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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
2 Chron. 19
Assuming the events we are reading about occurred in the recorded order, it seems that Jehoshaphat reacted appropriately to Jehu’s confrontation of his sin. Instead of throwing up his defenses in pride, the incident renewed Jehoshaphat’s resolve to turn people back to God. Whether kings or peasants, as believers in Christ that is really our primary mission. We are to be the salt and light of the world; to point people to our God who saves. Like Jehoshaphat, though, we often lose sight of that. We start focusing our attention on pursuits that not only fail to point others to God, but also draw us away. We all do it. The question, then is, what do we do when we realize it? Do we argue, justify, or flat out deny our actions? Or do we humbly renew our focus on our primary purpose?
2 Chron. 20
At the beginning of this chapter, a massive army came against Jehoshaphat and the kingdom of Judah. “Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the LORD.” (2 Chron. 20:3a). He actually went beyond that and gathered all of Judah to seek the LORD with him. They called on God’s promises, acknowledging their total dependence on Him. God’s response was, “Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” (2 Chron. 20:17a). God then proceeded to wipe out the entire enemy army without anyone from Judah lifting a finger, except to gather the plunder after the deed was done. This is what God can do with our total surrender.
At the end of this chapter is a brief story of Jehoshaphat’s effort to engage in commerce with Tarshish. Did Jehoshaphat seek God in this endeavor? I don’t know. What I do know is, “Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel’s King Ahaziah, who was guilty of wrongdoing.” (2 Chron. 20:35). The text does not specify the nature of the alliance or the degree of involvement from Israel. Only that Jehoshaphat got Israel involved. Regardless of whatever Jehoshaphat thought he gained from Israel’s involvement, however, he lost the whole thing in the end. This is what we get when we rely on our own resources. These two opposing stories reveal a truth we would do well to remember. God can do more with our surrender than we can do with our control.