Walking With Christ

2 Chronicles 20:14-17 (14)And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. (15)And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. (16)Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. (17)You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”(ESV)

Our local campus pastor was doing a sermon on what freedom and victory really sounds like. Per usual, I heard the message, but I also heard other points that may not have been intended. Quick context note, The nation of Israel had split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, at this point. The king of Israel, Ahab, was not a great person. He had just been killed in a battle that they were never supposed to fight. He had even been told he would die if he went into battle. The king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, was basically warned after the battle that he was moving down a really bad path and judgement wasn’t looking so good. He still had a chance to fix things. He made some reforms in Judah and started to get the people back to living for God. The test of this came when they received word that three other kingdoms had joined forces to wipe them out. This caused Jehoshaphat to panic just a bit. After he ordered nationwide prayer and fasting, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel in the verses above.

One of the things I caught in this sermon was that Jehoshaphat had turned to the wrong people to fight a fight that was never his to begin with. When he turned the people back to God we see that they are tested. We read in verse fifteen “for the battle is not yours but God’s”.

They still had to show up. They still had to put on the armor and move ahead as if it was their battle. When Abraham was called to sacrifice Isaac, it wasn’t until he had taken the sacrificial knife in his hand to go through with the sacrifice that the angel of the Lord, Jesus, stopped him and actually gave His blessing. The army of Jehoshaphat had to be ready for war. This goes so much deeper than just putting on the armor. They had to already know how to wear the armor. They had to know how to handle the weapons. They had to be fully battle ready.

This is why we are always called to put on the full armor of God daily. Remember that this isn’t a passive or one-time thing. It’s not just something we read in a book or watch a quirky training video on. It’s a serious problem with our theology if we want to spend eternity with God in heaven but aren’t willing to spend a little time with Him each day until then.