Good Monday to you my “WWJ” friends all around the world;
Have you ever been part of a large group of people facing a terrifying enemy and you felt helpless? Do you remember how you felt seeing the reports during COVID of people dying so fast in some parts of the world that morgues were unable to receive the bodies and cemeteries could not bury them fast enough? Do you remember the fear that gripped many people, cities and even nations?
Come with me again, let’s rejoin a vast throng of Israelites gathering in Jerusalem around 850bc. The people were coming from all directions, some had traveled many days. They came in haste and they came worried, frightened. Why? King Jehoshaphat had sent word throughout the southern kingdom of Judah that a vast army was approaching from the southeast, from beyond the Dead Sea. Word came that they had already arrived in the En Gedi region, passing the rugged cliffs we know today as Masada, marching north soon turning inland toward Jerusalem!
Who were they? What was their intention and their destination? They were armed warriors from three large nations and they’d joined together to conquer Jerusalem and all Judah! (2 Chronicles 20:1-4)They were Moabites and Ammonites from the east, from what is today Jordan and southern Syria; and they were joined by the Meunites who are believed to have been a warring tribe from the southern desert region of Saudi Arabia today.
As this huge throng of frightened Israelites converged on Jerusalem I’m sure it appeared something like the influx at Passover, but this was not a celebration, this was a terrified people seeking answers from their leaders, especially their king Jehoshaphat. He had two important choices… where to rally the people and what to tell them?
Wisely, king Jehoshaphat sent word to gather at the great Temple which as you know was a fairly small but spectacular building built on the huge Temple mount, very similar to the appearance of the Golden Dome of the Rock built on the Temple mount in Jerusalem in our day. The Temple mount area was so vast that easily thousands of people could have gathered there.
The record says King Jehoshaphat took his leadership role seriously and the king stepped forward to address his people in their fear: “Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of the people of Judah and Jerusalem at the Temple of the LORD and said… “LORD the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the world. Power and might are in Your hand and no human being can withstand You… But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Sier whose territory You would not allow Israel to invade when You delivered them from Egypt…See how they are coming to drive us out of the land You gave us as our inheritance. Oh our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power to withstand this vast army attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You!” (2 Chronicles 20:5-12)
Now pause and reflect on this scene my friends. It should not be difficult for you to place yourself in that huge crowd of frightened people on the Temple Mount listening to their king. And consider how the leaders of your government, local, regional and national, respond when there is a terrifying tragedy which either takes or threatens to take many lives in your part of the world?
Natural disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes or typhoons or volcanoes or earthquakes or forest fires or floods. Or human caused disasters like invading armies or renegade warriors or terrorists or gangs or drug cartels? Or what about invasions like contagious COVID or Small Pox or other contagious diseases? How have leaders in your part of the world responded and led you and your people in the face of terrifying enemies? Why do your human leaders and mine respond so very, very differently from what we see in King Jehoshaphat’s approach?
But before we get too hard on blaming politicians and government officials and even military leaders, let’s take a closer look at ourselves and our families. As parents and grandparents, how have you led your families in facing the terrifying news they hear or the reality of darkening skies, or rising water, or collapsing economies, or job loss, or terminal illness or unexpected tragedy? What change would it take for our hearts and our minds to respond as Jehoshaphat did? Ponder that a moment.
I’ve watched terrified, out of control mobs and so have you. We’ve seen pictures of people trampled when crowds frantically run in fear. We’ve seen pictures of people jumping out of the windows of high buildings or leaping into the water to escape the terror.
Look at what the record tells us happened as King Jehoshaphat concluded his prayer before these thousands of people: “All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.” Can you see it? Families circled, holding hands with heads bowed or looking up into the sky waiting on God.
No one is screaming, no panic, only waiting and watching to see what God will do! A hush had swept over this vast throng of people. Everyone looking at the Temple, the smoke rising from the burning altar, priests and Levites standing on the steps. A frightened people felt confident God saw them, God heard them, God understood their frightening situation and based on their history with the God of Israel, they fully expected God was about to do something, so they waited…
Let’s wait with them in expectation. Psalm 5:1-3 says this: “Listen to my words LORD…Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you alone I pray. In the morning LORD You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and I wait expectantly.” Is that how you begin your day, my friends? Is that how you and your family come to God? Let’s do that now, and let’s worship with this song and let’s come back here tomorrow to see what God did in this remarkable situation, and what we can learn from it!
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:1-13.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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