2 Chronicles 20:1-12
July 23, 2023
Jehoshaphat's Prayer
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none can withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Is the Church, and I mean all who by faith have bowed down to the will of
God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, and received adoption into God’s family. Is the Church of the Living God, looking to government, and military, are anything but God to keep this great horde that is coming against us?
Does this prayer that King Jehoshaphat prays to God sound like a prayer of a man who is putting faith in himself, his military are his people? My dad was a very wise man and he knew that people did not learn from history, for they kept allowing it to repeat over and over.
But we the Church have the mind of Christ, or should have the mind of Christ, and like our Lord, we would be wise to do as He did and do the will of the Father. We at Oakwood Church in New Braunfels were reminded by Pastor Robert Parrish today that our citizenship is not being a Texas, nor The USA, but Heaven, and we should model 2 Peter 2:11-17 “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”
Pastor Robert used many examples of how a follower of Christ should act when the authority over them proclaims a rule or law that is not in keeping with the Scripture, and it is never to show disrespect, but to Mr. Authority I cannot do as you say, I must honor God. I have no doubt this message did not sit well with many in that large congregation, but the truth often we have a hard time finding a home in our culture. Many are more Democrats or Republicans than Followers of Christ.
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