2 CHRONICLES 13-20 LESSONS ON SEEKING THE LORD2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Chronicles 13-20 Lessons On Seeking The Lord

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. Well, this evening we're in the book of 2 Chronicles. We'll be starting out in chapter 13 and going through chapter 20.

As we begin looking at this book, once again, the author is Ezra. Author is not quite exactly accurate. He's really the compiler who put together all of these different resources to put it all together for us, this history of the kings of Judah.

Here in 2 Chronicles, we're covering the time period of about 970 BC to 560 BC. And looking at, we saw in 1 and 2 Kings, both the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. You might remember that timeline as we followed along all those kings. Here in Chronicles, we're really only looking at the kings of Judah and following that line throughout the history of the nation of Judah.

As we look at the kingdom books here, again, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are one continuous historical account. But now as we're in the book of Chronicles, we're revisiting that same time period with different insights. And we'll see even this evening some of the chapters and accounts that we'll be reading here weren't mentioned in Kings 2.

So it's covering the same time period of history with some repetition of what we already read, but then also some other details that we didn't get from the book of 1 and 2 Kings. And again, in Chronicles, we're looking only at the kingdom of Judah.

Well, that timeline here looks like this. This white box here is the period that's covered by 2 Chronicles. It's quite a long period, about 400 years. And so we picked it up at the end of Solomon's reign, and then we'll be taking it all the way to the end of the kingdom of Judah when Babylon conquers Jerusalem. And so we're just looking at the first couple kings this evening. We'll be looking at Asa and Jehoshaphat.

But then over the next week or so, we're going to be picking up the pace and moving through the next couple hundred years pretty rapidly in our chapters together. Here's what it looks like on the map. On the left-hand side, you have Solomon's kingdom. These borders were established by David, maintained by Solomon. And here, you know, that's the kingdom that he reigned over at the peak of the glory of the nation of Israel, the peak of

of their blessings, the peak of all that God had for them. That was it. They're under Solomon's reign. But then after his death, his son wasn't as wise as he was. And so the kingdom was divided. The northern part was named Israel and the southern part was named Judah. And so we're following just that southern kingdom there, the nation of Judah and following the line of David through Rehoboam and then his son and...

the next couple of sons we'll be looking at this evening. So that brings us to our first chapter this evening, chapter 13, verse 18 is the key verse. It says,

And verses 1 and 2 were introduced to Abijah who reigns in Israel. Now you can find the parallel to this in 1 Kings chapter 15. So if you want to cross-reference that. There he's referred to as Abijam. Here he's referred to as Abijah. So slight variation there, but it's the same person. He's the son of Rehoboam and he reigns for about three years.

1 Kings also tells us that he walked in the sins of his father and he was not loyal to God. So he really was not a good king. Here in this chapter, we do see him stand up and announce, you know, the name of the Lord to the army of Israel. But we know from his life in 1 Kings chapter 15 that he really was not a good king, even though he makes a good speech here in 2 Chronicles 13.

In verses 3 through 12, we have Abijah speaking to Israel's army. Now the nation was divided. Israel was the north. Judah was the south. And there was these battles that were continuing on. Jeroboam was the first king of Israel. Rehoboam was the king, you know, under which the kingdom was split. So there was battles between them. Now Abijah, his son, there's battles between Jeroboam and Abijah.

And as Israel comes against them, Abijah stands up. He speaks to the army of Israel and he says, hey guys, we follow the Lord. We have the temple. We're continuing the sacrifices. You know, we're being obedient to the instructions that God has given. And you guys are worshiping these false gods. Now, why do you think that you can come against us when you're not worshiping the true and living God? He says in verse 12, now look.

So he gives this very compelling speech about how they're faithful to the Lord and how Israel is not. And so how do they think that they can come and fight against the Lord?

Well, Israel, while he's, you know, announcing this speech, Jeroboam surrounds him basically and comes up behind him on the other side and begins to attack from both sides. And so in verse 13 through 22, we have Israel fleeing before Judah because as they see they're surrounded, there's, you know, enemy on both sides. They cry out to the Lord.

And it's amazing, as they cry out to the Lord, God answers and allows them to be victorious in the battle. It says there in verse 18, the children of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers. They called out to God. Because they relied on God, God said, I'm going to help you.

Because they relied on him. That's going to be a theme that we'll see throughout our chapters this evening. And I want to encourage you this evening to call out to God. To rely upon the Lord. Because the Lord answers as we call out to him. And as we rely upon him.

We have victory. He responds. He answers as we rely upon him. So overall, Abijah was not a good king, but here in this moment, he did something good. He announced to the nation of Israel, hey, you know, you're not following God, but we're following God. He encourages people to cry out to the Lord. And as they did, God answered and they were victorious in the battle.

Well, this all took place on Mount Zemarim, which is there. It's just north of what is the border of Judah here, but it was really within the territory of Judah, the kingdom of Judah at that time. And so Israel's, you know, coming down, Judah's coming up. They meet there and that's where he gives this speech. That's where they try to surround him. And God grants them victory as they call out to him in the midst of the battle.

Well, that brings us to chapter 14. Verse 1 is the key verse. It says, So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years. In verses 1 through 5, we have Asa commanding Judah to seek the Lord. This is also continuing on in 1 Kings chapter 15. So if you want to see the parallel there, you can check it out.

We have a little bit more detail about Asa's reign here in the book of Chronicles though than what is recorded in 1 Kings chapter 15. So it begins here with Asa commanding Judah to seek the Lord. So

So Abijah overall was not really a good king. He had his moment here. But now Asa starts out really strong. He's rising to power. He's on the throne and he begins to clean house. And he gets rid of the altars, the high places. He begins to, you know, remove the idolatry from the land. And he commands the people to

To seek the Lord. To follow the Lord. To be obedient to God. To call out to Him. And so Asa is calling the people back to the Lord. What's interesting as we look at the history of the nation of Israel. They had some good kings. They had some bad kings. The nation of Judah rather had some good kings. Had some bad kings. But the people were different.

Although they were called to revival many times by these kings, the people as a whole continued to walk away from God. Even though they might have had a good king and a little bit of revival, their hearts were not really changed. And so what we see happening here is one of these little revivals happening as Asa is leading them and he's calling them, hey guys, let's seek the Lord. Let's worship the Lord. Let's focus on him. Let's turn back to him. Let's get rid of all the false gods.

Also, it's a time of peace. And so verses 6 through 7, it says that Asa fortifies the cities of Judah. And so it's a time of peace. God's blessing them because they're seeking him. And so he uses that opportunity to build up their defenses, to build up their fortresses, to prepare themselves for future battles. Although future battle comes in verses 8 through 15, when the Ethiopians come against the nation of Judah.

The Ethiopians come with this million man army. This is not, you know, a little skirmish. This was a massive army that comes against the nation of Judah. Judah is fairly small, you know, as far as property amounts and even population. They're not huge. And this million man army comes against them.

But you can see here in this passage that the Ethiopians are overthrown because here once again we see the benefit of crying out and seeking the Lord. In verse 11 it says,

So as this great threat comes to Asa, he shows great faith. And he says to the Lord, God, you can help whether if it's with many or with few.

He recognizes, he says, God, you could deliver us from this million man army by raising up another million man army, but you could also deliver us with just the few that we have. We're vastly outnumbered, God, but that's not a limit for you.

We don't have all the resources that you would expect to have to battle this kind of army, but that's not a hindrance for you. God, you can save whether it's with many or if it's with few. And so he says, Lord, help us. We're going out into this battle in your name. We're going out. Don't let man prevail against you. He's grasping hold of the Lord. He's crying out to God. He's seeking the Lord out.

And he's believing that God will do his work. And so God grants them victory and overthrows this Ethiopian army. A great miraculous work of God that we can see here in the life of Asa.

Well, here's what that would look like on the map. Ethiopia was in the region of Egypt, a little bit south of Egypt. And so they came up from the south and they came to Marashah. That's where the battle took place. They're victorious. Asa's victorious. The nation of Judah is victorious. They push them back and they even then overtake and take back the city of Gerar and some of the surrounding cities as they push back the Ethiopians and are victorious in battle.

And so here we have this great example for us in Asa. He rises to power. He says, everybody, we're going to seek the Lord. And then when that is challenged with this million man army, he holds to it. He says, we're going to rely upon the Lord. We're going to seek the Lord. Lord, you help us. You be our strength in the midst of this great threat. Well, that brings us to chapter 15. Now, verse 15 is the key verse.

It says, So as they come back from this victory, Azariah the prophet brings forth a message from the Lord to Judah. We see that in verses 1 through 7.

So they come back. I mean this incredible victory. You could imagine probably. What that must have been like. You know the great fear heading into that battle. The overwhelming like what's going to happen. You know this million man army. There's just a couple hundred thousand of us. We're greatly outnumbered. But then they come back. Because God gave them the victory. And there's great rejoicing. There's great joy. They're just overwhelmed. And here Jesus.

The prophet meets them and says, basically, I will be with you as long as you are with me. Verse 2, it says this. It says that he went out to meet Asa and said to him, hear me Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. And so he calls them to seek the Lord.

He says, look, this is a great example for you. You have this great victory. You sought the Lord. You relied upon the Lord. He gave you victory. And I want to tell you that this will continue to be the case. That when you seek the Lord, he will be found by you. And as long as you are with him, he is with you. But then he also gives the other side of that. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

So it's an encouragement to continue to seek the Lord. You've had this great victory. Now continue. Many times you and I might think that, you know, that's not an exhortation that was really needed because they just learned how, you know, they sought the Lord, God provided, you know. So of course, they're going to continue to seek the Lord and God will continue to provide. That would be our, you know, logical thought, our rational conclusion.

But what we find in the scriptures is that there are no idle warnings. God doesn't warn people for no reason. He doesn't say watch out unless there's a reason to watch out. He didn't warn Peter. Remember when he told Peter this night you're going to deny me three times? That wasn't without reason. It wasn't just, you know, to say something. No, because then Peter was going to be faced with this

With this challenge. And he was going to end up denying the Lord. It wasn't an idle threat. Or an idle warning. In the same way. This prophet. Comes to Judah. He says. You have an example here. Seek the Lord. You will find him. He's with you. While you are with him. But if you forsake him. He will forsake you. And we'll discover. As we look at Asa's life. This is not an idle warning. Because later on.

Although Asa started out really good, he's going to turn away from the Lord. He's going to forsake the Lord. And so he'll find the Lord forsakes him. Verse 3 goes on to say though, for a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. But when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found by them. There's this great principle that we find here. It's all throughout the scriptures.

God says, seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. When it's a real, it's a genuine, you're seeking the Lord, God says, you will find me. That's his promise. That's his guarantee. Seek and you will find. Remember Jesus said that too. Seek and you will find. Knock and it'll be opened.

That this is God's promise. If you desire to meet him, he will meet you. If you walk with him, he will walk with you. And Azariah says, look, it's been a long time. You guys have been away from the Lord for a long time. But now in this time of trouble, you turn to the Lord God of Israel and you sought him and he was found by you. He's encouraging them, continue to seek the Lord. Don't forsake him. Don't turn away.

Continue to follow him and he will be with you. And so Judah responds in verses 8 through 19 by making a covenant to seek the Lord. They say, yeah, yes, we agree. Yes, yeah, we haven't been taught the law in a long time. But here we know God's real. We know he's alive because we called to him. He answered. There was this great work, this miraculous work, and this million man army was overthrown.

And so they say, yeah, we want to seek the Lord. And so they make a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their soul, verse 12 says. And notice how serious this covenant is in verse 13. It says, whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. This was a collectively, the whole nation said, we are going to seek God

We're going to take this seriously. And if people are disobedient to God, we're going to follow the law of Moses and we're going to put them to death as God's word instructed. This was a national covenant, a national commitment. We as a nation are going to follow and seek the Lord.

This isn't a personal thing. So it's not like, you know, hey, my neighbor's not following the Lord, so I'm going to go put them to death. This is a national thing, okay? It would be pretty radical if you would consider for our nation to make this type of commitment, right? You and I need to have that commitment, personally, individually, even as a church, that we will seek the Lord, that He is going to be our first, our foremost, our passion. We're going to put Him first, right?

But that doesn't give us the authority to then, you know, put to death those who don't seek the Lord. But our nation could make that commitment. Really needs to and it should, but it would take a great miracle of God. Something that we could pray for perhaps. To have that serious of a commitment that corporately as a nation we would all agree in unison and say, yes, we will seek the Lord.

And we will not put up with those who do not. We're so far from that right now. Just as Judah was before this. But now God stirred them up. Reminded them that he is real. And if they seek him, they will find him. Well, we continue on with Asa's reign in chapter 16, verse 9 is the key verse. It says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.

In verses 1 through 6, we find that Asa makes a treaty with Syria. He makes a treaty with Syria. What happened is the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, began to attack Judah once again.

King Baasha came against Judah. And so Asa decides, I know how to handle this. What I'm going to do is I'm going to hire Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria. I'm going to send him some money, some treasures from the temple. And I'm going to say, break your covenant with the king of Israel. Break your covenant with him and make a covenant with me.

attack the king of Israel so that he'll be distracted and he won't attack me anymore. So he hires the king of Syria to deal with the nation of Israel. What's interesting about this is it worked. He sent the money. Then Hadad of Syria said, okay, yeah, that sounds good. He attacks Israel. And so Israel stops attacking Judah and goes back to the north and deals with the nation of Syria. So it looks like it worked.

But we'll see in the next portion, verses 7 through 10, Hanani, the prophet, rebukes Asa for doing this. This was not what Asa should have done. I think Spurgeon has some interesting things to say about this. He says, in the case of the invasion by the countless hordes of Ethiopians, Asa must have felt that it was of no use calling in Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, or asking any of the other nations to help him.

For with all their help, he would not have been equal to the tremendous struggle. Therefore, he was driven to God. But this, talking about this threat from Israel, this being a smaller trial, he does not seem to have been so thoroughly divorced from confidence in man. Spurgeon says, remember the Ethiopians? This million man army? Asa cried out to God and God delivered them. This great threat.

But now this other threat comes from Israel. It's a lot smaller threat. And he doesn't cry out to God because he thinks, well, I know how to handle this. I've got it figured out. And so instead of relying upon the Lord, he's relying upon himself, his ideas, this other king. He's putting his trust in things other than God. And so here we see Asa. He started out really well.

I mean, he brought all the nation back to the Lord and they cried out to the Lord in the midst of this great trial. The Lord overthrows this whole army. They make this serious covenant. We're going to seek God. And if you're not going to seek God, you don't have any part with us. I mean, this is serious. We're going to follow the Lord. But then here comes this smaller trial. And Asa did, I think, what like a lot of us often do. We think, oh, it's a smaller thing.

We don't take it to the Lord. We just try to handle it on our own. Using our own resources, our own ideas, our own methods. And so as we talk about seeking the Lord this evening, we see Asa begins seeking the Lord and calling the people to seek the Lord. They seek the Lord in the trial. But here is this new trial came, this much smaller trial. He doesn't seek the Lord. And it's a lesson for us to learn that seeking the Lord is a continual decision.

It's something we have to continue to do. It can't be just one time. Those strong commitments of the past don't remove responsibility of the present for us to seek the Lord. I mean, they made a strong commitment, serious commitment. We're going to follow the Lord and if you don't follow the Lord, then you're going to be put to death. That's serious. You can't really make a more serious commitment to the Lord than that. But if

But that doesn't remove the responsibility of the present, of now, to seek the Lord. And to call out to Him, to rely upon Him. The lesson is that we need to seek God today. Even if you don't feel like you need to. You see, that was the problem here. He didn't feel like he needed to. With the big army from the Ethiopians, he was overwhelmed. He knew he had no opportunity to do anything but rely upon God.

Here's the smaller challenge. Don't worry, God. I got this one. I know how to deal with it. Seek God today, even if you don't feel like you need to. Don't just seek God when it's impossible. Seek God when you think you have the answer, when you think you have the resolution, when you think you have the way to deal with the situation at hand. It's an important lesson for us to stay close to the Lord because you don't know if you will be seeking Him in the future.

You can't just rely upon your past real strong. I made a real strong commitment. Those real strong commitments of the past don't guarantee that in the future when you're in trouble, you'll call out to the Lord. And so we need to stay close to God today to maintain our relationship with God today, to seek the Lord today that we continue to seek him. But he didn't. And so Hanani, the prophet, rebukes Asa in verses 7 through 10. And he says, look, if you would have called out to God, God would have helped you.

Because the eyes of the Lord, they go to and fro throughout the earth. He's looking for opportunity to strengthen. This is sometimes what we forget. God is looking for opportunity. He's looking for someone to trust Him. He's looking for somebody who will trust me with their situations. Who will trust me with their issues, with their life. Who will rely upon me? He's looking. He's looking. He's looking for opportunity to help, to work, to

To do the miraculous. Sometimes we think of God as looking for the opportunity. You know to smack. Or to discipline. God does that reluctantly. But what he's willing. What he's excited about. What he's on the edge of his seat. Looking for an opportunity for. Is to show himself strong. On behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him. And so Hanani says to Asa. You've done foolishly. So therefore you're going to have wars from now on. Because you have not trusted in God. Now the sad thing here is.

is Asa's response. He doesn't humble himself. He doesn't receive the correction. He gets upset. He imprisons Hanani. He says, no, I don't want to listen to you. You know, you're going to prison. It also says there that he began to oppress other people in Judah at that time. He started out so good seeking the Lord. But we have to continue to seek the Lord because, well, when we stop seeking the Lord and relying upon ourselves, our heart tends to become hard. So that even when we receive correction,

were not willing to receive it. Well, it records for us the death of Asa there in verses 11 through 14. In verse 12, it tells us that Asa became diseased in his feet and his malady was severe. Yet in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. And so it just continued to get worse. This little child came. He didn't seek the Lord. He got rebuked. He didn't like it. He put the guy in prison.

Now he has this life-threatening disease. He still refuses to seek the Lord. Instead, he sought the physicians. Now, this is not saying that God is against you going to the doctors. That's not what this is saying. What this is saying is, God is against when you don't seek him first. God is against when you don't seek him first. He doesn't say, don't go to the doctor. In fact, I would say, he normally says, go to the doctor.

But seek Him first. Give Him the first opportunity to bring healing. Give Him the first opportunity to give direction. Let Him lead you and guide you. We must seek the Lord first.

Well, here in chapter 16, here's what it looks like on the map. Judah hires Syria to attack Israel. So there's Ramah, which that's where Israel came. They were building it up. They were using it as a threat to the nation of Judah. There in Jerusalem, Asa sends word up to Syria that,

Syria agrees and so they attack Dan and the northern cities there. And so Israel is distracted now and shifts their attention up north and stops attacking Judah in the south. And so it looks like it worked, but it was a fatal mistake because he did not seek the Lord. He just attempted to resolve it with his own resources. Chapter 17, now verse 1 is the key verse. Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel.

In verses 1 through 6, the Lord establishes Jehoshaphat. So Asa has died. Now Jehoshaphat's on the throne and he becomes strengthened by the Lord. Verse 3 is important too. It says, Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments and not according to the acts of Israel.

So what did Jehoshaphat do? He sought the Lord. He sought the Lord. So Asa started out good, but stopped seeking the Lord. Jehoshaphat, he starts off good as well. And he's seeking the Lord. And so it says that God was with him. It's amazing to me, sometimes we make it so complicated and yet it's so simple. Walk with God and he walks with you. It's that simple. If you don't walk with God, he doesn't walk with you. If you walk with God, he walks with you.

It says the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the way of his father David. He walked with God. He sought the Lord. He did not follow after the Baals. He did not rely upon his own resources, but he sought the Lord. The way that we usually approach it is we want to do whatever we want to do and then we want God to still bless us. That's just not the way that it works. Walk with God and he walks with you. It's simple.

It's not very complicated. Seek the Lord and you will find him. Walk with God and he will walk with you. Well, verses 7 through 9, now we see that Judah is taught God's law. They've been without the instruction of the word of God. And so now the priests, the Levites, they're going throughout the region. They're teaching people the word of God. They're going through the scriptures. They're teaching them what it's all about. That they would know God.

what God says and what God has called them to do. And then verses 10 through 19, Jehoshaphat becomes more powerful. He's strengthened. This one commentator by the name of Trap said this. I thought it was really interesting. He said, it said Jehoshaphat placed forces in all the fenced cities, yet it's not said that the fear of the Lord fell upon the neighbor nations.

But when he had established a preaching ministry in all the cities, then his enemies had a fear and made no war. What happened that caused the enemies around Judah to fear? It wasn't when they fortified and put up all these, you know, soldiers and built up their defenses. That's not what caused them to fear. What caused them to fear when they began to fear was when the people of God began to know the word of God.

The word of God is powerful. And it's why we need to be studying. Spending time in the word of God. Seeking God and his word. Accomplishes great victories. Chapter 18 now. Verse 3 is the key verse. It says, So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Would you go with me against Ramoth Gilead? And he answered him. I am as you are. And my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.

Now here Jehoshaphat agrees to join with Ahab in battle. There in verses 1 through 3. Jehoshaphat makes an alliance with Ahab. It's an alliance by marriage. So he marries one of Ahab's daughters. And so...

Israel and Judah have been at war for many years, but now they're trying to patch things up. And so Jehoshaphat's hanging out with Ahab, the king of Israel, who's a wicked king, the most wicked of all the kings of Israel up to this point, but he's hanging out with them. And as he's hanging out with them, Ahab says, hey, why don't you come with me to battle? There's this one city. I've been meaning to take it back, but I haven't taken it back. Why don't you come with me to take back this city that belongs to me?

They said, okay, well that sounds good. Jehoshaphat says, well let's inquire of the Lord. Let's seek the Lord. Because that's Jehoshaphat's practice. He seeks the Lord. So let's seek the Lord. And so verses 4 through 5, now they call in the prophets. These false prophets promise victory. There's 400 false prophets here. And they're promising, yeah, go. You're going to be victorious. Yes, go into battle. You will succeed. What I found really interesting about this is that

Both kings, King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat, realized and could recognize the difference between real and false prophets. Because Jehoshaphat says in verse 6, is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him? Now these guys are prophesying in the name of the Lord. They're saying, yeah, we're from God. We're speaking the word of God. Jehoshaphat says, isn't there still a prophet of God that we can inquire of?

These guys use the name, but there's something missing here. I recognize, I can tell, they're not really from the Lord. Now Ahab recognizes this as well. Even though they're his prophets, he called them in. There's these 400 guys saying, yeah, go for it. Ahab says in verse 7, Ahab realizes these guys aren't real prophets of the Lord. They can recognize the difference.

Ahab says, yeah, there's this one other guy. I hate him though because he always says bad stuff. You know why he always said bad stuff about Ahab? Because Ahab was in full-out rebellion against God. And so the prophet's calling Ahab to repentance. Ahab says, I don't like it. So I never listened to him. In fact, he's in prison at this point. Yeah, we could call him. I don't really like him that much. But Jehoshaphat says, no, no, call him in. Let's hear from the Lord. Again, he's wanting to seek the Lord. What's interesting here is,

Well, Micaiah will come now in verse 6 through 17 and says that Ahab will die. And so he comes in. The messenger says, hey, say something good whenever you come before the king. Because all these other prophets are going, it's really a good thing. Don't mess up the vibe. I mean, everybody's together. We're just getting along. So don't mess things up. Just go along with them and say, yeah, go ahead. You're going to be successful. Micaiah says, I got to say what the Lord says. I'm not going to say anything different. And when he comes, he says, I'm going to say what the Lord says.

Ahab, you're going to die. Israel will be without a shepherd. They will be scattered. You're going to lose this battle. You're going to die in this battle. Here's 400 prophets who say they will be successful. Here's one who says, no, you will die in battle. This is such an important reminder for us because in our society, in our mentality, we often refer to the majority of

We rely upon the majority. And we think, well, if all of these people think this way, they can't all be wrong. So we look to the majority and the majority rules. Majority wins. But here's a good reminder. The majority is not always right. The majority is not always best. Many times the majority is exactly, well, opposite of what God says.

So Micaiah says, Ahab will die. He also says in verses 18 through 27 that all the other prophets are lying. He says, you guys are all lying. All these guys are liars. Now, Jehoshaphat and Ahab, they recognized. They could tell the difference. But still they listened.

to the false prophets... and so verses 28 through 34... we have the account of Ahab's death... as they go out to battle... Ahab tried to go around it... he disguised himself... so he wasn't recognizable... but I love how it says in verse 33... a guy just you know... pulled a bow at random... not aiming for anything in particular... but God directed that arrow right to Ahab... and it was his death blow... and so the prophet Micaiah... is shown to be a true prophet...

He represented the Lord. And so Jehoshaphat tried to seek the Lord. He said, let's seek the Lord. But, I don't know if you want to call it peer pressure or what, in-law pressure. He didn't follow through. He went along into the battle. So he sought the Lord, but then he didn't follow what God was instructing.

This is what it looks like on the map. The battle took place. It started in Samaria where Ahab was. That was the capital of the nation of Israel. Jehoshaphat was up there with Ahab. They head out to Ramoth Gilead. They battle there and that's where Ahab is struck and that's where he dies. Well that brings us now to chapter 19 verse 3 is the key verse.

It says, nevertheless, good things are found in you and that you have removed the wooden images from the land and have prepared your heart to seek God. So in verses 1 through 4, Jehoshaphat brings Judah back to the Lord. Jehoshaphat now goes home from this battle. He's, you know, they lost. They were defeated. He realizes, man, I blew it. I messed up. And the prophet meets him and says, you're right. You messed up. But good things are found in you because you prepared your heart to seek God. Even though you've made mistakes...

You made a bad alliance here, but you've done good because you're trying to seek the Lord. And we see this importance, this great need to seek the Lord. Even though we don't always measure up, even though we fall short of the glory of God, we need to continue to seek the Lord. And so Jehoshaphat is renewed in this. And so he brings Judah back to the Lord. He's all right, guys, let's get back to seeking the Lord, putting him first.

And so he says, judges in the land in verses 5 through 11, he calls them to fear God, to judge righteously because we want to seek the Lord. We want to do what's right. We want to uphold righteousness and not be corrupted by sin. Chapter 20 now, verse 22 is the key verse. It says,

Here in verses 1 and 2, we now see another army that comes against Judah for war. The nations of Moab, Ammon, and Edom gather together. They begin to invade the land of Judah. They come against Judah for war. In verses 3 through 13, now we see that Judah seeks the Lord. So Jehoshaphat, he comes back from the battle with Ahab. He's lost. He's defeated Jehoshaphat.

The prophet reminds him, seek the Lord. He calls the nation back. Yeah, let's seek the Lord. So now this next time the threat comes, what do they do? They seek the Lord. They seek the Lord. They cry out to God. It says in verse 3 that Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim a fast throughout Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord.

And from all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. In his prayer to the Lord, Jehoshaphat says, God, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. This is a lot like Asa. When the Ethiopian army came and he's like, hey, we're overwhelmed. We're outnumbered. We don't know what we're going to do. God, you got to work in this. That's what Jehoshaphat does. He says, we don't know what to do, God, but our eyes are upon you.

He calls the people, seek the Lord. Look to Him. Cry out to Him. Lord, You provide the answer. We need You to work in this situation. And God in His great mercy responds. In verse 14-17, God says the battle is His. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jehaziel.

And this prophet of the Lord speaks forth the word of God. In verse 15 he says, Listen, all you of Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. They cry out to the Lord. They seek the Lord. And what happens? God responds. Because what's God's promise?

Seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart. Walk with me and I will walk with you. I will meet you and I will meet your needs. That's God's promise. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way, God always has a special word for those who turn to him for help. When you face a battle, spend much time in his word and in prayer, for then he will give you that needed word of encouragement.

Get into the word of God, Wiersbe says. Because God's promise is that if you will seek him, you will find him. If you turn to him for help, he will help. Seek and you will find. And in this case, the Lord says, the battle is mine. Sometimes God will say, alright, here's what I want you to do. Go into battle. Sometimes God will say, you don't got to do nothing. I'm going to do it all. And that's what God says here. The battle is not yours, it's mine.

And so verses 18 through 30, now we see the victory take place as they worship. In verse 22, it says, now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah and they were defeated. The nation of Judah here calls out to God. God answers. They worship him. And as they worship him, the enemy is defeated. They didn't have to pull out a sword. They didn't have to lift a spear. They didn't have to

Now again, God doesn't always work, but this is what God said he would do. And so they worshipped him because he said, I'm going to do this battle for you. You don't have to do nothing except go out to them in the morning. He gives them the instruction. Go out by this path. Go out this way. And I'm going to accomplish this victory for you. And so they're worshipping God. They're praising God. And the victory is accomplished. They win.

We finish up Jehoshaphat's reign in verses 31 through 37 with his alliance with Azariah and then ultimately his death here as well. In verse 37, Jehoshaphat is rebuked because of his alliance with Ahaziah who is the next king of Israel. Jehoshaphat, good king. He sought the Lord. But he was foolish in his alliances and his friendships. Sometimes we expect...

When a person seeks the Lord, they ought to be perfect. But we're not perfect. We have weaknesses. For Jehoshaphat, it was his friendships. And his friendships caused him pain, caused him defeat, caused him difficulty. He was unequally yoked, something the scripture warns us against. But he sought the Lord. And so we see this principle so clearly. It's so simple. Walk with God, he walks with you. You can't just do whatever you want and then expect God to bless.

You got to walk with God. You got to seek the Lord. And his promise is that he will be found by you. Well, here's what this battle looks like on the map. It's Ammon, Moab, and then Edom, which is also known as Mount Seir. That's farther south. It's not on the map. So they all join together. They go down. They come up along the Dead Sea or the Salt Sea there to En Gedi. That's where they camp. And then the people of Jerusalem go down the path of

To En Gedi. And as they go. They're worshiping the Lord. And the victory is accomplished for them. By the Lord. I'm going to invite the worship team to come up. We're going to close out this evening. With a time of worship. The Lord really put it on my heart. You guys can come on up. The Lord put it on my heart. To close the service in worship this evening. Because it's so appropriate. For what we just have been studying. As we consider this idea of seeking the Lord.

And we see this example of this victory that's accomplished as they worship the Lord. You and I, we have great and valuable lessons to learn from these examples. The necessity, the need for us to seek the Lord. Here in 2 Chronicles 20, verse 12, it says...

As we enter into this time of worship, I want to ask you to set your eyes on God. I don't know all the details of whatever you face. Whether it's a million man army and you're just overwhelmed and you just have no idea what to do.

Or even if what you're faced with this evening is something you think that you have the answer to. Remember Asa? He trusted in one case. He relied upon himself in the other. Let's not make that mistake. This evening as we enter into this time of worship, whatever is before you, whatever it is that you're facing, let's put our eyes on the Lord. Let's seek the Lord. Let's present it to Him.

You can't rely upon some past really strong commitment. No, today, seek the Lord. Hear from Him. God, what do you want in this situation? What do you want from my life? What do you want in this decision? Seek God today. Even if you don't feel like you need to, seek God today and hear from Him. Hear from Him. Let God speak to you. Let God minister to you and give you direction. And the amazing thing that we see here is...

As you obey, God brings victory. As you obey. What do you think would have happened if Jehoshaphat had not obeyed the Lord here in chapter 20? God said, here's the way I want you to go. Go out this way in the morning. And Jehoshaphat could have said, we can't go out. We're way outnumbered. That's scary. We're not going to do that. We can't do that. What do you think would have happened? They wouldn't have had the victory. In order to experience the victory, we got to obey.

And this evening, God's instruction to us, Cabo Chapa Living Water, is let's seek the Lord. Let's worship Him. Let's present our situations to Him. Give Him the opportunity to provide victory.

So they're going to lead us in a few songs and I want to encourage you. Seek the Lord. Spend time with Him. If God prompts your heart to minister to someone else, maybe God wants to, like the prophets came and ministered to the people and said, here's what God wants you to do. Hey, if He gives you a word, an instruction, an encouragement for somebody, go minister to them. But let's hear from the Lord as we present these situations to Him. Let's seek the Lord and allow Him to accomplish the victory as we worship Him.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.