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divine intervention

2 Chronicles 20:1-37

2 Chronicles 20:1 After this, the Moabites, and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to fight against Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 20:2 People came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast number from beyond the Dead Sea and from Edom has come to fight against you; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).
2 Chronicles 20:3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek Yahveh. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah,
2 Chronicles 20:4 who gathered to seek Yahveh. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek him.
2 Chronicles 20:5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in Yahveh’s temple before the new courtyard.
2 Chronicles 20:6 He said: Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, and no one can stand against you.
2 Chronicles 20:7 Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and who gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
2 Chronicles 20:8 They have lived in the land and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name and have said,
2 Chronicles 20:9 “If disaster comes on us– sword or judgment, pestilence or famine– we will stand before this temple and before you, for your name is in this temple. We will cry out to you because of our distress, and you will hear and deliver.”
2 Chronicles 20:10 Now here are the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir. You did not let Israel invade them when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, but Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.
2 Chronicles 20:11 Look how they repay us by coming to drive us out of your possession that you gave us as an inheritance.
2 Chronicles 20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you.
2 Chronicles 20:13 All Judah was standing before Yahveh with their dependents, their wives, and their children.
2 Chronicles 20:14 In the middle of the congregation, the Breath of Yahveh came on Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants),
2 Chronicles 20:15 and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what Yahveh says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:16 Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel.
2 Chronicles 20:17 You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahveh. He is with you, Judah, and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahveh is with you.'”
2 Chronicles 20:18 Then Jehoshaphat knelt low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahveh to worship him.
2 Chronicles 20:19 Then the Levites from the sons of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise Yahveh God of Israel shouting loudly.
2 Chronicles 20:20 In the morning they got up early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Yahveh your God, and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
2 Chronicles 20:21 Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for Yahveh and some to praise the splendor of his holiness. When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to Yahveh, for his faithful love endures forever.
2 Chronicles 20:22 The moment they began their shouts and praises, Yahveh set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated.
2 Chronicles 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and completely annihilated them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.
2 Chronicles 20:24 When Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked for the large army, but there were only corpses lying on the ground; nobody had escaped.
2 Chronicles 20:25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.
2 Chronicles 20:26 They assembled in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day, for there they blessed Yahveh. Therefore, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah today.
2 Chronicles 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem turned back with Jehoshaphat their leader, returning joyfully to Jerusalem, for Yahveh enabled them to rejoice over their enemies.
2 Chronicles 20:28 So they came into Jerusalem to Yahveh’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.
2 Chronicles 20:29 The terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahveh had fought against the enemies of Israel.
2 Chronicles 20:30 Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God gave him rest on every side.
2 Chronicles 20:31 Jehoshaphat became king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
2 Chronicles 20:32 He walked in the ways of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in Yahveh’s sight.
2 Chronicles 20:33 However, the high places were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.
2 Chronicles 20:34 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign from beginning to end are written in the Events of Jehu son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of Israel’s Kings.
2 Chronicles 20:35 After this, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel’s King Ahaziah, who was guilty of wrongdoing.
2 Chronicles 20:36 Jehoshaphat formed an alliance with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you formed an alliance with Ahaziah, Yahveh has broken up what you have made.” So, the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.

divine intervention

Judah is once again being threatened, and this time Jehoshaphat calls on the nation to fast and he leads them in prayer to Yahveh. The odds are so much against them that their only hope is divine intervention. God does intervene, and he calls on the armies of Judah to go and see the outcome. The enemy armies which had come to drive them out of the land turned against each other, and annihilated themselves. It took days for the armies of Judah to carry out the spoil from a battle they did not fight.

God, when things are hopeless for us, remind us to seek your divine intervention.