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INTRODUCTION
Distress is so interwoven into the biblical story that we almost stop noticing its power. Especially in 2 Chronicles, the kingdoms of Israel face distress at every turn: distress from enemies, distress from within, distress from without. Various leaders approach this distress in varying ways, and often the quality of their leadership is determined by the collection of their responses to distress. After all, it is much easier to act as a God-honoring king when things are going well. It is in times of distress that a person's character is tested.
This constant narrative of distress in 2 Chronicles also leads to deeper theological questions that undergirds the narrative. Obviously, the Jews are chosen by God to be His people. Yet He continues to allow significant distresses to enter their situation. It is not as if these distresses are always the result of sin. At times there does not appear to be any logical reason for the distress. So, how do we deal with this theologically? Christian author Annie Dillard reminds us, "The omnipotence of God makes no sense if it requires the all-causingness of God" (
For the Time Being). Although God may not cause distress, in His omnipotence He allows it. How should we properly approach this?
As Christians, we are made privy to the secret of suffering and distress. That is, through weakness, power is evident (
2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Through the suffering of the Cross, resurrection is made possible. As Professor Henri Nouwen writes:
The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. The great secret of the spiritual life, the life of the beloved sons and daughters of God, is that everything we live, be it gladness or sadness, joy or pain, health or illness, can all be a part of the journey toward the full realization of our humanity. It is not hard to say to one another: "All that is good and beautiful leads us to the glory of the children of God." But it is very hard to say: "But didn't you know that we all have to suffer and thus enter into our glory?" (Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
).
Distress in the life of Israel became the testing ground wherein God formed them to be His people.
I. CRY TO GOD FOR HELP (
2 Chronicles 20:1-13)
By the time we arrive at 2 Chronicles 20 we are quite familiar with King Jehoshaphat. He is the successor to the throne of Judah after his father, Asa, and he remains one of the most famous kings of Judah in the divided kingdom's history. We find out in
2 Chronicles 17 that Jehoshaphat walked in the earlier example of his father, devoting his heart to God. However, he strikes an unwise alliance with Ahab, king of Israel, against the city of Ramoth Gilead which almost costs him his life. Only because he cries out to God is he spared (
2 Chronicles 18:31). Despite this error in judgment, Jehoshaphat rebounds, and continues to govern with excellence. He even builds a professional judicial system for Judah in
2 Chronicles 19. Chapter 20, however, depicts the greatest crisis he has ever known.
A. An Ominous Threat (vv. 1-4)
1. It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
3. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
After his misled alliance with Ahab in chapter 18, Jehoshaphat bounces back to install judges throughout the land who answer directly to the high priest (
2 Chronicles 19:11). This appointment of judges is no small matter. It was meant to turn the structures and hearts of the nation toward God himself. Yet just after this remarkable achievement, distress is brewing.
Israel had no enemies more fearsome than the Moabites and Ammonites. Each of these peoples lived just east of the Jordan River valley, and their close proximity made it easy to put together joint military campaigns. It is left to us to guess about their goals. Ancient warfare was not necessarily focused on gaining land, though this was sometimes the aim. Sometimes war was embarked on for the purpose of plunder, including obtaining human slaves. Whatever the case, these enemies of Israel are intent upon battling Judah, and Jehoshaphat must quickly respond.
The opening phrase in verse 3 gives us a glimpse at Jehoshaphat's initial, visceral response to this critical threat. He was afraid, yet he responded to his fear wisely by seeking God, and not by himself. He rallied the entire nation to the cause through the concrete act of fasting. We tend to think of fasting as it pertains to our individual spirituality. However, in the Old Testament it was often a radical community or national practice. In his chapter on fasting, Richard J. Foster reminds us that fasting was not only built into the Torah (see
Leviticus 23:27), but "fasts were called in times of group or national emergency" (
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth). As Foster notes, the situation in 2 Chronicles 20 qualifies as such an emergency.
The response from the people to Jehoshaphat's heartfelt plea for a national fast is met with overwhelming affirmation and enthusiasm. No one stays home on this important day. They have heard the severity of the threat, and they recognize their only hope lies in their God.
B. Remembering God's Story (vv. 5-9)
5. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6. And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7. Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8. And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9. If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
The drama of the scene intensifies as the focus shifts from the corporate fast of the nation to the national address from the leader. Only Jehoshaphat is not interested in a television appearance to calm everyone down. No, he stands directly in front of the Temple and beseeches God on their behalf.
Interestingly, the first half of Jehoshaphat's prayer is filled with questions. This is typical of Hebrew prayers, particularly in the
Psalms, which sometimes read like an assault on God's character. Obviously, God does not need to be reminded of His divine attributes, but these questions root those praying, as well as those hearing the prayer, in the character and story of God. In a very potent way they remind the petitioners that God has been almighty and trustworthy throughout history.
The overall direction of these
verses puts Israel's present situation in the context of their history with God. Jehoshaphat starts out remembering that God is in charge of the earth, that He bequeathed the Promised Land to Abraham, and that He called Solomon to build the magnificent Temple which they stand before. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann describes Israel's ability to constantly remember their history with God as "world making":
The world can indeed be imagined differently [than Israel imagines it]. It can be imagined with Thomas Hobbes as a war of each against all. It can be imagined with Henry Kissinger as a world in which might makes right. It can be imagined with Milton Friedman as a place of scarcity where we compete for limited goods. It can be imagined with Tom Ridge as a place of chaos and threat and risk. All such construals are possible and frequently enacted. But not in Israel. Not in this world of worship. Israel reads and imagines and celebrates otherwise, by appeal to its own remembered narrative, a narrative of constant fidelity, such constancy that evokes assured and unanxious gratitude (Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church
).
Although this scholar's language is a bit thick, his message is clear: Israel has a different memory than everyone else - a memory of a concrete historical covenant with God. It is this memory which can allow Jehoshaphat to leap from remembrance to petition.
C. Urgent Prayer for Help (vv. 10-13)
10. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11. Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Jehoshaphat has recited some high points of Israel's history with God. Because God has brought them this far, He certainly could not let them fall into the hands of the pagan armies. In this vein, verse 10 puts the onus on God, since He could have commanded Israel to attack these armies centuries ago. And, in exchange for their peace, they are getting aggression! The king closes his prayer, then, with a final plea for God's help.
Jehoshaphat does not ask God to annihilate the Moabites and Ammonites. He is not bloodthirsty or militant. He appeals to prudence in asking for God's judgment. This is appropriate given Jehoshaphat's name—a pairing of Jehovah and shaphat, meaning "The Lord is judge." His request simply asks God to act in line with His character. If these armies are justified in attacking Israel, the king has no complaint. But it is clear they are not. God is expected to respond decisively to such injustice, and Jehoshaphat will not be disappointed.
II. FOLLOW GOD'S PLAN (2 Chronicles 20:14-19)
The questions must have loomed over the people like a cloud once Jehoshaphat's inspiring prayer was complete:
What next? Would God respond immediately? If not, how would they know what to do? This period of waiting is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the life of faith in God. In Christian terms, it is the Saturday that falls between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Thankfully, God always has a plan, and this is illustrated in what happens next in the story of Jehoshaphat and Judah.
A. A Mighty Prophecy (vv. 14-17)
14. Then 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, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;
15. And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16. Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
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