“In heavenly armor we’ll enter the land, The battle belongs to the LORD” (Owens-Collins, 1985) – the familiar song we sing often to our God with one another at 9th & Main. It is true the battle is His and we simply need to show up for the fight as the apostle Paul states in Ephesians 6.12-14. One of the blessings of knowing the battle is the LORD’s is that we can have assurance in knowing the end will turn out according to His blessed will. As James said about Job, “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5.11). Jehovah can be trusted and we must lean upon Him and not our own understanding (Pro. 3.5).

Jehoshaphat was truly a man of God in that he had a great example before him as a father. His father was named Asa and did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God (2 Chron. 14.2-6). At the end of Asa’s life, however, he did not consult the LORD concerning his disease and died because of it (2 Chron. 16.11-14). Jehoshaphat reigned in his place and did wonders before the LORD and strengthened the people of God to their betterment. The LORD was with him, established his kingdom, gave him riches and the fear of the LORD was in all the land (2 Chron. 17.1-11). He exhibited “the battle belongs to the LORD” long before it was said.

After the death of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat had the people of Moab, Ammon and others come against him and Judah for battle. The king became fearful and immediately sought help from the LORD (2 Chron. 20.1-4). He proclaimed a fast and he and Judah sought after the LORD together and this is what was said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” (2 Chron. 20.6). He displayed great confidence as king to show his trust and faith in the God of heaven who had the power and wisdom to help them defeat their battle. We must learn from this as well as Christians today.

Jehoshaphat knew a few things about the God of heaven. He knew His identity. He knew His name was in the temple and took great comfort in knowing God was with Abraham of old (2 Chron. 20.7-9). He knew his enemies. The very ones who were spared by Israel have now come to invade them and he felt afflicted and wanted God to come through for them (2 Chron. 20.10-11). He knew his focus. He told the LORD, “our eyes are upon You” (2 Chron. 20.12), even though they did not know what to do and realized their power was nothing in comparison to the nations upon them. He knew the battle belonged to The LORD. They were encouraged to not be dismayed because the battle was not theirs but God’s (2 Chron. 20.15). It was at that time they would receive instructions to figure out how God wanted the nation of Judah to proceed with the task.

The LORD ensured them of the victory and told them these things: “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you” (2 Chron. 20.17). Notice the New Testament passages we could correlate to these sayings from the LORD our God. Paul told the church at Ephesus to stand (ref. Eph. 6.13). He also told the Corinthians to “be brave, be strong” (1 Cor. 16.13). He told Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of fear…” (2 Tim. 1.7). Finally, he told the church at Rome, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8.31). Friends, we can say the same things as Jehoshaphat and the apostle Paul: we win if we stay with the Lord. “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4.4).

The LORD told Jehoshaphat to have the people to worship Him, and the people, “stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high” (2 Chron. 20.18-19). King Jehoshaphat told the people to believe in the LORD their God and His prophets and they would prosper (2 Chron. 20.20). So they praised the LORD and He wrought a great defeat upon the Ammonites, Moabites and Mount Seir. The people of God did not lift a finger in the battle and actually were enriched by the spoils from the nations. God gave them rest all around and the people were victorious (2 Chron. 20.30). Let us learn from these lessons that the God of heaven is still fighting our battles if we would allow Him. Friends, let us have confidence in knowing that whatever we are going through, the LORD will provide for us. Let God be true.