2 Chronicles 20-21: Going Downhill

We trace the sharp contrast between Jehoshaphat’s praise-fueled victory and Jehoram’s tragic drift, drawing a straight line from small compromises to generational fallout. A simple prayer of willingness becomes the pathway to real faithfulness and practical change.

• Gratitude for community support and vision for the new year
• Jehoshaphat’s response to crisis through fasting, prayer and worship
• The battle belongs to God as a lived strategy
• Victory through praise and the abundance of blessing
• Subtle compromise in alliances and unfinished high places
• Jehoram’s violent rule and the cost of drift
• Why grit fails and willingness to rely on God matters
• Simple practices to prioritize God’s word and guard against drift

Let’s prioritize the Word of God this year—hear it, love it, live it

Chapters

• 0:00 New Year Gratitude And Vision
• 1:28 Why Little Drifts Derail Faith
• 3:11 Jehoshaphat Seeks God Under Threat
• 5:16 Prophetic Assurance Of God’s Battle
• 6:11 Worship Leads To Unexpected Victory
• 7:46 Peace, Prosperity, And Subtle Compromise
• 8:34 Jehoram’s Rise And Bloody Turn
• 9:41 Judgment, Decline, And Painful End
• 11:21 The Real Question: How To Stay Faithful
• 13:21 A Prayer God Always Answers

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:23

Hey, welcome back to the Outloud Bible Project podcast. This is Mike. If you're with me as these episodes are being released, then you'll know at this point we are into a new year. And it's always a good time to think back and reflect on this past year. And I'm very thankful for the many people that God has brought to support Outloud Bible Project. Thank you so much. If you have supported Outloud Bible Project through the website or through this podcast, uh, or in your prayers and in your encouragements and uh all the many, many ways that we have felt encouraged by you. Thank you so much. And I'm excited for what God's going to be doing this coming year through Outloud Bible Project. And more Outloud Bible experiences live at churches and conferences and events, uh, more episodes like this coming up, and uh more resources to help you not just hear the word, but get into it, love it, live it. And uh let's, man, if we prioritize the word of God in 2026, can you imagine? Can you imagine the change that will result in your heart and in your family and in your neighborhood? We gotta take this seriously. Now we don't have control over everyone else, but we have control over ourselves. Let's do it. Let's make these priorities. Now I know it's it's easy to say at the beginning of the year, like, oh, I'm gonna make this year different. I'm gonna do what I gotta do. And maybe you are here on this podcast right now for one of the first times because of that. You're like, I'll start, I'll start this new year this way. Well, I'm glad you're here. This is a great start. It's fitting then that we are in the book of 2 Chronicles right now, just kind of in a in a random corner of the Bible, 2 Chronicles 20, but in the middle of this timeline of kings, where we see kings who start off really well, following the Lord at the beginning of their reign, things are going really well, and then it doesn't always just like, oh, something big and major happened and they fell off the wagon. More often it's they drift because things were going just fine for a long time, and then little compromises, little choices, neglecting the little important things that ultimately resulted in ending up in a place further from God than when they started. May that not be true of you and me. So let's read Second Chronicles chapters twenty and twenty-one today, as we watch lives go downhill, drifting further and further from God, both personally and generationally. Let's check it out in the New English Translation. Later the Moabites and the Ammonites, along with some of the Munites, attacked Jehoshaphat. Messengers arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, a huge army's attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, from the direction of Edom. Look, they're in Hazazan Tamar, that is Engedi. Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the Lord's advice. He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast. The people of Judah assembled to ask for the Lord's help. They came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the Lord's help. Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the Lord's temple, in front of the new courtyard. He prayed, O Lord God of our ancestors, you are the God who lives in heaven and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations, you possess strength and power, and no one can stand against you. God, you drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it as a permanent possession to the descendants of your friend Abraham. They settled down in it and built in it a temple to honor you, saying, If disaster comes on us in the form of a military attack, judgment, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple before you for your present at this temple, will cry out to you for help in our distress so that you will hear and deliver us. And now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming. When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you didn't allow them to invade these lands, they bypassed them and didn't destroy them. Look how they're repaying us. They've come to drive us out of our allotted land which you assigned to us. Oh God, will you not judge them? For we're powerless against this huge army that attacks us. We don't know what we should do. We look to you for help. All the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, along with their infants, wives, and children. Then in the midst of the assembly the Lord's spirit came upon Jakaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Beniah, son of Jael, son of Mataniah, a Levite, and descendant of Asaph. He said, Pay attention, all you people of Judah, residents of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, this is what the Lord says to you, don't be afraid, and don't panic because of this huge army, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow march down against them as they come up the ascent of Ziz. You'll find them at the end of the ravine in front of the wilderness of Jerual. You will not fight in this battle. Take your positions, stand and watch the Lord deliver you. O Judah and Jerusalem. Don't be afraid, and don't panic. Tomorrow march out toward them. The Lord is with you. Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord and worshipped him. Then some Levites from the Kohetites and Korahites got up and loudly praised the Lord God of Israel. Early the next morning they marched out to the wilderness of Tokoah, and when they were ready to march, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, Listen to me, you people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, trust in the Lord your God, and you will be safe. Trust in the message of his prophets, and you'll win. He met with the people and appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor, and as they marched out ahead of the warriors, they said, Give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love endures. And listen to this. When they began to shout in praise, the Lord suddenly attacked the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir and annihilated them. When they had finished off the men of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another. When the men of Judah arrived at the observation post overlooking the wilderness and looked at the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground. There were no survivors. Jehoshaphat and his men went to gather the plunder. They found a huge amount of supplies, clothing, and valuable items. They carried away everything they could. There was so much plunder it took them three days to haul it off. On the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Barakah, where they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Barakah, which means blessing to this very day. Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them. The Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. They entered Jerusalem to the sound of stringed instruments and trumpets and proceeded to the temple of the Lord. All the kingdoms of the surrounding lands were afraid of God when they heard how the Lord had fought against Israel's enemies. Jehoshaphat's kingdom enjoyed peace. His God made him secure on every side. Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azuba, the daughter of Shilhi. He followed in his father Asa's footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. However, the high places were not eliminated, and the people were still not devoted to the god of their ancestors. The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat's reign from start to finish are recorded in the annals of Jehu, son of Hanani, which are included in the scroll of the kings of Israel. Later Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel who did evil. They agreed to make large sea going merchant ships. They built the ships in Izon Geber. Eliezer, son of Dodavahu, from Mirasha, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, because you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter what you've made. And the ships were wrecked, and unable to go to sea. Jehoshaphat passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jehoram replaced him as king. His brothers, Jehoshaphat's sons were Azariah, Jechiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel, and their father gave them many presents, including silver, gold, and other precious items, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. Jehoram took control of his father's kingdom and became powerful. Then he killed all his brothers, as well as some of the officials of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. He followed in the footsteps of the king of Israel, just as Ahab's dynasty had done, for he married Ahab's daughter. Remember that was one of the things that Jehoshaphat had done. He married his son off to Ahab's daughter to try to make an alliance with the king of Israel. Well, here we see the effects. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but the Lord was unwilling to destroy David's dynasty because of the promise he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty. During Jehoram's reign, Edom freed themselves from Judah's control and set up their own king. Jehoram crossed over with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. So Edom has remained free from Judah's control to this very day. At that same time Libna also rebelled and freed themselves from Judah's control because Jehoram rejected the Lord God of his ancestors. He also built high places on the hills of Judah. He encouraged the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord and led Judah away from the Lord. Jehoram received this letter from Elijah the prophet. This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says. You have not followed in the footsteps of your father Jehoshaphat and of King Asa of Judah, but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel. You also killed your brothers, members of your father's family who were better than you. So look, the Lord is about to severely afflict your people, your sons, your wives, and all you own, and you will get a serious chronic intestinal disease which will cause your intestines to come out. Ew the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabs who lived beside the Cushites. They attacked Judah and swept through it. They carried off everything they found in the royal palace, including his sons and wives. None of his sons was left except for his youngest Ahaziah. After all this happened, the Lord afflicted him with an incurable intestinal disease after about two years. His intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. His people didn't make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors. Jehoram was thirty two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death. He was buried in the city of David, but not in the royal tombs. Well, this is certainly an unfortunate story for Jehoram, but it is more so, I think, an unfortunate footnote in the story of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat really did pretty well. He was faithful to the Lord, he sought the Lord, but that one season of trying to compromise and make friends that he probably should not have been making friends with and aligning himself with resulted in now a new generation of pain and disloyalty and unfaithfulness to the Lord. Can I be honest with you? A lot of the thinking out loud thoughts for the day through these books of the Old Testament feel like, well, you gotta just stay faithful to the Lord, or else look what happens. I don't know if you felt like that, but I feel like that sometimes. And it it's even just hitting me now of just like this feeling of how are we supposed to stay so faithful to the Lord? It's so easy to not be faithful and and to lose our way and to drift. How in the world are we supposed to stay faithful to him? And I think the short answer is we can't. We can't in our own power do the very thing that is best for us to do. But I believe your willingness now, your prayer now, of God, help me to be faithful. Please search my heart, see if there's any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting, as David prayed in the Psalms. A prayer of willingness now to be faithful. I believe God will honor. If you start trying to do your best and trying to do the right thing all the time, you're gonna get frustrated and overwhelmed. It's like why God gave the whole law of over 300 laws. It's like, how am I supposed to follow these? You can't. You need me to do the very thing I'm asking you to do. Are you asking God to help you do the very thing he's asking you to do and be faithful to him and have that pass on to the next generation and the next generation? That's a prayer to have today. And it's a one that he will always answer. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.