The Battle is The Lord’s

Text 2 Chronicles 20:15

“Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

This morning I want us to look together at a famous battle from the Old Testament. It is from this battle that we get our text for the morning, the battle is not yours, but God’s.

I. Trouble Comes

If we back up to the beginning of the chapter we begin to see the background for this famous verse.

2 chronicles 20:1-3a says “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 Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

                3             And Jehoshaphat feared”

The Moabites and the Ammonites the children of Mount Seir gathered to destroy Israel and Judah with a great host that was much more powerful than anything Jehoshaphat could hope to resist and Jehoshaphat feared. Now none of us are ancient kings, yet this situation is familiar to each of us. We see trouble brewing on the horizon, we know it will come, and when it does we will be overcome by this trouble. To lose this battle for Israel meant death or slavery for all.

On Teusday night we had a powerful storm. It was more powerful than expected, but I was outside. I could see the storm coming. I was about a 40 minute drive from home and on my motorcycle. Now as soon as I saw that storm coming what should I have done? I should have jumped on my motorcycle and tried to outrun the storm, perhaps I could have made it. Instead I waited until the last moment to make sure that I drove home through the worst of the storm entirely exposed to the elements. I’m not very wise. When we see a storm coming it is est to make sure we are prepared for the storm!

Jehoshaphat saw a storm coming, was he like me? No, lets look at how he prepared.

II. A Prayer of Faith

2 Chronicles 20:3b-13 “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.

                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.”

Jehoshaphat was no fool. He realized in a moment the danger, He realized that he had no strength that could face what would come, so he turned to the only place where he could find help. Jehoshaphat knew one of the great truths of faith. He understood that, “When I am weak, then am I strong”. He understood that he had no ability on his own to face the coming storm, but he likewise realized that God is able! A prayer of faith was offered. Jehoshaphat did not hesitate. He didn’t turn to an human means. He didn’t sit down with generals and try to figure out a battle plan. He was afraid and immediately turned to God for help.

                A fast was proclaimed throughout the land. The people were casting themselves entirely in the hands of God and they were serious about needing His help. The prayer itself is a prayer of faith. Jehoshaphat acknowledges God’s power over all the kingdoms of the world and His ability to do what He pleases. He then acknowledges God’s hand and God’s promise in giving the land to them. He recounts the history of how these nations were spared by God from the host of Israel as they trekked across the wilderness and prepared to enter the promised land. He points out the injustice of it all. He lets God know that from the beginning their plan was always to trust in Him, it was because of this faith and trust that they had build a sanctuary for God, a place symbolizing their ability to call upon Him in time of trouble and His presence with them. Jehoshaphat reminded God that this land was the promise of God to Israel and that this enemy was trying to displace them from the promised land.

                The prayer closes with a specific request for the judgment of God upon the enemies and once again acknowledging that all their faith and trust was in Him and that they no power in and of themselves.

They stood in faith knowing that God would hear and answer! How could they know? Well, Jehoshaphat recounted the many times that God had already worked miracles on Israel’s behalf. It might seem like it would be easy to have faith if we had seen such miracles, but again this is one of those times where we forget that these are people in the Bible. They are generations removed from these miracles. They are 5 generations from David. These people had not necessarily seen God move. They knew their stories, they knew their history, but it was not personal for them. God may not have moved in their lifetimes like they needed Him to now. We are the same often. We hear about all the miracles that God has performed, but in our lives its hard to have faith because in our lives we may not have seen God move in such mighty ways as we need Him to.

We ought to pray like Jehoshaphat. This was a bold and confident prayer but still a prayer from the position of the servant to the master. The God we serve is a faithful and good heavenly Father. Jehoshaphat knew this and cast all his faith and fate of His people in God’s hands confidently knowing it was all up to God and that he did not need to worry for God would take care of them.

III. A Promised Deliverance

2 Chronicles 20:14-17 “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.”

God answered swiftly and clearly. “The battle is not yours but God’s!” The prayer had been heard and God promised to be faithful. We do not often receive such clear promises from God. We do not often have prophets stand among us with direct messages from the mouth of God to our ears. But should we expect God to have to do this? These people in Chronicles did not have the full word of God. They had not yet received this promise! We have this promise recorded for us. We have also the truth spelled out plainly and illustrated all throughout God’s word, When I am weak, then am I strong. When I cease to trust my own strength, then I can trust in God’s strength. Why don’t we get these direct prophecies and promises? Well one reason is that we already have them, we have the Word of the Lord. I do think another reason is that we neither expect or ask for them. We do not expect God to directly answer us, and we do not believe He will, and He doesn’t. This is not always true. There are times that perhaps we do ask in faith believing God for dirct answers, and still we recive nothing. David went through this, Job had an extensive period of questioning before God answered. The problem is not always with us! Yet at times perhaps it is. Perhaps we lack faith, if so let us pray as the father of the demoniac boy, Lord I believe, Help thou mine unbelief. Or perhaps we do not seek with our whole heart. There is so much to distract ourselves with in this life, so much to keep us busy, so much to keep our minds away from God, so much that may not be wrong but that satan uses to keep us from truly seeking. Or perhaps we do not pray like Jehoshaphat did. He prayed in faith believing, not that God would do a thing for their own benefit, but rather that God would display His own greatness by bringing justice for His own glory. It was a benefit to them, but it was also a display of God’s justice and might. They did not tell God how he ought to act, but rather asked God to show them how to act. It is not always a lack of faith, nor is it always anything that we have done wrong, or improperly, but lets not forget that it could be. Or it could be that the answer simply has not yet come, that we ought to stand still, in our pain and confusion and see the salvation of the Lord. Upon receiving the answer from the Lord what did Israel do?

IV. Praise before the Battle

2 Chronicles 20:18-21 “ 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.

                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.”

They had the promise but deliverance had not yet come. This proves the faith that was offered up in the prayer. The situation had not changed at all. Earlier we read that Jehoshaphat feared. Now, in the same situation, he worshiped God for the deliverance that was yet to come. He was entirely confident in the promise. A book I have been reading communicates this idea, that a promise of the Lord for provision is exactly the same thing as having the provision in hand. The person in the book carried this to the point of standing in line to purchase a train ticket with no money whatsoever, and staying in line, even as he neared the front, until with only a couple people to go, God provided the funds. Jehoshaphat operated in the same manner. For him there was no fear remaining. I admit that I do not think my own faith is that strong. How often do we feel God’s comforting touch when we are in trouble and the next day we go right back to worrying. We don’t praise God for the answer, we go back to praying in fear rather than praising in faith. Of course there are times, situations where we are to pray desperate, and intercessory prayers day after day, that is what they did in our story this morning. That is what seeking God looks like! But if God has offered an answer that time has passed and now is the time of praise.

                Sometimes we praise God for His answer but the next day we go back and pray as if asking God if He is sure is gonna keep his promise. Jehoshaphat did not. He drew up a battle plan and sent the choir out in front of the army to sing praise to God for the victory that he had not yet seen. His faith was so strong that singers instead of warriors lead the army.

V. God Fights the Battle

2 Chronicles 20:22-23 “ 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.”

Upon the sound of the praise of His people God acted. Was it their faith that caused Him to move? He had promised, He certainly was going to fight the battle for them but I think His promise was predicated on the faith He knew they would act with. The Moabites and Ammonites turned on the inhabitants of Mount Seir and then upon each other leaving them all dead.

                God had told them to stand still and watch Him move. The army of Israel didn’t even have to chase down a fleeing army, they came upon a field of bodies. The victory was theirs and all they did was lift a song of praise.

VI. The Blessing Bestowed

2 Chronicles 20:24-25 “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.”

Not only did God bless their faith by fighting the battle for them He blessed with riches so great it took them 3 days to carry it away. He provided far more than they had thought possible. He destroyed the armies of 3 enemies and placed the wealth of those kingdoms into their hands. God loves to bless His children.

VII. A Service of Praise

2 Chronicles 20:26- 30 “And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

                27           Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

                28           And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.

                29           And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.

                30           So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.”

The story closes with a service of praise. Jehoshaphat praised God in His prayer. He praised God before the battle, he praised God in the battle and He praised God after the battle.

He worried when he heard the news, he immediately turned his worry over to God and praised the rest of the way through. So when you are faced with a battle of insurmountable odds of course your first response may be worry, but give it to God and praise Him the whole way through the battle. I say that like it is something easy for us to do. I know that it is an impossible task, but also I know that with God, all things are possible! Ask God for faith, ask God for strength.

I don’t think that any of us are ancient potentates facing the onslaught of an allegiance of enemies, but I know that though our battles may look a little different, we too face battles of equal severity.

a. The Battle of Weakness in Temptation

Perhaps your battle is Weakness when faced with Temptation. Perhaps it feels inevitable that eventually you will be worn down and you will fail so you wave the white flag of surrender. A couple verses of encouragement tell us that God will not tempt us above that we are able (with His strength) and that there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man and God will with the temptation make a way of escape. Now these verses are not easy to believe and even harder to live but I believe that if we give the temptation to God and praise our way through we can hold fast to the promise that the battle is not ours but the Lords. He will fight for us. Remember, all things are possible through God. Remember that yes, you are weak, but realizing your own weakness is the first step in having access to God’s strength. God is able! God will fight for you. Do not rely on your own strength because then, yes you will fail, but rather trust in Him, the source of strength.

b. The Battle of Fear

Maybe it is the battle of fear that you face. The circumstance you are in or are coming your way threaten to destroy you and there is no escape. You are captivated by fear. So too were the disciple on the sea of Galilee when they woke Jesus in the storm. Jesus fought the battle for them. The battle is not ours, but the Lords. He will fight for us.

c. The Battle of Doubt

Perhaps you feel you know the path you are to take but you doubt God’s provision in the battle. Israel faced this battle as well. After God rescued them miraculously from Egypt they fairly quickly journeyed across the wilderness and prepared to enter the promised land. Yet because of the giants in the land they doubted God provision. Caleb and Joshua saw the wonderful land provided by God but the rest saw giants in the way. Instead of trusting God in the battle their doubt sent them back into the wilderness to die. 40 years later Joshua led the people in and God fought their battles. He flattened the walls of the Fortress of Jericho without Israel doing anything other that faithfully obeying. Are you facing the battle of doubt? The battle is not yours, but God’s. He will fight for you!

d. The Battle of Discouragement and Depression

Maybe it is that you have been worn down by life. You face the battle of Discouragement and Depression. Its not particularly the circumstance you are in or even your trust in God, its just a little bit of everything weighing you down. Yes the circumstances are terrible, but you know that God is able. You have seen Him move, but you are just worn out by the struggle! Elijah felt this way. He won a great victory then ran to the desert and asked God to take him. Though the had killed the priests of baal and ashtaroth he felt as though he alone served God in the entire world. The queen was chasing him down to kill him, and though he was a mighty prophet he was discouraged, really, downright depressed. If this mighty man of God could feel this way, don’t be so hard on yourself when the situation you are in has you feeling defeated. It’s OK. We often give the idea that Christians don’t feel this way, that spiritual people don't get depressed. That’s ridiculous. Elijah was a great prophet that commanded the heavens to withhold the rain and they did! Our life is not to be one characterized by discouragement or depression or sadness or misery, yet sometimes we feel that way and no amount of spirituality makes everything feel OK. We might know that it will work out in the end. We may realize that we live for another world, and the battles that we face in this one do not matter in the grand scheme of things. We might understand that there will come a day that we will be face to face with Jesus and He will dry our tears and sadness will come no more! But here on this earth. With our frail bodies and faulty minds, with our painful circumstances and the results of sin, whether in our past or of others choices, making life hard to bear, it is hard to think about that day, and even harder yet to be OK in this one. But remember that God gently took care of Elijah in the wilderness and remember that the battle is not ours, but God’s. He will fight for us.

e. The Battle of Confusion

Perhaps you face the battle of confusion. The circumstances of life and all you understand about God do not fit together. You are confused about what God is up to. If you were God, you would certainly do things differently. Job too was confused. He was completely righteous and yet it felt like God was punishing Him. We still have trouble explaining why it all happened to Job like it did. Was God proving something to Job? His Friends? Us? Satan? We still argue about that and Job certainly didn’t know. All he knew about God told Him this wasn’t right. That this wasn’t just. While he continued to serve and trust God entirely he questioned God. God’s answer may not be the most satisfying answer to us but it provides us with important insight. God’s ways are higher than ours in every sense. Beyond our understanding but also better than we could dream of. God reminded Job that He was in control. When we are confused, we don’t need to worry. God is in control and the battle is not ours, but God’s. He will fight for us!

                I know that battles come our way. I know also that we are weak and on our own incapable of victory. I know that life often does not make sense. But I know something far more important than all of that. The battle is not ours, but God’s. He will fight for us!