2 Chronicles 20:4
So the people of Judah gathered to seek the LORD, and indeed, they came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him.
Sermons
An Alarm of War - an Invasion from the EastT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 20:1-4
The Source of Safety in the Hour of PerilW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 20:1-13














Very suddenly does the scene change in these chronicles of the kingdom of Judah. From the peaceful and pleasant duty of completing the arrangements for securing justice throughout the land, Jehoshaphat was driven to consider the alarming intelligence that a powerful combination of enemies was threatening the independence of his kingdom. We learn from these facts -

I. THAT WE MAY SUDDENLY FIND OURSELVES IN MOST SERIOUS PERIL. Judah does not seem to have done anything to provoke this attack, or to have had any reason to expect it. It came upon them like a clap of thunder in a clear sky. Such things do occur to nations, to Churches, to families, to individual men. In some wholly unexpected quarter a grave difficulty arises. That power which should have been an ally suddenly becomes an enemy; that very institution which had been the source of sustenance threatens to drag us down with itself into financial ruin; the very men who promised to be, and who were, our best friends on whom we could rely, turn into our opponents and thwart our purposes; the bright, the brilliant morning has become a clouded noon, and a severe storm impends. Unhappily all history, observation, and experience will furnish abundant proof that this is not a remarkably exceptional, but an occasional or even a frequent occurrence in human life. It is a possibility that has so much of probability about it that we do well to be prepared for it lest we should be called to face it.

II. THAT OUR TRUE REFUGE IS IN GOD.

1. But if that is to be so, we must be in a right relation to him. We must be able to say, with a deep significance, not only "O Lord God of our fathers," but also "Art not thou our God?" (vers. 6, 7). We must be true children of Abraham, who was himself the "friend of God" (ver. 7). We must be distinctly and definitely on the Lord's side; we must be with Christ and not against him (Matthew 12:30). We cannot look for the delivering grace of God if we have not been reconciled unto him through Jesus Christ, if we have remained amongst those whose "sin has separated between them and their God."

2. Then there must be a consciousness of rectitude under the special circumstances. Jehoshaphat could plead that he and his people were in the land as rightful possessors of the soil; they inherited from God himself (ver. 11), and these invaders were wholly in the wrong; their attack was utterly indefensible (ver. 10). The king could plead that the cause of Judah was just and right. This consciousness of integrity we also must have, if we would fall back on God. "If our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God" (1 John 3:21); but otherwise we cannot raise our hopes. We cannot ask him to intervene on behalf of a cause which is one of unrighteousness, or one in which we have been acting quite unworthily of our Lord and Leader.

3. We must bring to God the attitude of conscious dependence. "Our eyes are upon thee," we must be able to say, sincerely (Psalm 27:1; Psalm 46:1; Psalm 62:5, 6).

4. We should be united in our attitude and action. "All Judah stood before the Lord, with their wives and little ones" (ver. 13). It is not only the leaders or the representatives that should make their appeal to God. Let all the people, let the "little ones," whose presence and whose prayer might not seem to be so essential, appear before God and join in seeking his help.

III. THAT WE MUST MAKE DIRECT AND EARNEST APPEAL TO HIM. Jehoshaphat took active measures to enlist the intervention of Jehovah; he "set himself to seek the Lord" etc. (vers. 3-6). It behoves us, in the day of our trial and our peril, to take active measures to secure the merciful and mighty succour of our God. We must make our earnest and our persevering appeal to him, and be waiting upon while we wait for him. And our appeal will, at any rate, be threefold. We shall plead:

1. Our utter helplessness apart from his effectuating power. "We have no might," etc. (ver. 12). We shall, of course, be alert, diligent, energetic; we shall put forth all our skill and strength; but we shall feel that all will be wholly unavailing except our God works with us and through us.

2. His almighty power. (Vers. 6, 7.)

3. His Divine faithfulness. (Vers. 6-9.) We also, like the King of Judah, can plead the inviolable word of our Lord. He has promised to be with us, to provide for us, to guide us through all our journey, to give us the victory over our enemies, to reward our faithful labour with a blessed increase; "And none shall find his promise vain." - C.

Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.
Some partnerships are inexplicable. A Church officer who has led the devotions of the Church has been known to enter into partnership with a grovelling man who never hesitated to use profane language in the warehouse; a generous supporter of good institutions has associated with a man who would have sold his own father if he could have made money by the transaction. And men have wondered who have not known how two could walk together except they were agreed, and who have gone upon the principle that light could have no communion with darkness. The principle of ill-associated partnerships works in two ways: the professing Christian finds it convenient to be able to remit all questionable work to the man who has made away with his conscience and honour, and the said man finds it very satisfactory to point to his professing partner as a proof and pledge that all is straightforward and upright. But is this as it ought to be?

(J. Parker, D.D.)

It will be said that business is business, and religion is religion, that there is a distinction between the merchant and the man. Let us admit that there remains this question: When the merchant is damned for his wicked deeds where will the man go?

(J. Parker, D. D.)

The principle of the text —

I. Supplies A LESSON FOR THE YOUNG. What you have to settle first and foremost is, the moral basis on which you are proceeding; you must get the full consent of your judgment and heart and conscience before you give yourself up to any commercial course.

II. Is expansive enough to include the subject of MARRIAGE. We do not hesitate to lay down the broad principle that where there is incongruity of religious conviction between man and woman happiness of the deepest and purest kind is entirely out of the question.

III. Will permit an earnest word about EVIL COMPANIONSHIP GENERALLY.

(J. Parker, D. D.).

People
Ahaziah, Ammonites, Aram, Asa, Asaph, Azubah, Benaiah, Berachah, Dodavah, Eliezer, Geber, Hanani, Jahaziel, Jehoshaphat, Jehu, Jeiel, Kohathites, Korahites, Korhites, Levites, Maonites, Mattaniah, Meunim, Meunites, Moabites, Seir, Shilhi, Tamar, Tarshish, Zechariah
Places
Ammon, Edom, Egypt, Engedi, Ezion-geber, Hazazon-tamar, Jeruel, Jerusalem, Mareshah, Moab, Mount Seir, Seir, Tarshish, Tekoa, Ziz
Topics
Assembled, Cities, Gathered, Indeed, Inquire, Judah, Prayer, Seek, Themselves, Town, Worship
Outline
1. Jehoshaphat, invaded by Moab, proclaims a fast
5. His prayer
14. The prophecy of Jahaziel
20. Jehoshaphat exhorts the people, and sets singers to praise the Lord
22. The great overthrow of his enemies
26. The people, having blessed God at Berachah, return in triumph
31. Jehoshaphat's reign
35. His convoy of ships, according to the prophecy of Eliezer, unhappily perishes.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 20:1-4

     8160   seeking God

2 Chronicles 20:1-17

     8648   enquiring of God

2 Chronicles 20:2-4

     8431   fasting, reasons

Library
A Strange Battle
'We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.'--2 CHRON xx. 12. A formidable combination of neighbouring nations, of which Moab and Ammon, the ancestral enemies of Judah, were the chief, was threatening Judah. Jehoshaphat, the king, was panic-stricken when he heard of the heavy war-cloud that was rolling on, ready to burst in thunder on his little kingdom. His first act was to muster the nation, not as a military levy
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Holding Fast and Held Fast
'As they went forth Jehoshaphat stood and said, Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.'--2 CHRON. xx. 20. Certainly no stronger army ever went forth to victory than these Jews, who poured out of Jerusalem that morning with no weapon in all their ranks, and having for their van, not their picked men, but singers who 'praised the beauty of holiness,' and chanted the old hymn, 'Give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever.' That was all that men had to do in the battle,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Of the Public Fast.
A public fast is when, by the authority of the magistrate (Jonah iii. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Ezra viii. 21), either the whole church within his dominion, or some special congregation, whom it concerneth, assemble themselves together, to perform the fore-mentioned duties of humiliation; either for the removing of some public calamity threatened or already inflicted upon them, as the sword, invasion, famine, pestilence, or other fearful sickness (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; Joel ii. 15; 2 Chron. xx.; Jonah iii.
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Coast of the Asphaltites, the Essenes. En-Gedi.
"On the western shore" (of the Asphaltites) "dwell the Essenes; whom persons, guilty of any crimes, fly from on every side. A nation it is that lives alone, and of all other nations in the whole world, most to be admired; they are without any woman; all lust banished, &c. Below these, was the town Engadda, the next to Jerusalem for fruitfulness, and groves of palm-trees, now another burying-place. From thence stands Massada, a castle in a rock, and this castle not far from the Asphaltites." Solinus,
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Christ hath left us his peace, as the great and comprehensive legacy, "My peace I leave you," John xiv. 27. And this was not peace in the world that he enjoyed; you know what his life was, a continual warfare; but a peace above the world, that passeth understanding. "In the world you shall have trouble, but in me you shall have peace," saith Christ,--a peace that shall make trouble
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Concerning Peaceableness
Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9 This is the seventh step of the golden ladder which leads to blessedness. The name of peace is sweet, and the work of peace is a blessed work. Blessed are the peacemakers'. Observe the connection. The Scripture links these two together, pureness of heart and peaceableness of spirit. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable' (James 3:17). Follow peace and holiness' (Hebrews 12:14). And here Christ joins them together pure in heart, and peacemakers',
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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