MINISTER, Rev. Thomas
Scarborough.
2 Chronicles 14. King
Jehoshaphat.
We
continue in the book of 2 Chronicles -- and this morning we have
reached the reign of a king called Jehoshaphat
-- beginning in 2 Chronicles chapter 17.
As we
often find in 2 Chronicles -- there is again a single-verse summary
of the reign of King Jehoshaphat, in chapter 20 verse 32 -- and it
says: "He did what was right
in the eyes of the Lord."
Now
despite
this fact, Jehoshaphat did make one or two serious mistakes as a king
-- the Bible is a very realistic when it talks about people's sin and
failings -- but Jehoshaphat loved
the Lord, and despite
his mistakes, he honoured God as his rock and his salvation all his
life.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now
there are again a few monumental incidents or themes which stand out
about the reign of King Jehoshaphat. There must have been thousands
of important incidents in the lives of the kings -- but the Bible
usually selects just a few
-- and those few are the ones that reveal critical spiritual
truth -- or truth about God.
This
morning we are going to look at three
incidents which reveal to us very much the same thing
about God.
They show us that God is a God of surprises.
Most
of us today have grown up in a world where the emphasis is on
predictability -- you get what you give, you achieve what you plan
for, if you are strong you will win, if you are clever you will
advance -- and so on.
You know the usual
way of looking at the world.
But
this way of looking at the world does not
reckon with a living God,
who has a very keen interest in the spiritual
lay of the land, who has the power to intervene
in that spiritual situation, and makes great things happen on the
basis
of the spiritual situation.
* * * * * * * * * *
The
first incident we shall look at this morning was probably the biggest
mistake of King Jehoshaphat's life.
We find it in chapter 18.
King
Jehoshaphat entered into a friendship with King Ahab
of the north. And Ahab was a wicked
man. He was a schemer.
You could not
trust what King Ahab
was up to.
And
Ahab
had an even more
notorious wife,
whose name was Jezebel.
And even today if we say of someone "She is a real Jezebel"
we mean she is "a bold, vicious
woman".
Now
King Ahab of the north invited good King Jehoshaphat to visit him in
his kingdom, and he lavished upon him a great feast -- in chapter 18
verse 2. And during that feast, King Ahab shared with Jehoshaphat
his desire to attack the little land of Gad.
The problem with Gad was
that it was a tribe of Israel that had separated itself from the
other tribes.
We
are not told why,
but Jehoshaphat agreed
to join King Ahab on a military expedition.
But
this military expedition was displeasing
to the Lord. The reason is given
here, in chapter 19 verse 2 -- and that is that King Jehoshaphat was
helping
a wicked
man, and loving those who hate the Lord.
And one of the prophets
appeared to Jehoshaphat, and said to him: “Because of this, the
wrath
of the Lord is upon you."
Although
the Bible says that King Jehoshaphat did what was right
in the eyes of the Lord -- this incident
brought God’s wrath
upon him.
* * * * * * * * * *
So
let’s see what happened during this military campaign.
Let us go back to Chapter 18 verse 29: "The king of Israel --
that is King Ahab of the north -- said to Jehoshaphat: 'I
will enter the battle in disguise
-- but you wear your royal robes.' So the king of Israel disguised
himself, and went into battle."
Now
this made King Jehoshaphat a sitting duck -- it’s hard to
understand how he ever agreed
with this plan, but it all started
when he allowed himself to help the wicked
-- and we read in verse 30 that the king of Gad ordered his chariot
commanders: "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except
the king of Israel."
And
we read that immediately that the battle was engaged, the armies of
Gad closed in on King Jehoshaphat -- dressed in his kingly robes.
They pressed in upon him -- but then -- in verse 31 -- Jehoshaphat
cried out, and the Lord
helped him. Let us look at the end of verse 31: "God
drew the chariot commanders away from him."
But
then
look what happened to King Ahab,
the king of the north
-- perfectly disguised, in armour,
and no doubt well surrounded and protected, and far away from the
real fray.
In
verse 33: "Someone
drew a bow at random. At random.
And hit
the king of Israel between
the sections of his armour." And then in verse 34 -- at sunset
he died.
Wicked
King Ahab disguised himself, and
protected himself -- and yet the arrow found him between the sections
of his armour.
Jehoshaphat
was a sitting duck in the splendour of his king's robes -- and yet
the Lord
kept him safe.
Ahab
plotted the murder
of Jehoshaphat -- and yet it was Ahab who was dead at the end of the
day.
Someone
once said:
"God
writes straight
with crooked lines."
* * * * * * * * * *
Now
here is something, in fact, that is important to know about our God.
He is a God who often turns
things upside down.
And it is important to understand that this is not just a principle
of life -- such as "what goes up must come down" or “what
goes around comes
around” -- but it is what God personally,
in His sovereign power,
does in this world.
In
chapter 18 this morning, we are clearly told
that God
turned this situation around -- although it looked to human
eyes to be clear what was going to happen.
And
it was turned around -- why?
Because the Lord was dealing in His wisdom and power with the
spiritual
situation -- the real
situation in His sight.
And
that is why it is so important -- not first to get rich or to get
famous or have security or have wealth -- but to have a right
relationship with Almighty God. He
is our security. And if you fear
God -- if you are a God-fearing person -- you are going to be too
afraid
-- or maybe I should say respectful
-- of the way that God
acts in this world to try to do things according to human
wisdom and human strength.
People
so often think
that they have the control -- and think
they have the advantage. But there is an Almighty God moving
them and
their circumstances.
So
God operates according to the principles that we find in His Word
-- and that means that the strong,
at the end of the day, may turn out to be weak. The weak may turn
out strong. The rich may turn out poor. The meek are the ones who
inherit the earth -- and so on. Things work according to God's
rules -- not the rules of common sense.
And
at the end of all time,
the first shall be last and the last shall, be first, and Jesus
Christ will set all things right at His great white Throne of
Judgement.
In
every situation, we reckon with God.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let
us move on to the second great event of King Jehoshaphat's reign. In
some
ways it is similar to an event we looked at last week -- it is a
story of trust in God -- there is a lot
in these stories of the kings about trust in God,
and that is because such trust is important,
in the spiritual scheme
of things.
But
since I looked at trust
last week
-- I’ll look at another
core aspect of the next big story we come to -- an incident we find
in chapter 20.
This again shows us that God is a God of surprises.
And
this is surely one of the most moving
stories of the Old Testament.
King
Jehoshaphat and his people are now facing a tremendous threat from an
army from the west.
In chapter 20 verse 2, we read that this was a "vast
army".
And in verse 3 we read that King Jehoshaphat was "alarmed".
The King James Version says that he "feared".
And
in verse 12, King Jehoshaphat says to the Lord: "Lord, 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."
And
all the nation fasted
-- and then they came together, from every corner of the land -- and
they met in Jerusalem to seek the help of the Lord.
It was probably around 3 million people who stood together waiting
on the Lord. And let us read verse 13: "All the men of Judah,
with
their wives and little ones, stood before the Lord."
It's
a moving picture,
if you imagine in your mind's eye the whole people of God -- husbands
and wives together, and the little ones standing at their feet --
their lives and everything they know in peril -- waiting upon the
Lord.
* * * * * * * * *
Let’s
look at another way in which God is portrayed here as a God of
surprises.
One
basic difference
between today and last Sunday is that last Sunday, King Asa -- the
king we dealt with last -- felt that he knew
just what he
was going to do, and he knew
that the Lord was going to defend
him. He was going to march out into the battle -- and he trusted the
Lord to give him the victory.
But
King Jehoshaphat
today says: "O Lord, we do not know what
to do,
but our eyes are upon You."
They had no idea what the Lord had in mind -- they had no idea how
they should approach this situation. But
-- they trusted in the Lord even so.
Perhaps
you feel the same way about something. "O Lord, I am completely
at a loss.
I don’t know what
to do.” So long as you place it before the Lord.
The Lord honours that approach, and He might well answer you from an
angle that you did not imagine.
Remember,
we reckon
with a living, sovereign God -- and that means that things do not
necessarily turn out according to common sense
-- according to how everybody thinks
it will, or according to how it seems it has
to turn out. God
has His hand
in things.
So
King Jehoshaphat and the people and all their little ones stood
before the Lord, and Jehoshaphat's prayer to the Lord ends with these
words,
in Chapter 20 verse 12:
"We do not know what
to do -- but our eyes are upon You."
And
then the unexpected happens.
Immediately
the unexpected happens.
In
chapter 20 verse 14: "Then
... the Spirit
of the Lord
came upon Jahaziel."
Even
Jahaziel
didn't know what was going to happen -- but the Spirit of the Lord
came
upon him. And Jahaziel brought a message straight from God.
What
is the difference between this
surprise and the first
surprise -- the first surprise was about King Ahab
being killed by an arrow, and the chariots turning away from King
Jehoshaphat?
Well
the first surprise had to do with circumstance
-- with things that were happening “out
there”. But this second
surprise, when the Spirit falls upon Jahaziel
-- is something that happens through the Spirit
of God, while the people are simply standing and waiting.
This
second
incident has to do with inner
surprises -- or spiritual
surprises -- from God.
There
may be inner
circumstances which don’t seem to change. We may wonder how we may
escape from depression
-- we may wonder how God can ever heal a relationship
-- or we may truly not know what to do next
in our lives. We may not know what the next step is as a Church
-- but God surprises us and speaks to us through His Spirit.
This
second incident concerning King Jehoshaphat shows us that God can and
does surprise us through His Spirit.
* * * * * * * * * *
The
third and last incident we shall look at this morning happens close
on the heels of the last one -- and it is after the prophet Jahaziel
has spoken to the people -- and this is also, in a way, a surprise
-- it is a surprise how the people now face
the great army that has marched against
them.
It is
a famous
passage. They don’t just send out the army to fight. They send
out the choir.
Let’s look at Chapter 20 verse 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.”
If
you’ve heard the singing at the synagogue next door, you’ll know
how magnificent the Hebrew male choir is -- and that’s what
Jehoshaphat sent out to face the enemy.
It must have been a very impressive choir.
Let’s
notice that this is the solution that Jehoshaphat and the people came
up with after consulting the Lord.
And it was a surprise solution
-- that was
a surprise because
they had sought the Lord.
And
what this story shows us, I think, is that there are ordinary human
ways of facing things -- if an army comes to get you, you send out
your
army. If your work doesn’t earn you enough, you try to get more
work. If you don’t get results, you try harder
-- and so on.
But
when you walk with God,
you will find there are surprise solutions.
In this case, they sent out the choir.
I
have been reading an awful lot of books on leadership for my Master’s
thesis
-- I need to analyse all these books in detail
-- most
of these books originate in the U.S.A.
-- and as we might know, the Church in the U.S.A. is in serious
trouble.
It is in decline
-- and predictions are that it is basically going to wither away.
But
what’s interesting -- and sad
-- is the solutions
that are being proposed.
The American culture is drifting away from the Church -- so the
Church studies culture.
The finances are dropping fast -- so the Church looks at ways to
generate finance.
The structures are not working -- so let’s look at new structures.
It’s like sending out the army to face the army.
And
the one thing they usually fail
to propose is -- let us set our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us seek Him.
Let us just forget
about the rest, and praise God for the splendor of His holiness.
God’s
solutions
are often surprising -- because they are not what one would normally
think of.
The
same applies to your family life -- your work -- your friendships --
the challenges you are facing. You might very well find that, once
you approach God
for the solution, the solution looks very different to anything that
you
might have thought of -- or any of your friends
might have thought of.
The
solution of King Jehoshaphat -- to begin by sending out the choir to
praise God for the splendor of His holiness
-- is surely a solution that applies to everything
-- to put God back at the centre with honour and worship and praise
-- and close behind
that comes trust
in God, and obedience
to God, and seeking God first.
Jesus
said, “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well.”
That
takes faith.
You need to be able to say: “I believe that God’s
solution might have nothing to do
with my human
solutions. I believe that my human
solutions -- my common sense
solutions -- may even need to be put aside
as I turn to the Lord first.”
* * * * * * * * *
In
closing, have you taken the very first
step to put God at the centre of your life? The Bible makes it clear
that every person needs to come to a definite decision
to receive Jesus as their Saviour. To say -- not my
way, Lord -- not me, my, mine -- but I ask forgiveness
in the name of Jesus Christ for having done things my
way, the human
way, the way without God
-- and I offer my whole life
to you, for you
to work in me, and to show me the way.
If
you would like to take that first step, I am going to put this
booklet at the back of the Church as we leave -- it will guide you in
taking
that step -- to put God first in your life, and to make a new start
with Him.
AMEN.
