January 22: 2 Chronicles 20:1-12
The Circumstances (verses 1-2)
Are there circumstances you are facing that God may be using to get your attention?
Each passage we have studied so far includes circumstances which brought the need for prayer. Isaiah was moved by a new vision of God’s glory. Daniel was moved by God’s promise found in His Word. Nehemiah was moved by the condition of God’s people. And Jehoshaphat and the people were moved by an enormous threat. Most of us have realized that there are always circumstances driving us to our knees. Let us find our source of comfort and strength in God through continual, committed prayer.
The armies posing the enormous threat to Jehoshaphat have come around the southern part of the Dead Sea and have amassed near Engedi. The enemies, Moab and Ammon, were descendants of Lot. God would not allow the Israelites to attack Moab (Deut. 2:8-9; 2 Chr. 20:10) because of this. But now these nations have forgotten the history and relationship they share. They, joined with some Meunites from the area, are determined to invade Jerusalem.
I have visited this area. Although only about 30 miles from Jerusalem, the sharp rise from 1,400 feet below sea level through the rolling hills of Judea to 2,500 feet above sea level where Jerusalem lies will take time for this large army to maneuver for their attack. This gives Jehoshaphat, who has just learned that the army is gathering there, time to call for a great prayer meeting. It is obvious from Jehoshaphat’s fear that the situation is overwhelming, but a little background study will help us understand why he readily sought help from the LORD.
Jehoshaphat’s father, Asa, started on the right path with the LORD (2 Chr. 14:2) He removed the foreign altars and high places and tore down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim. He sought to reestablish the true worship of God and because the people sought the LORD, Judah had rest for ten years. Then a threat appeared from a huge Ethiopian army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots. Facing such overwhelming odds, Asa called upon the LORD and He gave Asa a miraculous victory. Then in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, Asa was confronted with another threat, Baasha, king of Israel. This time, however, Asa resorted to an alliance with Ben-hadad, king of Aram, to help him defeat Israel. This was a costly decision, both financially and spiritually.
Asa was confronted by Hanani the seer and chastised for relying on men rather than on God. But, as Charles Ryrie points out in his study Bible, “Asa’s kingly pride had been offended by this forthright reminder that he had failed to trust God.” For the rest of his life Asa refused to seek God’s help with disastrous consequences. Jehoshaphat witnessed all of this. He had heard and seen how God had blessed when His people sought His help. He had also seen what happens when God’s help is refused.
The Chronicler gives this evaluation of Jehoshaphat’s rule:
“The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.”
2 Chronicles 17:3-6, ESV)
REVDANS 