Courting Christ: Trust Him, Part 2

They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” - 2 Chronicles 20:20 (NASB)

Here we see some old, formidable enemies that arose against Jehoshaphat. Who were these enemies? Interestingly, all three enemies were distant relatives. The Meuranites were Edomites who came from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. The Moabites and Ammonites descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Unfortunately, both the daughters of Lot had child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he was the father of the Moabites. As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he was the father of the sons of Ammon[1]. Sometimes it is not strangers who threaten us the most. Sometimes it is those whom we should suspect the least!

God had ordered those nations left alone when Israel first came into the Promised Land well over 500 years before[2]. It had been five centuries since these nations got their reprieve. The Lord is incredibly patient with our sin. But sooner or later sin always brings judgment into our lives and communities. He gave those nations plenty of time to repent. But the time for judgment had arrived.

He wanted the people of those nations to know that He was upset with their ways. They had been close to the truth, but ultimately rejected it. They had had the hope of victory because they had known of God’s promises, but had rejected the truth God had revealed. And this always brings God’s judgment.

For God’s people, however, a threat can become a means to trust God more and see God’s special victory. The threat may seem overwhelming. Perhaps the Israelites could have handled one of the enemies. But they were being ambushed by several nations from various directions[3].

A strategic part of overwhelming threats is their timing. Timing betrays strategy. Coincidence has no strategist moving the pieces about[4].

Actually, these overwhelming circumstances may be better than the ones we think we can handle without calling on the Lord for help. We need to be aware that our enemy works diligently and intelligently to make us fall[5]. But it didn’t matter then, nor does it matter now. Greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world![6] The Israelites did exactly the right thing when they called upon God and then obeyed what He said.

Isn’t it too bad we only call upon the Lord when what we consider precious is threatened? What would our lives be like if we called upon Him daily for other more noble purposes?



[1] Genesis 19:36-38
[2] Numbers 20:17-21; Deuteronomy 2:4-6
[3] 2 Chronicles 20:2
[4] Ephesians 6:12
[5] 1 Peter 5:8
[6] 1 John 4:4