Wed.’s Devo - The Battle is the Lord’s

Read: 2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37; Romans 10:14-11:12; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 20:4-6 The battle was over. King Ahab was killed and King Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem. The prophet, Jehu met him on the way and asked him why he would leave his nation and go and help the wicked who hate the Lord. God was very angry with him for fighting with Ahab, but he was glad that he had removed the Asherah poles and that he had committed himself to seek God. Jehoshaphat traveled throughout his kingdom encouraging the people to return to the Lord. He appointed judges to judge the people fairly. In Jerusalem he appointed some of the Levites to serve as judges. Amariah the high priest would have the final say in all cases involving the Lord. The armies of the Ammonites and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. When he was told this, he was terrified and begged the Lord to help him. He proclaimed a fast in Jerusalem and people from all around came to meet in Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help. Jehoshaphat stood and prayed for the nation. He humbly told the Lord that they were powerless without him. One of the men in the crowd was filled with God’s spirit and gave a response from the Lord. He told them not to be afraid because this battle was not theirs but the Lord’s. They were to march against them tomorrow, but they would not fight. All they would have to do was to stand and watch as the Lord and his army would get the victory for them. Then the people bowed in reverence and the Levites stood and praised the Lord with a very loud shout. The next morning as the army was leaving to stand where the Lord had instructed them, Jehoshaphat encouraged them to believe in God’s prophets and they would succeed. He appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord, “Give thanks to the Lord, his faithful love endures forever!” The moment they began to sing, God caused the enemy to start killing themselves. By the time Judah’s army reached them they were all dead on the ground. Not a single one escaped. King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder and took away great amounts - so much they couldn’t carry it all. They marched back home singing songs to the Lord. Jehoshaphat had been a very good king who honored God. There are times in our lives when we have to fight our battles and times when the Lord literally fights them for us and we just stand. Our job is to listen to the Holy Spirit and to respond to what he tells us to do. At the end of his reign he made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel who was very wicked. They joint together to build a fleet of trading ships. Eliezer the prophet prophesied against Jehoshaphat and told him that his alliance with Israel was wrong and the ships would never sail. They met disaster and were never put to sea. In Romans Paul gave God’s plan to spread his message. He would send his messengers to tell the people about Jesus. They can’t have faith in something they have never heard about. God had told Moses about the time when the message would go to the Gentiles. He confirmed it through Isaiah. God did not reject his people to take in the Gentiles. Paul was a Jew so he was proof that God still loved his chosen people; he was just expanding his kingdom to all people. That had been the plan all along. God has always had his people throughout history that were faithful to him. When Elijah thought he was the only one left who really trusted in Him, God told him he had 7,000 others who had not bowed to Baal. But, because Israel rejected Jesus when he came, God did put them to sleep spiritually so they could not see and shared his grace with the Gentiles who were eager to believe. Lord, thank you for your love endures forever. Thank you for salvation! May we share your gospel with those we meet today.