Life can be a ... battle,can't it?
And the idea of being INVINCIBLE certainly has it's attractions!
So HOW did Jehoshaphat get into an invincible position, and how did it all then work out for him?
Who on earth was Jehoshaphat?
According to 1 Kings 15:24, Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, following on from his father.
His children included Jehoram, who succeeded him as king.
1 Kings 22 tells us:
"Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years.
His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord."
Jehoshaphat was not a perfect man. He left things undone that he certainly ought to have done.
But look ...
- he followed the ways of his father Asa (a 'good King'), and
- he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD (the Name of the covenant - keeping God is the Name used for God here).
God would be faithful and keep His covenant with Jehoshaphat,
because Jehoshaphat showed covenant loyalty to the LORD.
What happened to discover Jehoshaphat's invincibility?
You only really discover the commitment of God to you when things are not really going that well for you ... threats are opportunities to rediscover his covenant love!
In 2 Chronicles 20:2-5 we read this
"Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar’ (that is, En Gedi).
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to enquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard and ..."
And what?
Well, what happened was Jehoshaphat led his people in prayer to God in the teeth of this crisis, and poured his heart to the Lord in front of them all.
How did it all work out?
When they'd prayed Jehoshaphat gave a speech to boost the people's faith in the Lord and they all marched out to face the invaders.
They didn't just sit on their thumbs, although all earthly odds were stacked against them.
Interestingly enough though there was something else they did here ...
"After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendour of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
‘Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love endures for ever.’
As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them.
After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
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."
2 Chronicles 20:21-24
What Jehoshaphat led his people to do was to pray and put their trust in God, not to sit on their thumbs but to march out ... but to do so worshipping and honouring God as they went.
That last challenging bit seems to have been really quite crucial.
And by the time Jehoshaphat and the people he led clapped eyes on the enemy that came against them ... those enemy armies had got into and totally annihilated each other.
The Lord had made their evil intentions fall out against themselves.
The Point
Only God is actually in the end invincible.
If you are faithful to Him and do what He's doing you'll face threats, but you'll come out on the winning side, because you're serving the only One Who is invincible.
The takeaway
The crucial element in Jehoshaphat's triumph was to live on the Lord's side - not to panic when threatened but stay faithful to Him.
And staying faithful to the LORD meant
- trusting Him,
- renewing faith in Him, and
- turning to in Him alone to deal with the threat,
- then going out to meet the threat posed against them,
- while worshipping the LORD as the awesome invincible God.
And there are lessons for us to learn there from Jehoshaphat's experience.
Get in touch if there's anything we can pray for you. You can use the contact form just below.
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