II Chronicles Chapter 20
Please read: II Chronicles 20 –
Honestly it is heart-wrenching to read about the decisions that humans make in their life. And we are talking about humans who had faith in the one true and holy God. In this chapter the king of Judah experienced such great victory both physically, militarily, and spiritually. When he genuinely called on God, God answered in a big way! In fact, we would label what happened for King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, a supernatural miracle! But in the last few verses of the chapter, we read a different mindset and a different outcome for Jehoshaphat near the end of his days. Jehoshaphat once again made an alliance with the northern kingdom. Didn’t he learn his lesson from before when he did this?
It makes you stop and think about the judgement of a man who had experienced such great things while walking with God and then he made such a critical error – for a second time! And we think why on earth would such a man turn his back on God and do such a thing? But then we must pause and think about it in this way. What if someone wrote down the story of my life on paper? It would be awful to read about some of the dumb decisions I have made in my life while a born-again believer and a disciple of Jesus Christ. The more we read the Bible the more we see ourselves – like a mirror!
Let's Reflect
1. King Jehoshaphat got word that there was a great army headed his way from the countries of Moab and Edom. Jehoshaphat was afraid. What did he do?
2. Sometimes we are concerned that when we pray, we are doing it all wrong. What things did you read in Jehoshaphat’s prayer that might have caused you to question his way of praying to God?
3. Verse 12 shows the true fear and the true humility of Jehoshaphat’s prayer. What did he admit to in his prayer?
4. Beginning in verse 13 we realize that King Jehoshaphat was not praying in solitude but before an assembly of the people. What happened during this prayer time with a Levite named Jahaziel?
5. What was the first message from the LORD as recorded in verse 15?
6. I love verse 17 because God told them to just stand firm and that they would not need to fight – at all! He would do all the work. What miracle did God do for the people of Judah?
7. God had answered their prayer directly. What was the response of the people?
8. When the men of Judah climbed up into their watchtowers to see the position of the encroaching enemy what did they see?
9. In what way did King Jehoshaphat form an alliance with a wicked king of Israel?
10. How did the king once again learn that God was not happy with his decision?
