Scripture:
II Chronicles 20:14-24 NKJV
[14] Then the Spirit of the Lord came 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, in the midst of the assembly. [15] And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. [16] Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. [17] You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” [18] And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. [19] Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. [20] So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” [21] And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” [22] Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. [23] For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. [24] So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
Observation:
Overwhelming odds are GOD’S specialty. In the last several years I have seen HIM do some absolutely amazing things out of impossible circumstances. In fact I have honestly come to expect no less from HIM. as I was praying and thinking about what to write my eyes fell on a book I have had the opportunity to read several times and have found many topics from. But when I got to this story I had to stop for a minute and just process what was going on. I hope you will join me in that process. Reading the story and just thinking over how all this went down honestly blows my mind. By all appearances king Jehoshaphat was in trouble. The army that had come out against him consisted of 3 different groups of people, the Moadites, Ammonites, and the Meunites. I’m sure as he looked out at the overwhelming odds it took his breath away. The lives of GOD’S chosen people were at stake. Something that did not need to be taken lightly. The army had gathered just outside of Jerusalem by about 50 miles. Turning to the one thing he knew, Jehoshaphat began to pray for the deliverance of GOD’S children. That triggered GOD’S desire to speak, and as HE did the vessel of choice to do so was a prophet named Jahaziel. As he began to reveal what was already pretty obvious already, that they were out numbered, what he said next was something that had been forgotten due to what was clearly seen. The battle did not belong to those who stood on the battlefield, it belongs to the one who had chosen them to be HIS people. The overwhelming odds that they were looking at were not for the glory of those who stood in the battle array, it was for GOD HIMSELF. As Jahaziel proclaimed that the battle belonged to GOD all of GOD’S chosen people began to praise HIM, his words began with one very important word… “listen” this is the same word I want to put out there this morning… listen, what followed shortly after was just as important, but if we don’t listen to what follows it all goes to waste, “Do not fear nor be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but GOD’S.” as the king looked out over those who had come out against them. He had a choice to make, does he trust what this prophet says or does he continue to stand in fear. The choice was made, and the craziest battle plan was put together…. I can only imagine the thoughts of those who stood there when Jehoshaphat started to line up for battle, placing those who would lead them in worship on the front lines after falling to his face in prayer. I love the statement that he makes at the end of verse 20, “Believe in the LORD your GOD, and you shall be established; believe HIS prophets, and you shall prosper.” I honestly wonder how the worship team felt standing at the front of the army. My guess is that they stood with confidence in what had been spoken. The LORD would fight this battle. Their job was to bring HIM glory and honor, to approach the battle without fear knowing that despite what it looked like victory had already been decided. As they began to sing and praise the LORD, HE set an ambush against those who had come against HIS people causing them to be destroyed. The battlefield that once looked so overwhelming was turned into a field of slain bodies. The LORD has fought the battle. HIS people didn’t even have to draw their sword. No one had escaped. The vast army lay dead at the feet of the worship team due to GOD’S victory plan.
Application:
It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Life will do that. Looking out at what you have in front of you and using your human eyes to process it can be misleading. Believe me I do it all the time. In fact the odds that I face right now are somewhat overwhelming. But just because it looks like I am going to lose does not mean that I am… the battle does not belong to me. It doesn’t belong to you either. What i want to tell you this morning is that GOD has chosen you for such a time as this, HE has placed you in a position to face overwhelming odds so that the glory that comes from the victory you can’t see will be all HIS, time and time again in my life, i have seen HIM come through right on time, which leads me with nothing to do but worship HIM. But what does it truly look like to trust HIM. Well I think we have been given a great example here in this scripture…. Worship HIM first…. That’s what faith looks like. Faith is not knowing that GOD can, it’s knowing that HE already did. HE has prepared a path to victory that might not make sense to you as you look at it but the confidence it takes in him to worship in the face of what looks overwhelming to you shows that trust in what HE has said trumps what it looks like. I’m just going to be honest, things in my life do not look good right now. I’m totally overwhelmed. The enemy has lined up against me with a vast army. It’s easy to want to give into fear. But that’s not who HE made me. I am going to worship HIM no matter what it looks like. This is a prophetic word this morning. Set your heart to worship HIM and watch the enemy defeat himself. The verse that just came to my mind is Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, “Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before HIM endured the cross, despite the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of GOD.” HE has given us victory, so that HE can write a story with our faith, that will bring GOD the utmost glory. My suggestion and personal approach is going to be to worship HIM and watch the enemy fall. If we have big problems we have a small GOD, but because we have a great big GOD, our problems are small, no matter what they look like to us.
Prayer:
Father, I am so grateful to you. We know that the impossible odds we face are nothing to you. As we stand here looking out over what looks big to us, it’s a small thing to you. You are bigger than any problem we face, and because you are with us there is no reason to fear. You are the way maker. As we stand in the face of a giant you have already placed 5 smooth stones in our pouch, because you know that the giant will fall as the sling releases the first one. The other 4 stones are for the brothers if they want to fall as well. You have already won every battle we will face. By placing your son on the cross. Your grace has positioned us for victory. Let us just worship you knowing who you are, and “WHO’S” we are. You are so much bigger than any problem we encounter. As we place our trust in you through the worship we present to you. We know that you have gone before us, behind us, and all around us, to ensure the victory you have promised us. Today we stand in confidence knowing that the enemy we see has already been defeated. They may not know it yet but you do, therefore so do we. We trust in your word. It’s the belt that holds our armor together. Thank you for the victory over our enemy. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.