Hi friends, welcome back to the Bible Journey Daily Podcast. It's wonderful to have you here with me again as we continue our journey through the Book of Two Chronicles, a book that can teach us not only how to live wisely, faithfully, and indeed courageously, but how to do it in the real world. Today's episode I've entitled How to Face Life's Problems, and I believe that title captures the heart of the message of today's chapter, chapter 20. In our last episode yesterday, we saw Jehosaphat respond really well to a rebuke. He did so with humility, repentance, and indeed restoration of both himself and the nation. But now in chapter 20, he faces something far more frightening: a crisis so overwhelming that there appears to be no human solution. A vast army is approaching, the nation is terrified, Jehozephat himself is declared to be afraid, the situation seems impossible. And yet, what he does is one of the most encouraging and practical lessons in all of Scripture, particularly for any one of us facing the problems of life, and we need some insight. Whether these problems are emotional, financial, relational, spiritual, or simply the pressure of everyday living. Jehozephat shows us how to respond when fear strikes and how to pray when we really don't know what to do, how to trust the Lord when the odds seem against us, and how to worship even when the battle is not yet won. And how we should, as it says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. So turn with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and let's explore how to face life's problems. Welcome to today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast. Now, of course, there is a sense in which we face battles in life all the time, isn't there, friends? As Christians, we may struggle with finances or our physical health, particularly as we get older, relationships, discouragement at times, and just generally the uncertainty of life for us or even our families. And on top of that, we battle the world, the flesh and the devil, the scriptures tell us. These are the enemies that never have a day off. But suppose I was to tell you that some of the battles that you and I have to face in life don't actually even belong to you. They're not yours to fight. Well, you might say, what battles are we talking about? Well, I think the answer is found in today's chapter, chapter 20 of 2 Chronicles. I think it's one of the most encouraging chapters in all of the Bible. I also believe it teaches a spiritual lesson that every one of us really needs to learn. Sometimes the battle belongs to the Lord and not to us. So let's turn together to this chapter. It's longer than most of the chapters in this second book of Chronicles, but it contains a fascinating story with deep, deep spiritual resonance and a message therein. Now before we begin, we need to note something important. The events described in this chapter do not appear in the parallel Books of Kings, as most of the chapters do. Anyway, let's begin, but remember that the Lord in all things rules over all nations, over all crises, over enemies, and in fact, hear this, friends, over all the problems of life. So it begins by telling us the problem in the opening verse. After this, so that's the events in chapter 19, the Moabites and the Ammonites and some of the Mayanites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. So after this clearly refers to the previous events we covered yesterday, Jehoshaphat's reforms, his removal of idolatry, his restoration of the judicial system in the land and his spiritual leadership throughout Judah. He did pretty much everything right yesterday. He obeyed the Lord, he strengthened the nations, and he taught the people. And then trouble came. And that's how life works, if we're honest, isn't it? You walk with the Lord, you obey him, you do what is right, and then suddenly, out of the blue without warning, a crisis can appear. Now Jehosaphat faces a massive coalition here of enemies: Moab, Emmon, and the Mennonites. All of them are descending on Judah from the region around the Dead Sea. The text continues. So this huge army is an overwhelming threat. This problem is probably too big for him to solve. So this is the point where his prayer begins. Alarmed, it says Jehoshaphat, resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. So it's not getting away from the fact that Jehoshaphat is worried here, he's afraid even, and rightly so. But fear drives him towards God and not away from God. And he proclaims a national fast and he gathers the people and he calls the nation to prayer. And it says the people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Now this is a beautiful picture of an entire nation gathering to pray about this impending crisis. Jehosaphat then stands before the assembly in the temple courts and prays one of the greatest prayers in the Old Testament. Now, Jehoshaphat's prayer is famous for having a very clear progression. He begins with the sovereignty of God in verse 6. Lord, the God of our ancestors, 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. So he begins with who God is, identifies him as the God of heaven, and the ruler of all nations, and the one who beholds within him the might and power. Then he moves on to God's relationship with his people. And he says, Our God did not drive out inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend. So now it's becoming personal, isn't it? You are God, we are your people, you gave us this land and you made promises to our father Abraham. So he's recalling God's grace in the past. He then says, They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your name. So he's remembering God's faithfulness in the past, the fact that he gave them the land, he enabled them, he gave them the temple really, and he gave them his presence within the temple. And then he reminds God of his own promise. If calamity comes upon us, we will stand in your presence and cry out to you in distress, and you will hear us and save us. So Jehosaphat is quoting the prayer that Solomon made at the dedication of the temple that we saw described back in 2 Chronicles chapter 6. He is standing on the promise made that day, the promise made of God towards his people. Then he describes the present crisis that they're all facing. But now here are the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. See how they are repairing us, see how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us to an inheritance. So he lays this problem that they face before the Lord, and he does so with honesty, clarity, and indeed there's that sense of humility here, isn't there? He then confesses their helplessness. We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. This is one of the great statements of trust that we see in our entire Bible. We do not know what to do, he says, but our eyes are on you. Now one commentator I read on this said, There is no excuse for Christian helplessness demonstrated here. In the bleakest hour, the believer must say, My eyes are upon you, Lord. And this is the prayer of Jehoshaphat here. It's setting a beautiful template, a pattern for us. God is sovereign, but God is our God. God has been faithful, he has made promises to us, God sees our crises, and God is our hope in those crises, and that is how to face life problems. Because when God answers, the battle is not yours, but God's. Verse 13. So this friends is a beautiful scene. An entire nation. Men, women, children, families all standing together and standing before the Lord, waiting for an answer. No one is rushing, no one is panicking, no one is strategizing at this point. They're simply standing before the Lord and waiting. So the entire southern kingdom comes before the Lord, stands and waits for God to speak. And God does indeed speak. And he speaks through a prophet who stands up before the assembly and says, Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jehaziel as he stood in the assembly. So God answers the prayer by sending a prophet, Jehaziel, he's a Levite, a man declared to be filled with the Spirit of God. This is important because Jehoshaphat prayed and the people waited, and this is how God responds. And the message of the promise follows in the next verses. He said, Listen, King Jehosaphat, and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says to you. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours but God's. This is the key verse of the chapter and the heart of the message. This is the spiritual lesson that we all need should hear. The battle belongs to the Lord. Now you may want to add the verse. Now it would be really helpful if you could add this verse to your own personal repertoire, because it applies far more than just in military conflict. Some battles, many battles in life are in fact too big for us to deal with on our own. The battle against fear, the battle against temptation, the battle against discouragement, even the battle against out and out spiritual opposition, the battle where we're facing overwhelming circumstances, and God steps into those battles and says, Relax, this one is mine. And then the plan is revealed in verse 16. Tomorrow march down against them, you will find them at the end of the gorge in the desert of Jeruel. So God tells them exactly where the enemy will be and that they should go there. It continues, you will not have to fight the battle, take up your positions and stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. So notice the instructions here. They are simply to show up. They're not actually going to go and fight, they are just to simply go and to stand, not to strive in their own strength and simply watch the deliverance of the Lord. They are not to wage war themselves. This is deliverance being talked about here. There's no strategy or personal effort going on. This is simply they're going to witness God's salvation. And the people will they respond to that by worship. Jehosaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. So they bow in submission, trust, and reverence. And then it says the Levites stood and praised the Lord the God of Israel with a very loud voice. So the faith that they're showing is expressed in their worship. They rejoice before the victory comes, that's important. They praise before the deliverance occurs, and they sing before the battle has even taken place. Never mind one. So this is indeed one of the great signs of trust that we witness in Scripture. And then they march into the battlefield itself. Verse 20. Early in the morning they left for the desert of Tokoah. Jehoshaphat stood and said, Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will be upheld, have faith in his prophets, and you will be successful. So Jehoshaphat encourages the people. He then can it then continues. Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him. And as they went out at the head of the army, they said, Give thanks to the Lord, his love endures forever. So the singers, the worshippers, lead the army. They march to the battle. It's almost like more they're marching to a festival. They're not even armed with swords. With but what the guys at the front have songs. But then an ambush occurs. Verse 22. As they began to sing in praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, and they were defeated. Okay, so this raises a question: who set the ambush here? The language is a bit ambiguous, and commentators' views vary a little on this. Some say Jehovah sat, Jehosaphat's own army set the ambush, some say that the Lord's angels set the ambush, and some say that local inhabitants set the ambush. Some say that God simply caused so much confusion that the enemy turned on himself. But the next verse clarifies a little what happens. Verse 23 says the Ammonites and the Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they had finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. Now, notice how this verse begins. This is what I think, in my estimation, explains the ambush described in verse 22. The people of Ammon and Moab turn on the inhabitants of Mount Seir, that's Edom, and after destroying them, they turn on each other, and confusion sweeps through the entire camp. Panic derupts and the whole confusion collapses because people don't really know who are the enemy and who are the friends. Judah themselves, as a nation, don't even lift a sword here. Judah never fires an arrow. God fights the battle on their own behalf, on his own be on their own behalf, and the consequences are catastrophic for the enemy. So much so that when Judah actually arrives in the scene, all they find are corpses. Verse 24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked towards the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground. No one had escaped. What an amazing sight. There was no battle, no casualties for Judah, and no conflict. That they were involved in is just the corpses of the enemy. The enemy, I believe we're being told here, destroyed itself. And this is exactly what God promised when he said, You will not have to fight this battle. If you think about it logically, that verse 17 means that it could only be done this way if Judah weren't going to fight the battle. And that is exactly what God has delivered here. Judah then collects the spoil of this crazy route and battle amongst their enemies among themselves. It says, So Jehosaphat and all his men went to carry off their plunder, and there was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it, three days of gathering treasure, three days of collecting up the valuables, three days picking up the spoils of a battle that they never even had to fight. This is an example of grace upon grace. And then Judah's worship begins again. On the fourth day it says they assembled in the valley, the valley of Baraka, where they praised the Lord. So please note they praised the Lord before the battle in verse 18. Then this battle occurs, and then we see them praising the Lord after the battle now here in verse 26. And the valley is named Baraka, which means blessing, God's blessing. The text then continues. Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. So they return home with it in a declared state of joy. They return home with more music, more worship, and they return home with more praise. And then it tells us they entered Jerusalem, went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpet. So this is a full sort of praise parade, a joyful possession from the battlefield back to the temple. And then it says the fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. The news spread, the nations trembled, they heard that the Lord himself fought for Judah, and they backed away from that. Verse 30, and the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace. This is the repercussions, for its God had given him Jehoshaphat rest on every side. So Jehoshaphat's realm, the nation of Judah, was now undisturbed because God gave them rest. Peace. Quiet, security. And then it concludes, so Jehosaphat reigned over Judah, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. So Josaphat is again declared to be overall a good king. He followed the example of Asa, he walked in the way of David, and says he trusted the Lord, and the nation fared well. However, verse 33 drops in a little final worrying caveat. The high places, however, were removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors. Now this is interesting. Back in chapter 17, we saw Jehoshaphat remove the high places, didn't we? But apparently the people must have rebuilt them, and Jehoshaphat does not remove them again at the end here. His weakness was a sort of misguided compassion, a softness that would appear to make it difficult for him to say no or to address conflict. One commentator I read wrote on this, Jehoshaphat's weakness was related to his excellence as a shepherd. In fact, he cared, he was compassionate, but he was not sufficiently hard-hearted when he needed to be. That's interesting, isn't it? We know that an over an overindulgence of empathy can indeed lead us astray and lead us not to call situations out that we sinned. But we should. Anyway, overall, he was a good king, but not a perfect king. He trusted the Lord, but not always. Every day at all times. And he obeyed the Lord, but it has to be said sometimes not completely. Then after the great victory, Jehosaphat, we see make another alliance. This time it will come with Ahizia. Well, he's another declared wicked king of Israel. And verse 37 says, Because you made an alliance with Eziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made. So the ships he built for trade were told a wreck before they ever set sail. Jehoshaphat trusted the Lord one moment and failed to trust him the next. And that is one of the perils that face those in leadership. And it is a danger for the human heart. So the lessons of the chapter, well, I think if we try and summarize it, this chapter. Teaches two great spiritual truths. The first one being that the battle ultimately belongs to the Lord. Now, in this story, in these historical events, it was Judah being threatened militarily. And Jehosaphat assembled the people to pray first. He then God tells them to go into battle, but the battle belongs to him. And they trusted, they praised God, and they simply stood and watched God work. And thereafter they collected the spoils and enjoyed the joy enjoyed the peace of what God had gained for him. And this is the lesson. Some battles in life you definitely need to address yourself, but others, many others, in fact are not even yours to fight. They in fact belong to the Lord. But the second thing I think we can learn, which is a sort of underneath next-tier level of insight we need to gain is that all of us can trust the Lord one minute and then fail to trust him the next. Jehosaphat failed to trust the God we saw back in chapter 18, then he trusted him in chapter 19, he's still trusting God at the beginning of chapter 20, but then right at the end we see him fail again. And that in many ways reflects us on our lives. We can trust God one day, and we can be full of worries and fears the next. We can obey in one moment and then we can falter and be disobedient the next. So let this chapter, today's chapter, today's time together in the Word, remind you. Try and trust the Lord all the time, not just some of the time. This chapter, I believe, gives us one of the most encouraging truths in all of Scripture, if we can take it to heart. That being that the battle ultimately is not ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. That's the famous quote that has been turned into a modern worship shawl. I'm sure you're familiar with it. Jehosaphat faced a crisis that he ultimately knew he couldn't solve. There was no human strategy to be relied on here, not even a military solution, no way out. And what he did sets the template. He prayed with his people. He fasted with his people. He gathered those people and they stood before the Lord and they confessed we don't know what to do, but our eyes are now on you. They turned it over to God and asked him to answer, and he did. And God's reply was simply, Do not be afraid, the battle is not yours but mine. Then stand firm and simply see, witness the deliverance of the Lord. And then finally, remember that you will not have to fight this battle, and that's exactly what we've just seen happen, isn't it? The enemy effectively destroyed itself, and Judah never even had to lift a sword. They simply went afterwards and collected the spoils that God gave them, and then following that, he gave them rest and peace. But that second lesson, let me impress it on you again. You can trust the Lord in one minute and fail to trust in the next. Try not to do that. Jehosaphas trusted God beautifully in the crisis, but later in the peace, he made ungodly alliances again. He trusted the Lord one day and faltered the next. The real dangers often come in times of peace, friends, because that reflects our lives. We walk by faith today, but then we walk by sight tomorrow. So let this chapter remind all of us. Let our study together remind all of us to trust the Lord all the time, not just some of the time. And the battle belongs to the Lord. The victory is his, and when the victory came, and when the victory comes, give him the glory too, because the glory is here, is his, and then let rest in the blessings of it. Thanks for being with me today. Rather, it's just recording it off the PC mic. So I hope you'll bear with me if the quality isn't quite the same as it usually is. It's a bit of an experiment about how I should go forward. I'll be posting the video and the audio version of this on Patreon and I'll try and get some feedback on how I should go in this direction and seeing if I can find a way I can do this without it adding exponentially to the preparation time, which ultimately then would of course reduce the amount of content I may hope and create, and maybe you can slow down the process of working through this. So, a heartfelt thank you for every one of you who've listened to or watched this, and particular help and support in this ministry through those who've signed up to follow me on Patreon. There are there is a free tier, but you're very welcome to join over there and have access to all the extra resources I put over there. The generosity and indeed the insights and the response back that I can get to things like this make it really helpful in me planning this ministry going forward. I'm deeply grateful for that. But that's today over, and in our next episode, we're going to turn to a new chapter and, in many ways, a new thing. We're going to look at the kind of everyday problems that we all face in life: discouragement, pressure, face living and facing a world of uncertainty and the challenges that come from simply living our life in what we as Christians recognize as a fallen world. The next episode is designed to offer practical help, biblical wisdom, and spiritual encouragement for the problems that we need to meet on a Monday morning. Not just the big, dramatic crises and battles of life, but the ordinary struggles that really have a danger of wearing us down sometime. So I hope you'll join me for that because I'm sure we'll all benefit from that. But until then, simply my prayer is that the Lord will fight your battles and that you simply can stand by, study in heart, and watch the deliverance of the Lord. And then afterwards, you should be able to just rest on the winning side and be thankful for that. I'll see you back here very soon. Bye-bye for now.