2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37, Romans 10:14-11:12, Psalms 21:1-13, Proverbs 20:4-6
Today is the 27th day of July welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather again around the Global Campfire like we do every day. And I for one, am grateful to take for granted what we have here that the Lord would let is live at a time when technology like this exists that we can be knit together all over the world. Centered around the Scriptures as amazing so grateful to be here grateful to be with you. Grateful to be around the global campfire and grateful to take the next step forward and that next step has us has us back in the book of second Chronicles we will spend the next several days working our way through the conclusion of second Chronicles. So let’s take the next step forward today. Second Chronicles chapters 19 and 20.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of second Chronicles today we encounter a story with King Jehoshaphat and an invading army that really gives us a posture or a lesson to learn for our own lives. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we feel really boxed in. Like there’s no there’s no avenue of escape. There’s no way out there attack is coming against us. And there’s there’s no way out and it looks it seems like we can be destroyed, and this is the scenario that’s happening. Under King Jehoshaphat’s reign. This Story Takes Pl. in Jerusalem but also in the Judean desert with the Dead Sea as the great landmark, and three armies from from nations. On the other side of the Dead Sea have allied themselves together to cross the Dead Sea and invade the land in an attacking Jerusalem as a by the time King Jehoshaphat understands what’s happening these invading armies of invaded they’ve crossed over the Dead Sea. Another sort of assembling and grouping for the war, and there at a place called in Getty which is a source of freshwater in the desert. The Dead Sea region. We talked about this before is is barren wilderness it’s full on desert. It’s the lowest point on the earth. And although though there’s plenty of water in the Dead Sea’s not drinkable at all. So the oasis of an Getty still exists until today is something we’ve talked about in the past to this beautiful waterfall there as well as a a lot of history there biblical and otherwise so King Jehoshaphat feared God restored the people to God. He was doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, but despite his efforts of restoring the land that God this vast horde was coming to attack Jerusalem and they were that far away. About 18 miles so they didn’t have time to get a committee together and call in the Army garrisons and build reinforcements and make a plan for how to subvert the plans of the invading army then have this kind of time and they didn’t have resources to to make it happen either. So King Jehoshaphat was terrified and and maybe that’s a point we should sit with four second he was afraid, and for good reason. So let’s acknowledge that he was afraid when circumstances in our lives come out of nowhere and we feel boxed in and we don’t know what to do. We can feel those feelings of being just completely overwhelmed and confused and hopeless we can find ourselves having panic attacks or are night terrors. So it’s the next move. In this story that can give us guidance because Jehoshaphat was terrified. He was afraid of the implications of what could happen when he didn’t melt down in going the other direction either just going to overdrive trying to do everything possible to to see if there’s anything that can be done to reinforce Jerusalem. He also didn’t send ambassadors down to the armies to negotiate terms of surrender. What he did do was bag the Lord to tell them what to do he call all the people together to fast and stand before the Lord and bag God for his assistance. And that’s very much worth paying attention to because often we find ourselves in these kinds of circumstances where we don’t know what to do and that doesn’t seem to be a way out and we feel threatened in an unsafe God often becomes the last ditch effort rather than the first move we make and this may invariably lead us to have experiences that are very very difficult that could have been avoided. Jehoshaphat called his people together to come before the Lord to worship God to declare his faithfulness and his power, and to be honest and acknowledge the situation and I quote the King here, King Jehoshaphat’s our God, will you not judge them for we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do when our eyes are on you and what is being declared. Here is the is the lesson that the children of Israel had been learning all the way since their deliverance from slavery under dependence on God and this is what Jehoshaphat is acknowledging we don’t know what to do. There’s nothing in our power we can do. We are utterly dependent on you as the story goes, God responds and he speaks through a Levite named Jossey L and the messages, but let me just quote it. Listen King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says to you, do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army for the battle is not yours but God’s. You will not have to fight this battle, take up your position, stand firm, and see the deliverance the Lord will give you Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid to not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you and they obeyed and they went out in obedience to the instructions. Lord had given them, and their role in the story ended up being that of a spectator. The armies of the three Allied nations turned on one another and destroyed themselves so entering into this story helps us to see that one when were were walking with God were moving along in our lives and were surprised by something that invades us that we didn’t see coming that were not prepared for the we don’t have time to get prepared for we don’t have resources to prepare for the story reminds us that moving into panic and anxiety and thrashing around trying to save ourselves in our own strength probably won’t work and is is unnecessary life for each of us and I mean I guess there are people that go through life with an no problems there are no challenges but I don’t know any of them in the circumstances of life sometimes do feel like were surrounded and there is no way out and we just need to remember that the move is that we will have to surrender, we will not be surrendering to the enemy we surrender to God. Our hope and utter dependence is in the God and we get to watch what he will do.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for that and encouragement from second Chronicles today that really orients us yet again to the fact that we have to remind ourselves every day were not the ones in control here. And sometimes we have the illusion that we are but life has a way of continually reminding us that were not we are reminded that we are utterly dependent on you. Our hope is in the EU and the outcomes are in your hands so we once again declare our allegiance and loyalty to you. Our hope is in you, Holy Spirit, calm and comfort us. Our confidence is in you and you alone so we surrender circumstances, and they twist us in a knot and we don’t even know what we’re seeing anymore. We can make ourselves crazy inside. Or, we can surrender and we surrender to you. You are the Lord of Heaven’s armies. There is none other than you. There is no force or power above or beside you. We are your children, so we hope in you father we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
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