2 Chronicles · chapter 20 of 36
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2 Chronicles 20 tells how Moabites, Ammonites and others march against Judah, and a frightened Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast and prays to the Lord. Through Jahaziel, God promises that the battle is his; singers go out before the army praising, and the enemies destroy one another. The chapter ends with the blessing in the Valley of Beracah and a summary of Jehoshaphat's reign.
Jehoshaphat has returned to the Lord and set judges in the land (chapter 19). Now that faith is tested: a coalition of neighboring peoples comes against Judah. The chapter is one of the Chronicler's great accounts of prayer and praise as the answer to crisis, and it shows what a king does when he does not know what to do.
Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites come to fight Jehoshaphat. He is told that a great multitude is coming from beyond the sea, from Edom, and is already at Hazazon-tamar, that is, En-gedi. Jehoshaphat is afraid, but he resolves to seek the Lord and proclaims a fast throughout Judah. The king stands in the assembly at the temple and prays. He remembers that the Lord rules over all the nations, that he gave the land to Abraham's descendants, and that Israel did not destroy these peoples when it came out of Egypt. Now they repay with evil. Jehoshaphat ends with a confession: we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
The Spirit of the Lord comes on Jahaziel, a Levite descended from Asaph, who announces that they should not fear, because the battle is not theirs but God's. Tomorrow they will go down to meet the enemy, but they will not need to fight: they only have to stand firm and see the Lord's salvation. The people bow down and the Levites praise loudly.
Early in the morning they go out toward the wilderness of Tekoa. Jehoshaphat appoints singers to go before the army praising the Lord for his steadfast love. As they begin to sing, the Lord sets ambushes against the Ammonites, the Moabites and the men of Mount Seir; the Ammonites and Moabites destroy the men of Seir and then kill one another. Judah finds only corpses and spends three days gathering the spoil. On the fourth day they assemble in the Valley of Beracah to bless the Lord, and they return to Jerusalem with joy to the temple. The fear of God falls on the neighboring kingdoms, and Jehoshaphat's realm has peace.
The chapter closes with a summary of Jehoshaphat's reign, which was good though he did not remove the high places, and with a final stain: he allied with Ahaziah king of Israel to build ships, and the prophet Eliezer announced that the Lord would destroy the work.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jehoshaphat is afraid, yet he sets his heart to seek the Lord and proclaims a fast. The text does not ask for faith without fear but for faith that turns fear into prayer.
The king confesses that he has no strength against such a multitude and does not know what to do, but his eyes are on the Lord. It is an honest prayer: it admits helplessness and gives the gaze to God.
Jahaziel tells the people not to fear, because the battle is not theirs but God's. The promise changes the focus: Judah does not fight to win but trusts that the Lord fights for them.
The singers go out before the army praising the Lord for his steadfast love, and when they begin to sing the Lord sets ambushes against the enemy. Praise here is a confession of faith before the result is seen.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some Meunites. — 2 Chronicles 20:1
Answer: He set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. — 2 Chronicles 20:3
Answer: He said they did not know what to do, but their eyes were on the Lord. — 2 Chronicles 20:12
Answer: Jahaziel, a Levite descended from Asaph, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came. — 2 Chronicles 20:14-15
Answer: To go before the army praising the Lord for his steadfast love. — 2 Chronicles 20:21
Answer: The enemies destroyed one another, and Judah found only corpses and abundant spoil. — 2 Chronicles 20:23-25
Jehoshaphat's prayer is a model for the moment when nothing we know how to do is enough. He does not hide his fear, he recalls who God is and what he has done, he presents the problem and he admits his limit. A small group can write that same sequence for a real situation: who God is, what he has done, what threatens us and where we fix our eyes.
The advance praise also challenges us. Judah sang before seeing the victory, not as a trick to obtain it but because the promise had already been given. That does not mean God always spares us every difficulty; it means worship is a way of trusting while we wait. And the end of the chapter reminds us that a good king also failed: let us stay alert about our own alliances.
2 Chronicles 20 shows that the Lord answers a people who have no strength, and that praise can go ahead of victory. Chapter 21 opens a painful contrast: Jehoshaphat dies, and his son Jehoram, married to a daughter of Ahab, does the opposite of what his father sought.
It means the outcome depends on the Lord's power, not on the strength of the army. Even so, the people had to obey: go down to the place indicated, stand firm and praise. Faith here is not passivity but trust that obeys without taking up arms.
It was a decision of faith after hearing Jahaziel's promise. The singers praised the Lord for his steadfast love, his faithful mercy. The text says that when they began, the Lord set ambushes against the enemy.
Beracah means blessing. The people gave that name to the valley where they assembled on the fourth day to bless the Lord for the victory, and the Chronicler says that is why the place is called that to this day.