Pam Padgett ... teacher
In 2Chronicles 20 is an account of God wonderfully delivering Judah from
the children of Ammon, Moab, and the inhabitants of mount Seirr. God
chose to deliver them in such a way that Judah didn't have to fight.
When Jehoshaphat heard of the great multitude coming against them, he was fearful. So he turned to God and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah, and they came to seek the Lord ...
2 Chronicles 20:1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of
Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the
Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2 Then there came some
that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against
thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in
Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself
to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And
Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of
all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
All of Judah ... men, women, and children ... stood before the Lord as Jehoshaphat asked God to help them ...
2 Chronicles 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of
Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and
rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand
is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? 7
Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land
before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy
friend for ever? 8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a
sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If, when evil cometh upon us,
as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this
house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry
unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 10 And now,
behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou
wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt,
but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 11 Behold, I say,
how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou
hast given us to inherit. 12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for
we have no might against this great company that cometh against us;
neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 13 And all Judah
stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their
children.
Jahaziel, by the Spirit of God, spoke the word of the Lord to the
congregation. God told them to go down against their enemies the
following day, but that they would not need to fight in a battle. They
would see the salvation of the Lord ...
2 Chronicles 20:14 Then 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, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the
congregation; 15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you,
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the
battle is not yours, but God's. 16 To morrow go ye down against them:
behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the
end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not need
to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the
salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be
dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all
Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping
the LORD. 19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of
the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel
with a loud voice on high.
The following day as they went forth as they were instructed to do,
Jehoshaphat urged them to believe God and His prophets. As they began
to sing and praise God, God caused the children of Ammon and Moab to
destroy the inhabitants of mount Seir, and then to destroy each other.
When Judah came, they found all of their enemies dead; none escaped ...
2 Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning, and went
forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat
stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem;
Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his
prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21 And when he had consulted with the
people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the
beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise
the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22 And when they began to
sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of
Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they
were smitten. 23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when
they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to
destroy another. 24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the
wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead
bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 25 And when Jehoshaphat
and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among
them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels,
which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry
away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so
much.
I was reminded that the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ....
Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot
save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: