. He had ruffled the feathers of principalities and powers by coming against the false gods and they used three nations to come against Judah. She was out numbered as the Ammonites, Moabites and Mount Seir, laid a siege against her. When the king heard about it, he was afraid but he knew how to respond.

Instead of reacting and relying on the thousands of troops who had pledged loyalty to him, he rather called a fast and declared a period of national emergency during which the whole of Judah was to seek the face of the Lord in prayer and fasting. Everyone was involved- including children. The king led the prayer himself as a sign of humility and utter dependence on God.
He started his prayer by praising and worshiping God, using rhetoric questions to extol, the greatness, the power, majesty, dominion and the sovereignty of the Most High:

"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." 2Chro.20:6-12

When he finished praying, he did not get up and leave as most of us do. They all waited for God to respond. They expected God’s response and they got it. God spoke to the nation in a prophecy and singled the king out, encouraging him not to be afraid nor be dismayed on account of the multitude, the armada of army that have risen against them. God told them the battle was His and not theirs.

Great!, you would think. God was going to do the fighting and they could all go back home. No, the battle was still God’s, but He had a ridiculous method He wanted to use in bringing about the victory. They were to go up against their enemies even though they knew that they were outnumbered.

They did not question God about the logic of doing such a dangerous thing. The prayer they had said had brought about the peace of God that transcends all understanding that they were willing to do anything God told them to.
The following day they immediately obeyed.
They went, not with arms but with musical instruments, praising and worshipping the Lord in a loud voice:
Praise the Lord. His mercies endure for ever. xxxx

The also told the people to believe the Lord and believe His prophet and they would prosper. He would give them success.

What they were doing may look ridiculous but God who knows the end from the beginning wanted them to do what did not seem wise for the situation. They were going to obey God for Him to display His awesome splendour and power in the seemingly impossible situation.

God did not tell them what will happen when they obeyed. All they knew was that the battle was the Lord’s and they were not to be afraid or be dismayed.

The lift up
Because they had passed the test, God played His part and made the impossible possible. Their enemies who came to destroy them started destroying themselves.
God so confused them that they saw the enemy in themselves. The Ammonites and Moabites took on Mount Seir. After they had destroyed Mount Seir, they faced each other and wiped themselves out. At the end there were dead bodies everywhere.
When the people of Judah arrived where the battle was to take place they were greeted with abundance of spoils, war booties, so much that it took three days to collect everything that their enemies left behind. What a set up for a lift up!

Lessons for You and Me

The righteous do suffer
Our God is an awesome God. He remains the same. ‘I am the Lord, I change not. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever’. That we follow Him does not mean we would not be attacked. In fact when we are zealous for Him, we become targets of the enemies of our souls- out to kill steal and destroy. That does not mean we should compromise to avoid attacks. Those that are compromising are already conquered and enslaved, in chains. We are not to imitate them but to pray for them to see the light and come away from the shackles of the enemy. We should be going out to proclaiming the word, using our testimonies the word and pleading the blood that was shed for them.(Rev.12:11)

Be Not Afraid
We are not to be afraid of the enemy onslaughts against us. The word of God to Jehosephat is the same word for us. The battle is not ours but the Lord’s.

Respond. Don’t React to Enemy Offensives
When the attacks come, (not if the attacks come), we need to respond to them properly- not reacting to them. Jehosephat could have rallied his army immediately but he was wise to go into the presence of God first. He involved the whole nation as it was an attack of the whole nation. We too need to seek God’s face, corporately or as individuals. We can also petition close friends to pray with us.

Worship, Praise and Thank Before You See
Again notice that Jehosephat did not go complaining to God. He started with praise and worship and adoration. He continued with reminding God of his promises. We too need to start by worshipping and magnifying the Lord regardless of what we face, and as we do, the situation becomes dwarfed. It’s just like flying in the air plane. The higher you go, the smaller the earthly views you see. The higher we go in the spiritual plane, the more we see through the eyes of God and the smaller our problems become, because we will be seeing them through God’s eyes.

Wait To Hear from God
Notice also that that they waited to hear from God we should also form the habit of expecting God to show up in our prayer meeting and speak to us. Prayer is a dialogue – not a monologue. I remember the story of a minister of God who was praying and the Lord was trying to get her attention and she responded, ’Lord, I’m praying!’
God can comfort us if we wait to hear from him. He can also give us a strategy to use as he did.

Pass God’s Test
Whilst being attacked or in a trying situation , God can test us as if happened on this occasion . they were tested for obedience- to do the ridiculous thing of going up against their enemies the following day even though their flesh would naturally cry out against it. it made no sense to go up against the enemy and what more with no weapons but musical instruments and a hearts willing to praise God regardless of what saw, the stupidity of how it looked and the risk they were taking. But they had to do it before the victory came.
God can test us too. And we must make up our minds to pass the test and obtain our victory.

Get Past, Past mistakes
Jehosephat could also have thought that he brought the siege upon himself because of the foolish thing he did- aligning himself with ungodly Ahab(2Chronicles 18.19). He could have given up condemning himself. True it was unwise to have entered a packed with Ahab and that may have opened the door for the enemy, we are not sure. We all make blunders and so long as our hearts are pure, we can still receive forgiveness if we realise our mistakes and repent. God is a merciful God. He is the Lord, the Lord, God, Merciful and gracious, superabundantly merciful, extraordinarily patient, abundant in goodness and in truth. Jehosephat did not allow the past mistake to hinder him from going before God and pleading for his intervention.

Time For Reflection
Are you currently facing a barrage of battles in spite of doing the right thing? Have your enemies cornered you, left right and centre? Are people around you saying he believes in God or she believes in God. Where is your God?
If so, do not panic. Do not react but respond appropriately by seeking the face of God. Some problems require just prayer and a little waiting. Other problems require involving others in petition. There are other problems which would require concentrated effort and sacrifice in prayer and fasting. You need to be discerning and deploy the right weapon for the problem you face. Expect to hear from God. Give Him room to speak to you. And whatever He tells, you do it- no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Praise, worship, and give thanks, even before you see the breakthrough. And your setback will be a setup for a lift up. God will fight for you and use your test to give you a testimony.

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