God Honors Their Faith

Faced by coalition of enemies much larger than Judah’s army, Jehoshaphat and his people had prayed and sought God’s help against their enemies.  God had told them to go to the battle, but promised they would not even have to fight.  Believing God’s promise, Jehoshaphat encouraged his people to sing praises as they went to the battle, in II Chronicles 20:20-21.  “And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

When they stepped out by faith, God began to work in the enemy camp, using centuries of prejudices and grudges to destroy the coalition, according to II Chronicles 20:22-23.  “And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.”

The coalition had been so busy fighting among themselves they wiped out their entire army, as II Chronicles 20:24-25.  “And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.  And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.”

Israel didn’t have to fight at all, just as God had promised, but it took them three days to gather up all the army’s stuff and clean up the mess.  They spent the fourth day praising God, before returning to Jerusalem, in II Chronicles 20:26-28.  “And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.  Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.  And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.”

The news of the defeat of the coalition quickly spread and other nations chose to leave Judah alone.  As a result of Jehoshaphat’s faithfulness Judah was blessed throughout the rest of his reign, as II Chronicles 20:29-34 describes.  “And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.  So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.  And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.  And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.   Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.”

Even dedicated men such as David or Jehoshaphat never are able to completely eliminate corruption.  Masny of the people were not wholly dedicated to the Lord and continued to use the old High places.  In an effort to duplicate what his grandfather Solomon had done, Jehoshaphat formed a trading  partnership with Ahahaziah, as II Chronicles 20:35-37.  “And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber.  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.”

Jehoshaphat’s treaty with Ahab had almost cost him his life.  Not even eight years later, a trading agreement with Ahab’s son cost him a fleet of merchant ships due to a storm surge while they were still in the harbor at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba.