“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s….And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.” (2Ch 20:15, 18 AV)
Judah was under a threat of attack by
the Moabites, the Ammonites, and their allies.
There were by far outnumbered.
The Bible goes so far as to say Jehoshaphat was full of fear. If the leader is full of fear, you know the
threat is massive and real. Their fear was
almost paralyzing. The king called for a
nationwide prayer meeting. Many came to
Jerusalem to pray with the king. As they
prayed, a prophet stood up and declared the word of the LORD to them. Part of the word of the LORD is stated above
in verse fifteen. The response to this
prophet’s word was confidence and worship.
When the people are afraid, all they need is the word of the LORD from a
voice that believes it. The word of God is
a powerful thing. It will, and does,
change the course of a nation. When the
man of God stands before the people and speaks the word of God with conviction,
hearts are changed. Jehoshaphat when from
fearful to courageous. The battle plan
was to meet at the edge of the battlefield and stand there, watching the hand
of the LORD Himself destroy the people.
This He did, leaving so much spoil that in four days, they still could
not gather it all.
There were times as a hospital chaplain
and pastor that the word of the LORD was a matter of life and death. There was the time I visited a church member
who was ailing rather seriously. His
condition was not necessarily life-threatening, although it could have been. I remember he had blood clots and a genetic circulatory
condition. These two are dangerous when
suffered together. I remember going to
see him and he wondered why he was still alive.
He was getting up there in age and was slowly losing the ability and
liberty to do as he always did. An active
gentleman, he saw the restricted abilities as a curse. He saw the diminished activity of his life as
a reason to give up and allow his condition to have the best of him. We talked at length with him regarding family,
friends, and church. Then Frist Corinthians
chapter seven came to mind. By the power
of the spirit, we reminded him we all have a calling. This calling may change a bit, but the
overall objectives are still the same.
That being, to glorify the LORD with one’s life and serve the needs of
others. When applied to the people he
knew, together we realized there were still a few things left undone that
needed to be tended to before the LORD would call him home. It was that word of God that changed his whole
outlook on life. He fought hard to
regain as much of his health as he could.
Any preacher will tell you the word of
God affects both people and crowds. A
simple scanning of the Bible will also reveal this. Words have power. Both good and bad. It was the words of politicians that put in
motion the crucifixion of Christ. It was
words that resulted in 3,000 souls coming to Christ in one service. Words, if they are Bible-based, can bring a
soul out of a deep pit and place him or her on a solid foundation. Words, if they are of the LORD, can lift a
discouraged or fearful soul out of that state of the heart into a state of
recovery and victory. When it came to a
king and his leadership team, a word from the LORD was all they needed. All they needed was to be told what they
already knew. God can handle any and all
enemies we may face. There is no reason
to get upset or fearful if God is in control.
This reminder, from the mouth of the prophet, changed the course of a nation. This is exactly what we need today. We need those who know and believe the word
of God to share it with those who desperately need it. If revival is to come, it will only come by
the words of God’s mouthpiece!
No comments:
Post a Comment